Curraha 1.09 St Michael’s 0.06

Curraha hosted St. Michaels on Easter Saturday in Round 2 of the J.M Food Services League Division 2 clash. With both sides suffering first round defeats both sides were eager to get points on the board.

The game got underway at 5:30pm in Joe McDermott Park Curraha which was soft in places but was still in good shape considering the recent weather. Bryan Smith got the game underway and it was the away team who got on the score sheet first with a fine taken score from Gearóid O’ Malley after 3 minutes of play. Curraha opened their account with a fine point from Conor Moriarty from a free after a well worked team move. Curraha were forced into an early change with Dylan Rowland being introduced for Cian Heagney due to an injury with 8 minutes gone. Conor Moriarty registered his second point of the game and Curraha's second which came from a mark which was brilliantly delivered in by James McEntee. Curraha increased their lead to two when James McEntee got on the score sheet with a fine point from a free with 14 minutes gone. Curraha were forced into another change when Eric O ‘Donoghue was introduced for Ronan Flynn with 6 minutes remaining in the half. Paddy Fitzsimons got a fine score for St. Michael’s with 27 minutes gone in the half. Curraha found their scoring spree with 3 minutes remaining with points coming from Conor Moriarty from a free. One from Niall Murphy from play and another from Conor Moriarty from play, which would be the last play of the half.

Halftime score: Curraha 0.06 St. Michaels’s 0.02

Curraha had the aid of the wind for the second half and left off from where they were in the first with Niall Murphy kicking Curraha into a 5 point lead on the stroke of 9 minutes. St. Michael's weren't going to give up though and Cian McFadden brought the deficit back to 4 points with 10 minutes gone. The game was full of hard hits throughout and St. Michael’s were reduced to 14 men when Jack Dunne was shown a black card for pulling down Dylan Rowland. Conor Moriarty pushed Curraha's lead to 5 on the stroke of 12 minutes when he kicked over a free much to the delight of the home support. Curraha put the game to bed with 15 minutes remaining when Gavin Coyle finished off a fine team move and buried the ball to the back of the net. Curraha introduced Jared Roche for Mark Jackson with a quarter of an hour remaining. Roche immediately was involved and made a bursting run up the pitch from the St. Michael's 45 metre line and carried it the whole way to THE 21, his fine shot looked to be sailing over the bar only to be caught in the air by Conor Gilsenan the St. Michael's keeper. Shane Mc Donnell brought the deficit back to 7 when he converted a free to try and raise the St. Michael's spirits. Shane Mc Donnell was again on the score sheet minutes later with a free to leave 6 between the sides. Conor Moriarty put the game to bed when he kicked over his 6th point of the game from a free. Curraha introduced Daigh Fitzpatrick for Gavin Coyle with 5 minutes remaining. Brian O’ Reilly finished off the scoring for St. Michael's with 3 minutes remaining but it was too little too late.

A well and truly deserved win for the home team with great positives to take from the match. The next match is against Seneschalstown on Saturday the 6th of April at 4pm in Seneschalstown Gaa and hopefully the Curraha lads can secure a second win of their league campaign.

Curraha team and scorers.

Liam Hogan, Eoghan Burke, Matthew Webb, Ian Battersby, Seán Ronan, James McEntee(0.01F) Oisín Fay, Brian Joyce, Niall Murphy(0.02) Cian Heagney, Conor Moriarty(0.06) 0.04F, 0.01M, Mark Jackson, Ruairí O’Sullivan, Ronan Flynn, Gavin Coyle(1.00)

Subs used: Dylan Rowland for Cian Heagney, Eric O’Donoghue for Ronan Flynn, Jared Roche for Mark Jackson and Daigh Fitzpatrick for Gavin Coyle

CREDIT TO IVAN KEOGH FOR THE MATCH REPORT

SUPPORT OUR CLUB RACE NIGHT - https://www.currahagaa.com/articles/115331