Five-goal Moysiders advance with perfect record
Former Mayo attacker Brian Reape scored two of Moy Davitts' five goals in their victory over Louisburgh. Picture: David Farrell
You knew the fate of both teams coming into this one yet you’d have struggled to take your eyes off this supposed dead rubber on Saturday evening.
Moy Davitts, in the first-half, were full of the swagger and pomp of a team already assured of a home quarter-final, and after Dylan Prendergast’s opening point in the first minute for Louisburgh, the Moysiders raced out to an eight points lead after just six minutes.
Goals from Brian Reape, who finished a devastating counter-attack, and Ryan Kenny, who thundered home after Jamie Clarke’s run and hand-pass, had put Moy Davitts in a commanding position early on.
Louisburgh, destined for a relegation playoff regardless of the result, had Prendergast doing his best to keep the Clew Bay men in touch, with a couple of frees, but Ronan Clarke was able to hit back each time. And then the dominant Moy Davitts had a third goal after just 16 minutes when Ronan was on hand to palm home his namesake Cathal Clarke’s hand-pass, coming just a minute after Jason Corrigan between the Louisburgh posts had done brilliantly to deny the latter.
Fighting to stay in the contest, Louisburgh hit back through Kevin Gibbons with a goal of their own. Dylan Prendergast’s creativity would be shown again later on, but on this occasion a lovely reverse hand-pass found Tommy Morahan who burst into open space past the Moy Davitts backline and sent a hand-pass towards Gibbons who made no mistake from point-blank range.
Liam Byrne got Moy Davitts started on a run of three unanswered points, curling a fabulous score off his left from right corner-forward, with Ronan Clarke and Anthony Jordan following him.
Corrigan would pull out his second show-stopping save to prevent Brian Reape from blasting a second goal, diving full stretch to his right to deny Reape after Ronan Clarke’s excellent assist.
Cian O’Malley provided the last score of the period courtesy of a brilliant two-pointer from the top of the arc, to send the sides into the second half separated by nine points in favour of Moy Davitts.
Where Moy Davitts had displayed swagger and pomp in the first half, these qualities were replaced by lethargy and carelessness for the majority of the second. Instead, it was Louisburgh who were far superior, and played like this was a knockout clash, not a pre-determined group encounter.
Another Liam Byrne point, off some good work from Ryan Kenny, Ronan Clarke and Cian McHale, would be Moy Davitts only score for 20 minutes. Their midfield dominance through Anthony Jordan and Conor Reid disappeared, and the Louisburgh players were beating their counterparts to every ball.
Gibbons and substitute Eddie Ball landed quickfire points to send Louisburgh on their way, Cian O’Malley followed by landing his second excellent two-point free, this time on the right wing, to cut the lead to six. Prendergast’s excellent creation was displayed again ten minutes into the half when he picked up the ball outside the two-point arc and curled a kick-pass into the path of Ball who leathered the ball into the top left corner. O’Malley’s one-point free on the right side left just two points between the teams as the contest entered its final quarter.
Moy Davitts finally settled the nerves when Brian Reape bagged his second goal. Liam Byrne claimed a high ball, moved it onto Cian McHale in the centre and he in turn to Reape who slotted home to regain some of the control the Moysiders had enjoyed earlier in the game.
A second goal in two minutes secured the result, as Oisin McHugh sailed in on the end of a lovely team move to palm home his side’s fifth. Byrne and O’Malley traded points, and Moy Davitts would tack on their final two through Ronan Clarke and Reape. Prendergast hit a beautiful two-pointer on the move and Ray Prendergast delivered the game’s final score, but Moy Davitts progressed from the group stages with a perfect record while Louisburgh face their battle against the drop to junior.
Scorers – Moy Davitts: Brian Reape 2-0-1, Ronan Clarke 1-0-4 (3f), Oisin McHugh 1-0-1, Liam Byrne 0-0-4, Ryan Kenny 1-0-0, Anthony Jordan 0-0-3.
Louisburgh: Dylan Prendergast 0-1-5 (4f), Cian O’Malley 0-2-2 (2tpf, 1f), Kevin Gibbons and Eddie Ball 1-0-1 each, Ray Prendergast 0-0-1.
Moy Davitts: Chris McGlynn; Kevin Moylett, Tadhg Ruane, John Gilmore; David Byrne, Oisin McHugh, Cathal Clarke; Conor Reid, Anthony Jordan; Brian Reape, Cian McHale, Ryan Kenny; Ronan Clarke, Jamie Clarke, Liam Byrne. Subs: Shane Moyles, Ajay McGrath, Sean Mulroy, Conor Ryder.
Louisburgh: Jason Corrigan; Jack Grady, Alfie Morrison, Isaac O’Grady; Damien O’Malley, Ray Prendergast, Tommy Morahan; Diarmaid Lally, Conor Gannon; Ben Moran, Martin Ball, Mark Gibbons; Dylan Prendergast, Kevin Gibbons, Cian O’Malley. Subs: Eddie Ball, Basil McLeod, John O’Reilly, Darragh Heneghan, Ciaran Jennings.
REF: John Walker (Cill Chomáin)
