Eglish ease past Moy to set up Clonoe clash

INTERMEDIATE CHAMPIONSHIP SEMI-FINAL

Eglish 2-19 Moy 1-14

By Niall Gartland

EGLISH booked their spot in the Intermediate Championship final after a titanic tussle with neighbours Moy on Sunday night in front of an enraptured audience at O’Neill Park.

Colm Bradley and Aidan McElroy’s team played some superb football and certainly deserved their victory, quelling a determined second-half fightback from the Moy in style as they rattled over a late flurry of scores.

Now they’ll go in search of their third ever Intermediate title when they take on Clonoe in a fortnight’s time – their previous successes at this level, by the way, were in 1992 and 1997. Not yesterday, it’s fair to say.

And whatever happens against Clonoe, Eglish will play Division One football as a result of reaching the final. We can’t go without mentioning that particular aside.

And in the match’s other big subplot, AFL star and All-Ireland winner with Tyrone, Conor McKenna was available for selection and came on with 20 minutes remaining at a time when the game was really there for the taking. Indeed, he made a positive impression, but this was a really solid team effort from the victors.

Eglish got the first point of the game, Dan Muldoon splitting the posts after just a second of play, and they doubled their advantage through Luke Donnelly after a Moy attack had broken down at the other end of the pitch.

Eglish looked slick and purposeful in their attacking play and went three points up when their attacking talisman Ethan Jordan curled over a lovely effort from a free. They were moving the ball fast through the hands whereas the Moy were getting bogged down on their forays forward and were struggling when it came to the crunch moment, hitting four wides in the opening 10 minutes – not exactly the ideal start from their perspective.

Disciplined defending from Ronan O’Hanlon and Eunan Deeney thwarted a useful-looking Eglish attack, but their wait for their first score of the game dragged on. Instead, it was Eglish who pounced for a superb goal, Nathan Horsfield playing through Matthew Óg McGleenan, who unleashed a cracking shot to the next in the 17th minute.

A well-worked attacking move finished off by Luke Donnelly made it 1-4 to no score and the Moy already looked in a fair deal of bother.

They finally opened their account from Liam McGeary with a shade under 20 minutes gone. Like busses, another followed with Ryan Coleman finding his range after enterprising build-up from McGeary and Declan Conroy.

Eglish responded with a tidy effort from Nathan Horsfield, preceding a two-pointer from Moy’s Michael Conroy, his first score of the evening. Eglish were still looking strong and nailed further scores from Muldoon and Jordan (two-point free) though it seemed that Conroy had found his range and he boomed over another long-range effort from play.

As half-time approached Jordan tagged on another free, leaving it 1-9 to 0-6 at half-time in their favour. Eglish had done really well – their defence had been rock solid and they attacked with real zip and energy, and as such they deserved their six-point lead at the whistle, but there was still time for Moy to mount a comeback. Plenty of time as it transpired.

In one fell swoop, they brought themselves straight back into it when Michael Conroy was on hand to take advantage of a misplaced kick-out, showing great technique to kick the ball soccer-style into the net from 20 yards out. And they nearly had another moments later only Matthew Laverty’s palmed effort was ruled out for a square ball.

Player-manager Colm Cavanagh and Ryan Coleman split the posts and the comeback was nearly complete – and we were only six minutes into the second-half.

Eglish were struggling to get their hands on possession in the middle and they really needed someone to grab the game by the scruff of the neck. They reached into the subs bench, bringing on Ryan Donnelly and a certain Conor McKenna, but the Moy got the next score, a Ryan Coleman point.

We were all set for a barnstorming final quarter with the teams deadlocked, though the Moy certainly had all the momentum at this stage. They edged into the lead through Patrick McGeary, though Eglish got their account up and running again through full-back Jack Muldoon.

And then a moment of inspiration, as Conor McKenna seized the initative as he’s so often done, playing a big role in a goal palmed to the net by Luke Donnelly. Then Donnelly tagged on a point and all of a sudden they held a four-point lead again, heading into the final 10 minutes.

A two-point free from Michael Conroy kept Moy in the hunt, though Eglish responded in style with a two-pointer of their own from Ethan Jordan.

Then Daniel Muldoon grabbed another for Eglish, leaving it 2-14 to 1-12 with 53 minutes gone – had they weathered the storm?

Moy weren’t done yet and an inspirational effort from Declan Conroy left four between the teams. Liam McGeary added another, but Eglish were still chipping away and got their latest points from McKenna and Muldoon.

They seemed to be driving for home and made it 2-18 to 1-14 as the clock ticked down with two points from corner-back Conor Holmes. Incredibly, he then added a third in injury time, his third on the trot to set the seal on victory.

Scorers

Eglish: Ethan Jordan (0-6, 2 2pt, 2f), Luke Donnelly (1-3), Matthew Og McGleenan (1-0), Dan Muldoon and Conor Holmes (0-3 each), Nathan Horsfield, Conor McKenna and Jack Muldoon (0-1 each)

Moy: Michael Conroy (1-6, 2 2pt), Ryan Coleman (0-3, 1f), Liam McGeary (0-2), Declan Conroy, Patrick McGeary and Colm Cavanagh (0-1 each)

Teams

Eglish: Jack Gibney, Aaron Daly, Jack Muldoon, Conor Holmes, Conall McNulty, Ryan McKenna, Nathan Horsfield, Matthew Og McGleenan, Conor McCann, Emmet McKenna, Dan Muldoon, Turlough Muldoon, Seamus Muldoon, Luke Donnelly, Ethan Jordan. Subs: Ryan Donnelly for Seamus Muldoon, Conor McKenna for E McKenna, Cormac Byrne for Horsfield

Moy: Philip Mallon, Ronan O’Hanlon, Mark Gribbin, Eunan Deeney, Diarmuid McKeown, Steve Donaghy, Patrick Lavery, Matthew Laverty, Declan Conroy, Patrick McGeary, Jamie Coleman, Cathaoir Hughes, Liam McGeary, Ryan Coleman, Michael Conroy. Subs: Colm Cavanagh for Lavery

Referee: Mark Loughran (Errigal Ciaran)