Coolaney Mullinabreena top Calry St
Josephs in final league group encounter
Coolaney
Mullinabreena 1-16; Calry St Josephs 1-10
On a very warm Saturday evening in Achonry,
Coolaney Mullinabreena played a determined Calry St Joseph’s team in a physical
encounter as both sides are preparing for the upcoming senior championship. It
was the home side who started brightest, racking up a number of scores without
reply, through Nathan Mullen and Gavin Gorman with some quick handpassing and swift
movement.
Calry got off the mark with a good free from Conor
Griffin and Daragh Cummins got a point from play and another free just inside
the 45. Despite a number of wides, Coolaney Mullinabreena finished strongly
before the water break hitting a purple patch and were seven points to four up
as the teams paused.
On the resumption, the energetic Nathan Mullen ran
the length of the pitch to score a great point, curled in from the right over
the black spot. Some dogged defending by Conor Griffin and Patrick Wolfe
prevented another Coolaney attack and they managed to turn over the ball and
worked the ball quickly with a one two to Daragh Cummins who scored a fine
point from the right hand side. Calry began to get a grip on the game and were matching
the intensity of Coolaney in both defence and attack. A solid interception by
Adrian Cummins in midfield regained possession for Calry as Coolaney advanced
in numbers and he and Patrick Wolfe exchanged passes and Daragh Cummins pointed
from distance to leave four points between the teams at half time.
Coolaney started strongly after the break with county
wingback Nathan Mullen at the heart of matters. He first scored an excellent point
after weaving around a number of defending tackles and then followed up with a
surging run through midfield to create a goal opportunity expertly finished to
the right corner of the net by Sean Gorman.
Calry tightened up defensively after that and began
to exert pressure at the other end with Conor Griffin going close with a great goal
chance themselves. The goal wasn’t long in coming though as some tenacious
defencing by Eoghan Donaghy recovered possession for Calry when the Coolaney
goalkeeper was caught in no man’s land soloing past his 45. The visitors then worked
the ball back into the Coolaney goal area where Damien O Boyle was pulled down for
a penalty which corner forward Patrick Wolfe struck low and hard into the bottom
left corner.
Although the second water break gave some respite,
the momentum was now with Calry who had points from the ever willing Daire
O’Boyle and from Adrian Cummins after good work out the field by Adrian
Cummins.
Substitutions from both teams added some fresh legs
to the contest in the last 10 minutes of the game and the hard working Coolaney
defence managed to keep Calry in their own half , with both side4s shooting a
number of frustrating wides.
Although the Coolaney effort was hampered when a
red card reduced their numbers to 14 with five minutes remaining they had the last word when midfielder Raymond
Connolly, got on to the end of a hand pass exchange from defence to point to
give the home side a deserved six point margin at the final whistle.
Coolaney
Mullinabreena: Cathal Finan; Keith Kirrane, David Barrett, Kian
Golden; Nathan Mullen, Declan Mc Cormack, Pearse Gorman; Barry Gorman, Raymond
Connolly; Sean Gorman, Stephen Mc Cormack, Sean O Brien, Gavin Gorman, Paul
Connolly.
Calry St Josephs: Conor Gray; Eoin Nicholson,
Conor McGovern, Jonny McGoldrick; Cormack Coyne, Shaun Cawley, Ronan Cox; Ciaran
Stenson, Adrian Cummins; Darragh Cummins, Eoghan Donaghy, Daire O Boyle; Conor
Griffen, Damien O’Boyle, Patrick Wolfe.
Subs: Paddy Heraghty, Liam Donoughe, Niall Gray.