Mountbellew/Moylough make the most of second chance

MOUNTBELLEW-MOYLOUGH  3-12

MILLTOWN  0-10

Last year’s county finalists Mountbellew-Moylough might have been just a tad lucky to escape with a draw against Milltown in their first meeting, but at Tuam Stadium on Sunday, there was seldom any doubt about the outcome of this senior football quarter-final replay played in difficult conditions of win and rain.

Milltown put in a very honest effort and they kept on going right to the end before a crowd of more than 1,500 people, but in all the key areas of the pitch, Mountbellew-Moylough held a pretty clear advantage in terms of power and class.

From the early exchanges, it was easy to pick out over a half-dozen Mountbellew players whose play was crisp and focused – conversely, it was a struggle to identify even two or three of the Milltown side making any serious impact on the match.

And yet despite having that distinct edge on most key aspects of the play, Mountbellew-Moylough could have conceded two or three goals if the Milltown attack had been a mite sharper.

Late in the first-half, Mark Hehir shaved the outside of Damien Boyle’s right-hand post at the Cloonthue end; while, in the closing 10 minutes of the match, James Kavanagh blazed wide from 12 metres out, while he had another effort cleared off the line by Aaron McHugh.

Those goal chances will set a few alarm bells ringing on the Mountbellew sideline as they prepare for a county semi-final joust against title-holders Corofin as will a little snooze period midway through the second half, but on balance this was a pretty comprehensive performance from the team managed by James Foran and Martin Boyle.

Milltown led twice in the opening minutes thanks to two frees from Michael Martin and Mark Hehir – but never again after that – as Mountbellew powered into a 0-8 to 0-4 interval lead, admittedly with the assistance of a fresh diagonal breeze.

The winners took control of possession in the two half-lines and at midfield, despite the absence of former county man Joe Bergin due to injury.

Matthew Barrett gave a great exhibition of midfield play complemented by one super point strike in the second quarter while Paul Donnellan, Stephen Boyle, Michael Daly and Barry McHugh were also raiding with some panache.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.