Accurate Lyons helps improving Barna reach senior football quarter-finals

BARNA 0-13

NUIG  0-4

BARNA booked their place in the quarter finals of the senior football championship thanks to a routine victory over a hapless NUIG outfit at a miserable Moycullen on Sunday evening, with Jason Lyons landing six frees for the winners.

NUIG were under pressure before a ball was even thrown in as Tommie Joyce was again forced to scramble for players with the bulk of the students yet to return west for the college term and just 16 players togging out for this fixture.

Conditions dominated proceedings with the teeming rain refusing to let up and a strengthening breeze favouring Barna, who never had to shift above third gear, in the opening half.

The game began as it went on – slowly and scrappy with NUIG in at the deep end from the off as their latest batch of players were thrown together with nothing to lose except pride.

Barna attacker Tom Curran ended a ten-minute wait for a score with a fine effort to finally get proceedings underway with NUIG working hard in the backline to keep them at bay.

Declan Walsh quickly followed suit with a well-taken effort, aided by the breeze, with Barna beginning to make their mark in terms of possession as they forced NUIG into mistakes.

Young Barna wing-forward Jason Lyons opened his account with a free off the ground as another scrappy period began with everyone on the pitch already soaked to the bone.

Eoin McDonagh then got off the mark to end a six-minute scoring lapse with NUIG desperately searching for an opening point, but Barna’s defence stood firm, with corner back John O’Toole winning a lot of possession.

Subsequently, Ray Conneely opened up a five-point gap between the teams with his first score of the evening and Barna already looked in little danger of making an exit from the chase for the Frank Fox Cup.

With a forgetful first half drawing to a close and a decent crowd still huddled together in the Moycullen stand, Lyons sailed over his second free of the game before NUIG finally split the posts at the other end.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.