Rock on a Moy revenge mission

INTERMEDIATE CHAMPIONSHIP QUARTER-FINAL

By Niall Gartland

CONSIDER the Rock’s Intermediate Championship quarter-final clash against the Moy this Sunday and it’s impossible not to cast your mind back to last year’s championship meeting between the two teams.

The parallels are multiple: the same pairing, the same stage of the championship and even the same venue – O’Neill Park in Dungannon.

The burning question is whether the final outcome will differ. Last September, Moy veteran Colm Cavanagh steered over a brilliant winning point in injury time after a hotly contested battle to send his side into the semi-final. By the way, Colm is now Moy’s team manager.

The Moy advanced to the last-eight with a comfortable win over Aghyaran at Loughmacrory 11 days ago, and there’s no doubt about it – they want to make amends for losing the last two Intermediate finals.

Rock, meanwhile, were full value for their victory over Killeeshil on a blustery day at Stewartstown, so they’ll be quietly confident of springing an upset in their latest meeting with the Moy.

Easier said than done, but they looked strong against Killeeshil and their midfielder Thomas Mackle is happy with their formline as they get ready to take on one of the big contenders for championship honours.

“It was tough against Killeeshil, we were very wary against the breeze, but a Championship win is a Championship win so we’re happy with it.

“We’d a tough enough start in the league so that left us with a bit of catching up to do, so it felt like another championship in a way, as we needed a few wins on the bounce.We’d a good finish though and now we’re determined to give the Championship a good rattle.”

The Rock raced into a commanding lead at half-time with the wind at their backs against Killeeshil and they never looked like relinquishing control in the second half. They scored some superb points across the hour from the likes of Shane Murphy, Liam Nugent and Mackle himself, while also dominating the midfield exchanges.

Mackle said: “We knew it was going to be a game of two halves, but it was important to build up a lead in the first-half then see what we could do against it.

“The midfield battle was important as well, and it always is with the new rules. It really helps having lads coming in and winning breaks, that’s what the game is about now.”