Moynalvey and Trim had to settle for a share of the spoils in the opening round of the J.M Food Services Div. 2 football league as the sides finished level 2-12 to 1-15 at Kilmore Park Moynalvey on Saturday afternoon March 15th.

Moynalvey 2-12 Trim 1-15

A repeat of last year’s league opener saw Trim make the short journey out to Moynalvey on a sunny Saturday afternoon, early on it looked like Ken Robinson’s Trim side were going to run away with it as host side Moynalvey struggled to find their feet and trailed the town side 1-05 to 1-0 after the fist quarter.

Trim’s early scorers included a two pointer from Tom Carmody and the goal a with simple finish palmed to the net after the Moynalvey rearguard were caught out, in fact early on it looked it was the Tom Carmody show as he was finding plenty of room to kick points from all angles. Moynalvey’s goal came after a highball in caused a bit of chaos between a sea of bodies and just about found it’s way across Eoin O’Reilly’s goal line to raise the green flag.

The introduction of David McLoughlin and David Regan fresh from lining out in an All Ireland schools hurling final the day previous in place of the injured Cathal McCabe added a different dimension to Moynalvey whose performance picked up from here on.

McLoughlin made an immediate impact with two points in as many minutes following his introduction, which were quickly followed up by a Craig Gilsenan point to leave it 1-3 to 1-5 after twenty two minutes.

The final ten minutes or so of the half saw the visitors outscore Moynalvey four points to two to give them a four point half time advantage, 1-9 to 1-5. Moynalvey’s final two scores of the half coming from the two substitutes David Regan and David McLoughlin.

Whatever Barry O’Keeffe and his management said to his team in the dressing room at half time had the desired effect, as within eight minutes of the restart a trio of David McLoughlin points without reply had the deficit down to one, 1-8 to 1-9.

Trim responded with a pair of points from Harry Purcell and Tom Carmody to leave a kick of the ball between the sides at the three quarter hour mark, 1-11 to 1-8.

Vinny Walsh and Tom Carmody traded points, before Moynalvey found the net for a second time when a Vinny Walsh shot at goal found it’s way to the Trim net via a slight deflection, drawing the sides level, 2-9 to 1-12, with seven minutes remaining.

The goal seemed to swing momentum Moynalvey’s way and with his tail up David McLoughlin fired over a two pointer to put his side ahead for the first time in the 54th minute, 2-11 to 1-12.

Tom Carmody pointed a free from distance, with William Harnan replying for Moynalvey leaving two points between the sides with sixty minutes played.

But there was still time for that man Carmody who had been a thorn in Moynalvey’s side all afternoon to fire over a late two pointed free from just outside the arc in the 63rd minute, meaning it finished all square when referee Stehen Cregan blew for full time a few seconds later, 2-12 to 1-15. 

Moynalvey may feel aggrieved that they couldn’t hold out for the win, as wayward shooting in the final minutes let them down, however considering their slow start and after a much improved second half performance a point on the board is better than none.

Best for Moynalvey here were Craig Gilsenan, Brian O’Reilly, Charlie McCormack, David Regan and David McLoughlin.

Moynalvey team and scorers: Conor Egan, Conor Harnan, Cathal McCabe, Cillian Kelly, Ciaran Harnan, Brian O’Reilly, Charlie McCormack, Craig Gilsenan (0-1), Padraic Harnan, Barry Walsh, Shane Lenehan, Luke Duffy, Evan Drum, William Harnan (0-1), Vinny Walsh (1-1). Subs used: David Regan (0-1) for McCabe, David McLoughlin (0-8: 0-3, 1 x 2pt, 3f) for Duffy, Scott Tuite for Kelly.

 

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