Ratoath 2-25 Moynalty 0-09 

An understrength Moynalty side suffered a heavy defeat to Ratoath on Tuesday evening. Despite difficult conditions, the home side produced some excellent passages of football and outclassed their visitors for much of the contest. It was a night to forget for Moynalty, with very little going in their favour, and the result leaves them firmly in the lower half of Division 4. 

Moynalty made a positive start to the game, taking an early lead through scores from Paddy Byrne and Cormac Kearney. Although Ratoath responded quickly, Byrne added two more points, one from a free and another from play to keep Moynalty in touch. However, Ratoath soon began to dominate proceedings, hitting six unanswered points to seize control of the game. Bryan McCormack briefly halted the momentum with a well-taken score in the 18th minute, but the home side responded impressively with another four points without reply. 

To make matters worse for Moynalty, both Jude Gilsenan and Eoin Gilsenan were forced off through injury before half-time. Johnny Lynch converted a 45 just before the interval to leave the half-time score, 

HT: Ratoath 0-11 Moynalty 0-06 

Moynalty battled hard during the opening stages of the second half and attempted to stem the tide of runners breaking through their defence, but Ratoath’s superior quality continued to shine through as the home side kept the scoreboard ticking over. 

As Moynalty pushed further forward in search of scores, gaps began to appear at the back, and Ratoath eventually capitalised when they found the net past Johnny Lynch midway through the second half. Paddy Byrne responded with another point to briefly reduce the deficit, but by then the home side were in full control and Moynalty looked well beaten. 

A number of substitutions failed to alter the flow of the game, although substitute Jake Smyth produced one of the highlights of the evening with an excellent long-range curling effort. Unfortunately for Moynalty, it proved to be one of the few bright moments on an otherwise difficult night. When the final whistle eventually sounded on a bitterly cold evening, there was a sense of relief that the ordeal had come to an end. 

Moynalty scorers: Paddy Byrne 0-05, Bryan McCormack 0-01, Johnny Lynch 0-01, Jake Smyth 0-01, Cormac Kearney 0-01 

Moynalty Team: Johnny Lynch, Richie Gilsenan, Liam Brogan, Nicholas McKenna, Dylan Farrelly, , Cormac Kearney, Ollie Sheridan, Niall O Connor, Paddy Byrne, Paul Lynch, Bryan McCormack, Eoin Gilsenan, Jude Gilsenan, Pauric O Connor, Joe McMahon 

Subs used: Éanna Bennett, Paddy Gallagher, Cillian Gaynor, Jake Smyth, Conor O Reilly & Raymie Owens 

 

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