O'Neill saves Moneymore at the death for share of spoils

Moneymore 1-17 ... Doire Trasna 2-14

Tiernan O’Neill’s last ditch free gave Moneymore a deserved share of the spoils against Doire Trasna in a highly entertaining H&A Group Division 3 Football League encounter at McCracken Park on Sunday afternoon.

It capped off an impressive final quarter from the homeside who fought their way back into the contest as for long periods, it was looking like the victory points were heading to the Waterside.

When it comes to review time, the city men will look back on this one as a point lost rather than a point gained.

Trailing by one-point at the break, Colly McOwen’s side came flying out of the traps at the start of the second half. A 1-6 burst in the third quarter looked to have done enough to keep their 100% winning start to the season intact.

But failure to look after the ball in the final minutes led to their downfall and Moneymore more than made them pay for poor game management in those final minutes.

They can however point to the loss of midfielder Caolán Doyle and target man Eoghan Quigg to injury late in the game as possible reasons for letting this one slip. Quigg was very much the focal point of the Trasna attack, but injury forced his departure after 48 minutes.

Quigg finished the afternoon with 0-7 to his name, but Doyle’s absence hit Trasna harder. His influence in the middle sector was monumental. The former London player claimed three marks and his awareness to break the ball to teammates was also impressive. He was also a strong voice to the lesser experienced Pearse’s players in the team.

Once Doyle was forced off, also due to an injury, Moneymore, and in particular Conan McCoy took full advantage.

Moneymore manager Eunan Murray will have been delighted how his ever-improving team finished the contest. After a few disappointing campaigns, the Henry Joy’s have started this season impressively. Tiernan O’Neill is a lively and busy full forward, but an over reliance on himself and Aaron Moore’s place kicking may hinder their prospects of silverware come the business end of the season.

There were less than 60 seconds on the clock when Moore got a chance to show-off his place-kicking skills. The midfielder made no mistake when he dissected the posts from the left-wing for the first of his three two-point frees.

Frees from Tiernan O’Neill and Moore helped Moneymore to an early three-point lead but it wasn’t long before the tide turned in Pearse’s favour.

Doyle was starting to show his influence at midfield and this helped lay the foundations for a profitable spell for the visitors.

The impressive Conor O’Donnell joined the attack to claim a point on 9 minutes before Quigg, McGuinness and Doyle all got their names on the scoresheet, and after 15 minutes Pearse’s led 0-7 to 0-5.

Thanks to some good fortune, Moneymore regained the lead on 18 minutes. Tiernan Kelly’s attempt at a point dipped at the last second, and despite the best effects of Flynn Doherty, the ball ended up in the Doire Trasna net via the underside of the crossbar.

But just 4 minutes later, Trasna responded with a goal of their own. A well worked 45 set Cormac Murphy down the inside right channel and he picked out Doyle at the back post who duly punched the ball to the net to level the tie at 1-7 each with half time fast approaching.

However, there was still time for Tiernan O’Neill to give the hosts a one-point lead at the break 1-8 to 1-7.

Only two second half minutes had elapsed when Oran Donnelly waltzed through the heart of the home defence and neatly slide the ball under Ronan McKee to help Pearse’s regain the lead.

A Quigg free on 47 minutes opened up a six-point lead for Pearse’s, but astonishingly, this was their last score.

With Doyle and Quigg no longer involved, Pearse’s struggled for possession and scores, and Moore’s third two-pointer of the game in the 58th minute set up a tense finish.

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Moneymore had all the momentum, and it was no surprise that they worked one more opportunity which finished with Tiernan O’Neill tapping over a free to give his team a deserving point.

Teams and Scorers:

Moneymore: Ronan McKee, Andrew Walker, Luke Moran, Kian O’Neill, Chinese Okoronkwo, Mark McLaughlin, Ryan McKee, Conan McCoy, Aaron Moore (0-7 3 2pf 1f), Cormac Murphy (0-1), Maciej Orzel, Tiernan Kelly (1-1), Conan McAleese (0-2), Tiernan O’Neill (0-5 4f), Rory Young.

Replacements: Daniel Jackson for Orzel (46), Mark Bell (0-1) for Ryan McKee (46).

Yellow Card: Kelly (55).

Doire Trasna: Flynn Doherty, Shane Lyttle, David Officer, Adam McGuinness (0-4), Lorcán Doherty, Conor O’Donnell (0-1), Mark Healy, Cormac Kelly, Caolán Doyle (1-1), Oran Donnelly (1-0), Eoghan Devlin, Dylan Deery, Somhairle McFadden (0-1), Eoghan Quigg (0-7 5f), Tom Casey.

Replacements: John McKivergan for Deery (34), Connell Guille for Casey (42), Jack McCarron for Quigg (48), Sean Fleming for Doyle ((53), Niall Doherty for Healy (56).

Yellow Card: Doyle (16).

Referee: Mr Kevin McNally (Greenlough).