Lydon leads by example for historic Neale county title
Lahardane MacHales and the Neale players contest the ball in mid air. Picture: David Farrell Photography
The young men from the south boarder made history as The Neale won a first ever under-21 title in dramatic fashion at the expense of Lahardane at a wet and windy Hastings Insurance MacHale Park last Saturday afternoon.
The gale force wind blowing into the Bacon Factory end at MacHale Park was always going to have a major say on matters, and Lahardane will be bitterly disappointed that they only led by four points at the interval.
The black and amber will wonder what might have been had their captain Matthew Maughan not been forced off on the back of what appeared to be serious knee injury at the end of the first half.
Conversely, his opposite number led by example as Tom Lydon continued to enhance his ever-growing reputation. He played a major role in The Neale’s goal in the second half and kicked ten points overall, including three two-pointers, and once he put his side in front for the first time on 59 minutes, there was only one winner.
Lahardane had the strong wind at their backs for the first half but struggled to find scores early on, with The Neale making life very difficult for the North Mayo men. Maughan, a free, Craig Jordan and Eoin Dyra were Lahardane’s scorers after 21 minutes, with The Neale’s sole point coming from a Tom Lydon free, and the men in green will have been delighted to only have been trailing by two.
Lahardane finally some joy on 25 minutes when Fionn Reilly got on the end of a direct ball from deep and finished it into the net. That joy turned to concern after Maughan was forced off with injury, and Tom Lydon bagged his and Neale’s second point to leave it 1-3 to 0-2 at the break.
The Neale now had the strong wind in their favour, and Lydon halved the deficit after the interval with his first two-pointer of the day. Mark Sheerin restored Lahardane’s four-point advantage with a pair of frees but the game would be all level on 40 minutes. After another Lydon point, his two-point free attempt shortly after landed in the hands of Niall Rochford’s and he buried his strike.
The momentum looked to be with The Neale, but Lahardane refused to give in and were back in front with ten minutes to go thanks to scores from Dyra and Fionn Reilly.
Daithi Buter’s two-point attempt was touched over by the Lahardane goalkeeper to make it a single before Lahardane appeared to wrap up the game as Sheerin finished off a great move involving Dyra and Fionn Reilly into the net on 54 minutes.
The Neale could have wilted but forward duo Tom Lydon and Robbie Hughes stepped up in a big way. Lydon sinked a two-point free before Hughes, who’s direct running was a constant thorn in Lahardane backline all afternoon, levelled it with a single.
There looked only winner from here. Tom Lydon sank a nerveless two-point free, his third effort from outside the arc, and Daragh O’Dea had the bonfires lit up across Cong with his insurance point in injury-time.
