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Celtic hold steady in the squall
15.01.09
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Moville Celtic
Reserves...1 Quigley’s Point Reserves...0 By Simon McGeady, Inishowen Independent JUST inside the door of Moville Celtic’s clubhouse you will find a shiny new illuminated trophy cabinet. In it, below the West End League Cup, rests the Reserve League Shield. Moville’s hopes of returning the latter prize to their glass press were boosted on Sunday following a 1-0 win home win over Quigley’s Point Swifts. In a decent encounter played in squally weather, the hosts struck early and, like a boa constrictor, slowly squeezed the life out of the men from Muff. The game started at a frantic pace, but Kevin McDermott is not a player to be rushed, and when the midfielder bought time and released Conor McLaughlin on the overlap in the sixth minute the game had its first eye-catching attack and, as it turned out, only goal. McLaughlin skipped down the right and centered an inviting cross for Gerard Gill. The burly centre forward fought off his marker and showed a fine first touch to carry the ball past Brian Lynch for a tap in. Quigley’s Point responded with a couple of corners whipped in by Dean Hegarty that Darren Bredin and his back line dealt with. |
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Playing with the breeze in
the first half, Swifts had to make the most of their
frees, but found it difficult to calibrate their heavy
artillery with the result that balls frequently overshot
the intended target. On the quarter hour Moville might have snatched a second, only for Hugo Curran to stick out a blocking leg after Conor Lafferty shot from the edge of the area. In Fergal Buchanan, Quigley’s Point possessed a dribbler of exquisite poise and balance and his jinking runs were just about the only weapon in the visitors’ armoury that looked like causing the Moville defence problems. In the 21st minute, following a nice pass from Curran, Buchanan took off on a run and drew a foul from Celtic left back Danny Murphy. Dean Hegarty curled over the free which bounced up and hit Curran only for home keeper Sean McGuinness to pounce when Buchanan threatened to convert the loose ball. Buchanan should have done better with his header of Dean Hegarty’s 28th minute corner but McGuinness dived back to clutch the ball to his chest just before it crossed the line. Firmer contact from the unmarked Swifts forward would have given the Moville stopper no chance. Though a game littered with free kicks and offsides, referee Daniel McLaughlin kept the flow of the match going by allowing the attacking team advantage where he could, and kept his cards in his |
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pockets where another
official might have seen fit to brandish a half dozen
yellows. Moville listened in vain for the referee’s whistle in the 30th minute when, after a clever dummy by midfielder Gearroid McQuillan, the ball rolled through to Eunan McDaid who looked to have been fouled in the box by a back-tracking Swifts defender. A corner was the outcome. With McDaid and McQuillan bossing the midfield, the orange shirts pressed hard for a second in the closing stages of the first half. A McDermott corner was cleared by Paul Hegarty to the far side of his box where Gill collected and struck a speculative shot that forced a one-handed save from the excellent Lynch. At the other end Alex O’Brien dropped a superb inswinging ball onto Buchanan’s head but once more Bunchanan failed to get the requisite power behind his effort, allowing McGuinness to make a routine save. McDaid then played a low ball across the QPS backline to Noel McLaughlin but his shot was smothered by Lynch who’d anticipated the danger and was well off his line. In the 43rd minute Michael Craig hit a raking half volley into Lafferty’s path that the winger collected before crashing a dipping 25 yarder off Lynch’s crossbar. The second half saw the heavens open, but unlike the grass, there was nothing watered down about the football. Gill reacted to a poor Lynch clearance to acrobatically volley just wide from 30 yards. Murphy and McQuillan then failed to hit the target when well placed and it seemed only a matter of time before the hosts would grab a second. Set plays continued to be the Point’s likeliest route to goal. Paul Hegarty glanced a 67th minute header wide from another quality Dean Hegarty delivery. Moville brought on John L Coyle for the goalscorer with a quarter of the game to go and dropped Kevin McDermott into a midfield holding role as they sought to see out the clock. Coyle proved himself an effective target man. The Swifts were hard and fair in the tackle and Moville captain McDaid was forced off after coming off second best in one 50-50 challenge. Lynch too hurt himself, coming out to claim the ball and was replaced by Mark Duffy. Another Moville sub, Oran McDermott brought the best of the Naomh Padraig gaelic footballer. Duffy somehow tipped McDermott’s venomous free onto his crossbar. Swifts’ final chance of the match fell to O’Brien, but his volley from the edge of the area was straight down McGuinness’s throat. Clonmany’s 2-1 win over Culdaff in the other semi-final means this springs final will be a repeat of the 2008 decider. Moville: Sean McGuinness, Conor McLaughlin, Danny Murphy, Darren Bredin, Michael Craig, Noel McLaughlin, Eunan McDaid, Gearroid McQuillan, Kevin McDermott, Gerard Gill, Conor Lafferty. Subs: John L Coyle for Gill (66), Christy McGeoghegan for McDaid (77), Oran McDermott for Lafferty (86). QPS: Brian Lynch, Damian McCallion, Alex O’Brien, Trevor Callaghan, Cathal McColgan, Hugo Curran, Sean Harkin, Paul Hegarty, Fergal Buchanan, Dean Hegarty, Adam Harkin. Subs: Brian McColgan for Harkin (54), Mark Duffy for Lynch (74). For full coverage of all your weekend sport, read the Inishowen Independent. |
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