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Muff keep promotion door ajar
27.10.11
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Naomh Pádraig...0-12 Naomh Ultan...0-8 by Dónal Campbell in Ture ON A dreary night for football, Naomh Pádraig eked out a priceless win over visitors Naomh Ultan in Ture on Saturday evening to keep their promotion prospects very much alive. Having fallen to a shock heavy defeat to Red Hugh’s a fortnight earlier Aidan McAleer’s men went into this game needing nothing less than a win, and, thanks to the sharp-shooting of Damian Diver and some plucky defensive work, finally pulled away from the Dunkineely men in the final quarter of an entertaining hour’s football. The reward for the Muff men: joint top of the table with Naomh Ultan and a great chance of promotion. The Muff men spent most of the hour playing catch-up, despite registering the opener from a free after eight minutes – that point the first of ten from the boot of Damian Diver. Sean Furey opened Naomh Ultan’s account from play on 11 minutes, sparking a scoring frenzy by the visitors that yielded a point a minute from Dermot Gallier, Aidan Duddy and Furey again. With his side trailing 0-1 to 0-4, Aidan McAleer cut a worried figure on the sideline, his cause not helped by the dominance of Sean Blaine around the middle for the Dunkineely side. Diver and Mark Duffy pulled the Muff men back to within a point with a brace of frees, and a third from Diver on 28 minutes levelled matters. |
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The dangerous Furey
re-established Naomh Ultan’s lead a minute later but
there was still time for Diver to fire over the
equaliser on the stroke of half time, following a strong
run from Enda McColgan. Blaine put the visitors two ahead within three minutes of the restart but to their credit the Muff men battled to pull one back against the run of play – Mark Duffy was upended, allowing Diver to record his side’s sixth point from the dead ball. Furey restored Naomh Ultan’s two point advantage after ten minutes. The Muff men were struggling to penetrate the visitors defence but up stepped Mark Duffy and Barry Hegarty in particular, and their strong running allowed Diver again draw the sides level. |
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A worry for McAleer was
that the Muff men showed no sign of scoring from general
play. That dissipated somewhat when Enda McColgan was
felled by Sean McMullan, and Diver again punished the
misdemeanour as the light began to fade fast in Ture.
McColgan was again on hand to set up Diver for Muff’s
first score from play in the 51st minute, and suddenly,
for the first time all evening, it was all Muff. Duffy and Diver added insurance points as the clock ran down to secure a priceless win that gives the Muff men a very decent stab at promotion. Muff: Gerald Harkin; Gary McKinney, Aidan Lynch, Brendan McColgan; Enda McColgan, Martin Duffy, Raymond McLaughlin; Gerard McColgan, Charlie Molloy; Mark Duffy (0-2), Eunan Keaveney, Cathal McColgan; Barry Hegarty, Damian Diver (0-10), Anthony McColgan. Subs: James Molloy, Oisin McColgan, Michael Crowley. Naomh Ultan: Daniel McGlynn; Aaron Kyle, Sean McMullan, Paul Gallier; Conor Shovlin, Paul Byrne, Pauric Fisher; Declan Mourne, Sean Blaine; Danny Shovlin, Aidan Duddy, Ciaran Kennedy; Alan Lyons, Sean Furey, Dermot Gallier. Man of the Match Plenty of decent performances in Muff shirts from Gerard Harkin out. When push came to shove Enda McColgan, Mark Duffy and Aidan Lynch all stood up to the mark. But for his utter consistency from the dead ball, the nod has to go to Damian Diver Any day you score ten points, two of these from play, is a job well done. Ref Watch Paddy McGonagle did a fine job in a game littered with frees thanks to the awful handling conditions. In complete control from start to finish, Paddy blew 53 fouls, 28 of these fell the way of the Muff men. What next? Saturday’s win leaves the Muff men with promotion very much in their sights, whereas a defeat would have all but ended their interest. Muff face Lifford in a fortnight’s time, and a win will at worst guarantee a play-off, and if results go their way, they might even get automatic promotion. For full coverage of all your weekend sport, read the Inishowen Independent. |
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