11-11-2012
Impressive Beale power past Moyvane
Beale 1-14
Moyvane 2-06
In perfect playing
conditions in O’Rahilly Park, Ballylongford, Moyvane and Beale went head to
head in the first of the quarter finals of the 2012 Bernard O’Callaghan
Memorial North Kerry Senior Football Championship.
In what was a very
sporting contest which was well marshalled by referee Seamus Mulvihill,
Moyvane’s game plan was working to perfection in the first 15 minutes with ace
marksman Paddy Curtin causing all sorts of problems for the Beale defence. With
quick, direct ball played in from midfield and the half back line, the full
forward was thriving on the supply of ball he was receiving and was ably
assisted by wing forward Kevin Kennelly and corner forward Bryan Stack during
this period.
Realising at this
juncture the havoc that Curtin was creating, credit must go to the Beale
selectors for dropping an extra defender back to double mark the dangerman and
from this point the direction of the game was to change. With their midfield now thundering in to the
game, James McMahon orchestrating matters from centre forward and their
physicality coming to the fore, the momentum of the game shifted totally in
Beale’s favour, a stranglehold they did not release for the remainder of the
game.
Both teams lined out
with changes to the teams selected with David Moloney and Mike Woods for
Moyvane coming in for Ian McCarthy and Kieran Kiely respectively and Padraig
Murphy for Beale coming in for Carol Purtill.
Moyvane were quickest
out of the blocks with a point from play by Kevin Kennelly within the first
minute. The lead was short lived however
and when a high ball was fumbled by the Moyvane defence in their own goalmouth
in the 3rd minute, Beale’s James McMahon pounced on the loose ball
and fisted it to the net. This did not
disrupt the Moyvane rythem however and with further points from play and from a
free by Curtin in the 6th and 7th minutes, the sides were
level at 0-3 to 1-0.
Curtin once more put
Moyvane ahead in the 9th minute with a disputed point from play and
the game really sprang in to life a minute later when corner forward Bryan
Stack goaled for the Moyvane men after more good approach play by Curtin. At this juncture he was the focal point of
all Moyvane’s attacks and the long, direct ball was playing rich dividends.
Matters went from bad
to worse for Beale in the 13th minute when after a long high ball in
to their square by Moyvane wing back Shane Stack, Curtin once more outmuscled
his marker and clinically finished to the corner of the net. Moyvane were now seven points ahead and
firmly in the driving seat.
With wing back Paul
Collins now assigned to double mark dangerman Curtin, Beale had an excellent
goal chance of their own in 16th minute but Ian Blake’s point blank
shot was expertly saved by Moyvane keeper Diarmuid Fitzmaurice. With Beale now having gained a foothold in
midfield and driving forward with every opportunity, they reduced the deficit
with two further frees by James McMahon in the 17th and 18th
minutes. With momentum now firmly
swinging in their favour they had a glorious opportunity to reduce the deficit
even further when awarded a penalty in the 22nd minute after a great
run in the lead up by corner forward Tom Joy.
The resultant kick however was brilliantly saved once more by
Fitzmaurice and Moyvane breathed a huge sigh of relief.
Moyvane were really
struggling to get any ball in to their forward line at this stage. The Beale half backs were now pushing forward
at every opportunity and this culminated in wing back Shane Joy kicking two
superb points from play in the 24th and 32nd
minutes. These two scores sandwiched a
pointed free by Curtin for Moyvane in the 30th minute and as the
teams retreated to the dressing rooms at half time, Moyvane led by 2-5 to 1-4.
On the resumption
Beale continued where they had left off and after a jinking run by corner
forward Tom Joy he floated over a beautiful point from play off his left foot
to reduce the deficit to three points.
With their midfield and half forward line now completely on top, they
reeled off three further quick fire points from play, two from centre forward
McMahon and the other an excellent kick from midfielder Declan Bambury from
forty odd metres which split the posts, and now the scores were level once more
and the game was well and truly on.
Bryan Stack moved
Moyvane ahead once more in the 44th minute and at this point they
also introduced the fresh legs of Ian McCarthy for the tiring David Moloney to
try and give some much needed impetus to their forward line. It was Beale who kept pressurising however
and after equalising through a pointed free from Blake they took the lead after
another trademark solo run by corner forward Joy.
Beale continued to
drive home their advantage with a point from play by Blake and a further point
from a free by McMahon in the 18th and 19th minutes and
Diarmuid Fitzmaurice was doing his best to keep Moyvane in the game at this
stage and he pulled off a third magnificent save with his foot also in the 19th
minute. Moyvane looked to their bench
once more and introduced John Jack Mulvihill for Conor Flynn in an attempt to
take advantage of the spare man in their forward line with full forward Curtin
still being double marked. Curtin at
this stage was moving out to the half forward line in an attempt to win
possession so as to try and manufacture the goal that you felt that Moyvane
needed at this juncture in order to save the game.
It paid no immediate
dividends however and when Beale extended their lead with points from play by
Blake once more and wing forward Jake O’Connell, the game ebbed to its
inevitable conclusion. Moyvane had one
last attempt to salvage a goal in the 72nd minute when a close in
free was struck powerfully goalward by Curtin but was well saved by Beale
keeper Sean Dee.
Beale now advance to a
semi final meeting with Listowel Emmets whereby they will hope to advance once
more to the final and go one step further than their loss to Finuge in the 2011
decider. For Moyvane they will be
disappointed with their fade out after such an impressive start but will
realise that a one point return in the second half was never going to be near
good enough to get them over the line in this game.
Man of
the Match: James McMahon, Beale
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