Ahane 3-13 Mungret 4-10
What can we say about this result? Despite dominating the first half to lead by six points at the interval, Ahane imploded in the second half and trailed by four points entering the final ten minutes. To their credit they picked themselves off the canvas with a great rally to record 1-2 in this spell and it was Mungret who showed great character to score the last point to secure a deserved draw.
From the off, Ahane set the tempo and Dan Morrissey converted two close in frees after William Shanahan and Barry Neville were fouled in possession. Good opportunities were spurned by William, Larry Hanley and Sean Morin to extend this lead and Mungret got off the mark when Ryan McAuley fouled his opponent and Mungret converted the resultant free kick. With Ahane dominating the midfield battle good ball continued to flow to the forward and William Shanahan netted the first goal after good approach work by Dan Morrissey and Barry Neville. Dan Morrissey converted another close range free after Dean Lillis was fouled to give them a commanding five point lead midway through the half. Mungret responded with a point by (10) from a turnover on the forty but Ahane continued to flow and Evan O Neill made it a seven point advantage when he found the net after being put through by a good pass from Iain Mooney.
Continuing to press into attack Ahane received their first setback of the evening when they conceded their first goal when a poorly directed hand-pass was intercepted, then driven forty meters down the pitch to the Mungret wing forward (10) who soloed another twenty meters before crashing the ball to the net to reduce the deficit to four. Unperturbed Ahane once again regained possession and scored four points without reply, the first by Dan Morrissey from play after good approach work by Ryan McAuley and Larry Hanley; the second from a free by Dan after Dean Lillis was fouled in possession; the third from Evan O’ Neill and Dave Marsden added the fourth after receiving a good ball from Barry Neville. In between Ahane missed a golden opportunity to add another goal and also lost William Shanahan who picked up a dislocated finger injury. With an eight point advantage Ahane turned over the ball to Mungret who countered and grabbed a second goal to give them hope as half time approached. On the stroke of half time Evan O’Neill added another minor from play to give Ahane a commanding six point lead 2-8 to 2-2 at the break.
Ahane resumed for the second half hoping to consolidate their lead but were in for a rude awakening by a determined and revitalised Mungret team. Showing much greater tenacity Mungret attacked and Richard and Gavin got their signals crossed to gift Mungret the opening goal of the half. Mungret added two further points , the first after Ryan fouled his opponent, and the second from play to leave just one between the sides. Ahane showing some composure put a good move together involving Dean Lillis, Dave Marsden and Larry Hanley to set-up Dan Morrissey for a point. Mungret however were now rampant at midfield and countered to score a goal and a point to take a two point lead. Ahane replied with a minor from play but Mungret continued to dominate and stretched their lead to three points when they added another two points. In the next rare attack for Ahane Dean Lillis was fouled and Dan Morrissey converted the free to reduce the Mungret lead to two. Mungret responded emphatically with two points to lead by four as the game entered the final ten minutes. Ahane never gave up and winning a rare kick out Dan Morrissey passed to Dean who passed to Evan who drove low and hard to the net to make it a one point game. Sensing that the game was there to be won Ahane scrapped for the next kick-out, delivered to Barry Neville who drew a foul and Dan Morrissey converted the resultant free to level matters. Iain Mooney then stepped into the fray to secure possession, solo ten meters to drive the ball over the bar to regain the lead for Ahane. Mungret then did likewise and in their next attack they leveled the match with a point from play. Ahane had one final chance to snatch victory but Mungret defended resolutely to the final whistle for a well deserved draw. Final score Mungret 4-10 Ahane 3-13. Mungret’s number 10 was man of the match.
Team Line-out: Gavin Byrnes, Andrew Minihan, Richard Ryan, Brian O’Keeffe, Sean Moran, Alan Cuneen, Ryan McAuley, Dan Morrissey (0-9; 6 frees and 3 from play) , Larry Hanley, Iain Mooney (0-1), Dean Lillis, William Shanahan (1-0), Evan O’Neill ( 2-2), Paul Fanning, Barry Neville. Dave Marsden (0-1) for William Shanahan (inj) , Tom Doheny, blood-sub for Alan Cuneen, John Hourigan for Gavin Byrnes, Diarmuid Regan.
With six points from five matches Ahane can qualify for the semi’s if they win against Kilmallock Sep 3rd at 7pm in Newgarden. Any other result and they’ll be requiring other results to go in their favour. Latest Table
