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Plucky Malin beat Glenswilly
13.10.11
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Malin...0-08 Glenswilly...0-07 by Dónal Campbell at Connolly Park, Malin MALIN have eked out some good wins in their time but this one, in Connolly Park on a drizzly Sunday afternoon, was as good as any. A plucky never-say-die performance from Danny Lafferty’s men over the duration of a hard-fought hour, earned them a deserved victory over recently crowned county champions, Glenswilly. In the end, it took a fabulous point off the boot of Declan Walsh to secure a vital brace of league points as the game edged towards injury time. Glenswilly, on their first outing since clinching that historic first SFC title, arrived in North Inishowen in desperate need of an outright victory to trigger a climb out of the relegation zone. Malin, with just an away trip to Ardara remaining, were also in need of league points to avoid an automatic drop to Division Two. |
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The home side got off to
the perfect start with Paddy Kelly galloping upfield
from the throw-in to blast over the opener. At the other
end, Malin had a simple plan to thwart the threat of
Michael Murphy; Damian Harkin handed the unenviable task
of man-marking the Donegal captain while Danny Green
provided a sweeper role directly in front of Murphy. Malin enjoyed the better of the early exchanges, a good move between Stephen McLaughlin and Matthew Byrne allowing Declan Walsh force a decent save from Glenswilly goal-stopper Philip O’Donnell. The Glenswilly equaliser arrived nine minutes in when Murphy converted his own free from an acute enough angle on the left. Both sides were guilty of a number of wides before the industrious Matthew Byrne put Walsh through for a second Malin score on 12 minutes. A converted ’45 from Charlie Byrne then stretched the homeside advantage, but triggered a Michael Murphy amble outfield in the company of Danny Green. A great through ball to Darren McGinley yielded a point for the visitors with a quarter-hour gone. |
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A hard-hitting
no-prisoners-taken approach from both sides ensured
plenty of thrills and spills for the 200 plus spectators
in the stand, but in fairness to both sides the game was
played in a tough but fair manner throughout.It was such
committed tackling from the Malin men in the 17th minute
that forced Murphy to spill the ball but the resultant
break-away came to nothing. Damian Harkin and young
Finbar Collins were both having good days at the office,
the latter preventing a certain point on 20 minutes. Both Glenswilly captain Gary McFadden and Malin’s Charlie Byrne enjoyed a lion’s share of possession around the middle but the Glenswilly equaliser duly arrived courtesy of a close-in Murphy free, following a clumsy tackle on Brian Farrelly by an unfortunate enough Danny Green. Gary Farren replaced the injured Anthony Kelly on 25 minutes, before Matthew Byrne fired over his first point of the day following a great through ball from his namesake Charlie. On the brink of half-time, Murphy was downed on his own ’45 and after a short delay – during which time a busload of Glenswilly “officials” gathered around their player – the Donegal captain got up and effortlessly slotted over the equaliser himself. The second half brought more of the same, with the Malin men again exploding out of the blocks to register their opener within a minute of the restart. Having missed a sitter seconds before, Matthew Byrne made amends by weaving his way through a trio of Glenswilly defenders to register a fabulous point. Keelin Kelly answered for the county champions on seven minutes, hitting the equaliser on the run despite the close attentions of Kevin McColgan. Gary McFadden nosed the visitors ahead as Glenswilly considerably upped the ante, the evergreen Gerard McGrenera tireless in providing most of the donkey-work. But there was simply no shaking Danny Lafferty’s men, with Ciaran McColgan turning on a sixpence to draw the teams level for the fifth time and leave the score at 0-06 apiece. A good individual score from the impressive Darren McGinley saw the visitors reclaim their lead but, try as they might, they were simply unable to lose the home side, whose never-say-die attitude was typified by the evergreen Paddy Kelly, who shook off a hefty enough knock to resume the battle. Declan Walsh registered a deserved Malin equaliser from a well-hit sideline free and with ten minutes to play, this game looked set to be heading for a draw. It all came down to a couple of marvellous interceptions by Paddy Kelly, one of these as Gary McFadden looked certain to regain the lead for the visitors, and some great industry upfront from Danny Lafferty’s men. The winner came just before the end of normal time with Malin sub Conor Farren feeding Declan Walsh, who hit a famous winner on the run, sparking pure delight in the Malin dugout and in the stands. Malin: Declan Lafferty; Danny Greene, Damian Harkin, Finbar Collins; Ciaran McColgan (0-01), Kevin McColgan, Charlie Byrne (0-01); Paddy Kelly (0-01), Declan Walsh (0-03); Seamus Doherty, Matthew Byrne (0-02), Anthony Kelly; Stephen McLaughlin, Paul McLaughlin, Darren Doherty. Subs: Gary Farren for Anthony Kelly, Conor Farren for Darren Doherty, Daniel McDaid for Stephen McLaughlin. Glenswilly: Philip O'Donnell; Rory McDaid, Eamon Ward, Brian McDaid; Ruairi Crawford, James Pat McDaid, John McFadden; Barry Molloy, Leon Kelly; Gary McFadden (0-01), Gerard McGrenra, Keelin Kelly (0-01); Brian Farrelly, Michael Murphy(0-03), Darren McGinley (0-02). In a Nutshell Man of the match Plenty of contenders in the yellow and black. Damian Harkin did well on Murphy, an achievement to remember, as did young Green who swept in front of him. Young Finbar Collins impressed hugely at left corner-back, while the Byrnes – Charlie and Matthew – were in superb form. Paddy Kelly, Seamus Doherty and the busy Stephen McLaughlin also caught they eye. But, for stepping up to the mark to hit both the last equalizer and the winning point, the nod goes to Declan Walsh. Turning point The guard of honour as the Malin men clapped the county champions onto the pitch! That was as much respect as they afforded the Glenswilly men all afternoon, getting stuck in from the throw-in to eke out a famous win. Ref watch Paddy McGonagle was a relieved man to sound the final whistle, just about hanging onto control of a game that threatened to spill over a time or two. Paddy would have been well advised to chase at least half the Glenswilly’s “mentors” from the sideline to the stand. That said, both teams are to be commended on a good honest hour’s football that was played fair and square from start to finish. For full coverage of all your weekend sport, read the Inishowen Independent. |
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