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You are > Home > Magic Moran sinks Salthill
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Wednesday, March 03, 2010
Magic Moran sinks Salthill
By David Tuohy
STRAIDE & FOXFORD UTD. 3
SALTHILL DEVON 1
A PAUL Moran masterclass helped the home side overcome a 1-0 deficit to defeat one of Galway’s biggest clubs on Sunday afternoon.
Moran’s hat-trick typified the kind of grit and determination that was evident in every one of Aidan Flatley’s men, and the home side deservedly booked their place in the next round after this thrilling encounter.
The visitors looked the brighter of the two sides in the opening stages, and took the lead after 11 minutes when striker Brian O’Grady showed great composure to shrug off a number of tackles before dispatching an 18-yard shot into the bottom corner of the S&F net.
O’Grady, along with winger Tommy Bradshaw, had made a big impact on the opening stages. Salthill looked to push forward as much as possible, and forced the hosts back into their own half for much of the first 10 minutes.
Paul Moran managed to restore parity for the hosts four minutes after conceding, with what was his side’s first real chance of the match.
The Tangerines were awarded a freekick 20 yards from goal, and Moran fired a perfectly-judged, curling effort just out of reach of goalkeeper Colm Smith and into the top corner of the net. The game had seen two goals before we had even reached the 15-minute mark, but things became a lot more muted after this fantastic start. Moran and Chris Downey looked like the biggest threat to the Salthill defence, but fellow frontman Johnny Jordan was struggling with a knock he had picked up in the first few minutes, and found it hard to keep up with the pace of the game.
Too often, S&F were lacking in numbers going forward, but the visitors also had difficulty creating chances, and were often reduced to long-range efforts in a bid to test the goalkeeper. The sides could not find another breakthrough before halftime, and left the field with a goal apiece.
The home side really came into their own in the second half, and took the game to their opponents in a way they could not have dreamt of in the first half. Johnny Jordan was looking a lot more like his usual self, and began linking up nicely with John O’Hara and Shane Bourke. The hosts found chances a lot easier to come by after the break, and they took the lead after 64 minutes when O’Hara flicked on a long Darren Flatley clearance, leaving Paul Moran with only the goalkeeper to beat, the striker stayed calm and planted a shot into the bottom corner to give the hosts a shock lead.
Once S&F were in front, they showed no signs of letting go. Johnny Jordan almost doubled their advantage with a 67th minute header, only to see his effort rebound off the upright, and into the path of Moran, whose rasping shot whistled over the crossbar. The pressure was mounting all the time on the Galway men, and players like Tommy Bradshaw and Alan Gilmore, who had been such a threat in the first half, were now largely anonymous.
Moran completed his hat-trick 12 minutes from time with the finest goal of the game. Johnny Jordan slipped through an intelligent ball into the striker’s path, and Moran outpaced defender Conor Larkin and hit a sublime half-volley across the face of goal, which went in with the assistance of the goalpost. With time running out for Salthill, it was a goal which all but assured victory for the Foxford-based side.
Salthill had a chance to pull a goal back before the end as substitute Dave Murphy raced through on goal only to be denied from point-blank range by a fine save from Darren Flatley. S&F’s dominance in the second half was absolute, and there was little doubt as to the outcome of this tie once Moran had put them ahead in the 64th minute.
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