A second title for Moycullen hurlers

Moycullen - 3-14 Four Roads - 0-16 THE final score flattered newly crowned Galway Intermediate hurling champions Moycullen at Athleague on Sunday as the Roscommon standard-bearers from near the Galway border at Ballyforan were two points down midway through the second half and it wasn't until the final quarter that they clinched the Connacht Club Championship title. [private] Perhaps the massive effort it took for Moycullen to triumph over Killimordaly in the County final two weeks earlier took its toll, but they had their backs to the wall in the second half of the Connacht final as Four Roads turned a four-point interval deficit into a two-point lead. From leading by 1-9 to 0-8, with Christopher Hurney the goal scorer, Moycullen were then put under intense pressure as Shane Curley's free-taking expertise turned the game around for Four Roads to lead 0-15 to 1-10. Moycullen had only an Éanna Noone point added to their half-time tally at that stage but they then 'won' the closing 15 minutes of the game 2-4 to 0-1. Christopher Hurney hit the second and third goals to complete a hat-trick, while the Lydons, Éanna Noone, Vinnie Faherty and Niall Mannion also excelled for the winners. Under the management of Fergal Clancy, Moycullen will next play across-Channel against the London club Robert Emmet's, and next year the West Board club with a proud G.A.A. tradition will have senior teams in the Galway Football and Hurling Championships. The parish of Moycullen has also excelled down through the years in handball and basketball. Fergal Clancy has been quoted as saying that the footballers' All-Ireland Intermediate Club Championship success in February 2008 'is what's driving us now to do the same in hurling.' Moycullen Michael Darcy; S. R. McDermott, M. Donoghue, B. Faherty; T. Higgins (0-1), M. Lydon, S. Ó Fátharta; E. Noone (0-5, four frees), Pat Lydon (0-4); D. Kelly, V. Faherty, N. Mannion (0-1); C. Bohan, Philip Lydon (0-2), C. Hurney (3-1). Sub., Morgan Darcy, for Mannion, 60 mins. Four Roads: D. Dowd; C. Dowd, M. McLoughlin, D. Fallon; C. Coyle (0-1), M. Kelly (0-1), T. Lennon; J. Moran (0-1), B. Donnelly (0-2); J. Lawlor, P. Kelly (0-2), E. Mulry; S. Curley (0-8, all frees), J. Coyne, E. Rogerson (0-1). Sub., B. Kelly, for P. Kelly, 60 mins. Referee: Tony Carroll (Offaly). [/private]