Injury-hit St. Michaels look a pale shadow of themselves

Date Published: {J}

Moycullen 1-9

St Michael’s 1-4

Dara Bradley

Moycullen recorded a five point win in the first round of the Claregalway Hotel senior championship at Pearse Stadium on Saturday evening but if the truth be told the winning margin could have been 15.

St Michael’s, missing a few players in key positions, looked a shadow of the side that came close to winning an All-Ireland intermediate title at Croke Park in February last year – and on this evidence the city club might be back in the intermediate grade sooner than they thought.

Pat Regan’s men really rode their luck in the opening 30 minutes but battled hard to make it to the break just one point in arrears, 0-3 to 0-4, although it was one-way traffic after the interval with Moycullen, without setting the world alight, doing enough to ensure safe passage to round two.

Moycullen won’t be celebrating too much after this display either – they made hard work of toppling a very average looking outfit and if they had shown any sort of bite in front of goal would have been home and hosed at the interval.

A combination of good scrambling defensive work from St Michael’s, several rubs of the green and a brutal display of shooting from Moycullen, allowed the city club off the hook in the first half – Seán O’Dea’s charges spurned four clear-cut goal chances and kicked no less than 10 wides in the first half.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Sentinel.