Late O'Malley free keeps Westport unbeaten
Paddy O'Malley nailed a late free to secure the draw for Westport against Garrymore. Picture: Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile
Two unbeaten sides coming into this latest round of league fixtures remain unconquered after sharing the spoils at a wind and rain-swept Garrymore on Saturday evening.
It is not often that goalkeepers make the headlines but Patrick O’Malley was no doubt spoken about a lot in the west Mayo town on Saturday night as it was he who kicked the late equalising score from play with his left foot two minutes into injury-time to snatch a draw and just maintain his side's unbeaten run.
Garrymore have been scoring for fun in their previous three league games but it was widely anticipated this would not be repeated on this particular evening given the conditions and that they were without star forward Darren Quinn, who picked up an injury on duty against Kiltane. Goalkeeper Brian Lynskey, Jamie Oates, Brendan Walsh and Ciaran McGrath, who have all featured prominently in their start to the year, were also absent, while Westport were missing Lee Keegan.
Martin Connolly’s side played with the strong wind in the first half and made a dream start as they scored the only goal of the game in just the second minute and went on to lead 1-3 to 0-1 after twenty minutes. It was Conor McGraynor who palmed home from close range past Daniel Ferriter in the Garrymore goal and the centre-forward also accounted for one of his side's three points from play, with Mark Moran and Ray Walsh getting the others.
Garrymore’s only response was a point Joseph Ferriter although Colin Commins got a vital block that almost certainly would have seen a second Westport goal on 11 minutes. The tide began to turn late in this opening half and Garrymore began to get on top and outscored their opponents 0-5 to 0-1 in this final ten minutes of the half to only trail by one at the interval, 1-4 to 0-6. It was the Nally brothers who did the bulk of the scoring with Shane hitting over two and Trevor adding one while David Dolan and Joseph Ferriter also added one each – all from play – to set up a mouthwatering second half.
The wind had picked up even stronger for the resumption and Garrymore would now have this to their backs but the opening ten minutes didn’t produce any scoring opportunities. Eventually, when one arrived, it was almost immediately followed by another, as David Dolan and Trevor Nally kicked a point each to edge Garrymore one clear.
Kevin Keane was introduced for Westport and his vast experience played a role in his side retaking the lead with Mark Moran from play and a Killian Kilkelly free-edging their side back in front, 1-6 to 0-8. Then came the first of two late Westport red cards as Colm Moran picked up a second yellow card and Garrymore almost immediately equalised when Aaron Hughes kicked a splendid point from almost 30 yards out.
It got even worse for Westport as Mark Moran was then sent off after picking up a yellow – having seen black in the first half – and similar to what happened with the first red being shown. Garrymore quickly took advantage and Trevor Nally it was who kicked what looked like the winner on the stroke of 60 minutes before O’Malley’s equaliser in what was virtually the last kick of the game ensured a share of the spoils.
