Shrule/Glencorrib get job done against Moy Davitts

Shrule get the job done at a cost


SFC section 2
Shrule/G’corrib 1-12
Moy Davitts 0-6

Daniel Carey
Foxford

THE day after the 65th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, something that looked like a mushroom cloud hovered in the sky over Srath Garbh on Saturday evening. After 70 minutes of football, Moy Davitts were facing a relegation play-off, but there were clouds on the horizon for group runners-up Shrule/Glencorrib too.
Mark Ronaldson, the south Mayo side’s best player on the night, was shown a straight red card for an incident late in the game which also led to Moy Davitts midfielder Brian Hughes being cautioned. The home side also saw Andrew Malee dismissed before the end, but that was for a second yellow card.
Shrule/Glencorrib, who were missing captain Kieran Conroy due to a hamstring injury, took quite a while to pull clear. Indeed, the sides were locked together at three points apiece until Brian Murphy palmed in a 27th minute goal following Trevor Mortimer’s delivery from the right.
Some spectators thought it was a square ball, but the goal was allowed, and the visitors never looked back. Conor Mortimer, whose radar had been wayward up to that, got off the mark with two points shortly afterwards, and Shrule held a 1-5 to 0-3 advantage at the interval.
Scores had been hard to come by in the opening 20 minutes. Mark Ronaldson popped over a free and then scored his second point following a pop pass from Brian Murphy. SeΡn Kelly got Moy Davitts off the mark after 14 minutes, picking up the ball after Fintan Molloy’s effort dropped short, and then set up Jimmy Byrne for the equaliser. Ronaldson countered with a beauty from the left, kicking just as a disgruntled away supporter muttered: “Sure he’ll never score from out there”. But Kelly levelled matters again with a free before Murphy’s crucial goal changed the complexion of the game.
Kenneth Mortimer’s side returned for the second half in a more clinical mood. Two points from Ronan Ward (the first straight from the throw-in, the second a long-range free) book-ended a dominant third quarter, as Ronaldson and Conor Mortimer chipped in with scores from either wing. Murphy went close to getting a second goal, but shot wide after a dinky pass from Ronaldson.
Moy Davitts’ only response was a James Mulderrig free (which looked wide to many observers), and by the time the midfielder added two more, the game was slipping away from Anthony Brennan’s side.
They would not score for the final 12 minutes, and the game was petering out to an inevitable conclusion when the two separate incidents that led to sendings-off occurred. Ronaldson’s red card came after a scuffle broke out after Moy Davitts had been awarded a free. Declan Corcoran’s notebook went flying in the crossfire, and the referee consulted with his linesman before issuing two cards of different colours. Malee’s second yellow followed a foul on Brian Murphy, which Ward punished with a point.
Conor Mortimer had earlier converted a self-earned free, and the last word was left to Shrule/Glencorrib centre forward Kieran Walsh, who collected a quickly-taken free to fire over. Stiffer tests lie ahead for the winners. The Moysiders must now try to beat the drop.

Shrule/Glencorrib
P Conroy; Dermot Geraghty, David Geraghty, R Walsh; D McTigue, L Garvey, N Sullivan; J Lohan, T Mortimer; J Martin, K Walsh (0-1), R Ward (0-3, 2f); C Mortimer (0-4, 2f), B Murphy (1-0), M Ronaldson (0-4, 1f).
Subs used: C Donnellan for Martin; TJ Canavan for Sullivan.

Moy Davitts
M McNulty; B Bourke, A Malee, C Quinn; O Quinn, N Mayock, D Quinn; J Mulderrig (0-3, 3f), B Hughes; B Gilmartin, S Kelly (0-2, 1f), R Healy; Jimmy Byrne (0-1), F Molloy, A Jordan.
Subs used: D Igoe for C Quinn; James Byrne for Molloy; S Gilmartin for Bourke.

Referee: D Corcoran (Islandeady)