Spirited Cortoon brought out the best in a top-class Mountbellew-Moylough team

By NOEL CARNEY Mountbellew-Moylough .2-14 Cortoon Shamrocks .3-6 THESE TWO TEAMS produced one of the most exciting games of the weekend at Tuam Stadium last Sunday evening but it was the Mountbellew-Moylough men who go through to the next round of the Claregalway Hotel and Bon Secours Hospital-sponsored Senior Football Championship thanks to their superior scoring power. They were pushed all the way, though, by Cortoon who were losing to the same opposition as last year when it took two very hard games to beat them. On this occasion it again took a massive effort by the winners to get past a very plucky Shamrocks outfit whose main strength was their ability to get goals.[private] Two major scores in the opening period by big full-forward Fergal Heverin from play after good work by the energetic Donal O'Neill, and a Derek Savage penalty after David Warde was fouled on a tremendous run through the Mountbellew-Moylough defence, gave Cortoon a wonderful start but they did not manage a point until 22 minutes had passed. It was Mountbellew-Moylough's ability to keep the white flag umpires busy that proved the difference and they emerged victorious by 16 scores to 9. Cortoon had to play with only 14 men for a quarter of the match. Indeed the Shamrocks supporters felt that the sending-off of wing-back Cathal Mulryan on a second yellow card when a linesman spotted an off-the-ball incident contributed to this defeat. They were only four points in arrears at the time, 2-11 to 3-4, with 16 minutes plus stoppage time remaining, so they have a valid argument. But as very few people saw what happened â€â€ most were following the play â€â€ there's no point dwelling on that incident. Cathal Mulryan will be free to play in their next game and that is what Cortoon must focus their minds on now. There was a real contrast between the way Cortoon started this game and the way they finished it, from a scoring perspective. They got two priceless goals in the opening ten minutes but could only manage a solitary point during the final quarter plus time added on for stoppages despite plenty of lion-hearted endeavour and trademark spirit. Mountbellew-Moylough, on the other hand, found scores easier to come by with Cathal Kenny and James Collevy in sparkling form up front while eager-beaver wing-back Gary Sweeney was causing havoc with his surging runs at unbelievable speed into the Shamrocks defence, particularly in the second half. Yet it was Cortoon who were in a good position early on. Even though they conceded a point within seconds to Barry McHugh, a Fergal Heverin goal set up by Donal O'Neill was the perfect response and when Derek Savage confidently tucked away a penalty when David Warde was fouled Mountbellew-Moylough might have been rattled. They were anything but though, and promptly reeled off a string of points from Paul Donnellan with a super effort from the wing, Joe Bergin, Cathal Kenny, James Collevy and Joe Meehan with a great free from out on the right sideline. In nine minutes they had drawn level with five unanswered scores and when Kenny blasted a penalty to the net after Barry McHugh was fouled it was 1-6 to 2-0 and betting people would have put their money on the M&Ms. David Warde got Cortoon's first point of the game to stop the rot but Cathal Kenny kicked a fabulous score from over forty metres out in reply and then came another turning point in the 25th minute when a Damien Varley cross for the Shamrocks was deflected to the net by Fergal Heverin and it was level pegging, 1-7 to 3-1. Again, Mountbellew-Moylough showed admirable composure, as they proved with a scoring burst of 1-2. James Collevy who was having a fine game at corner-forward and Joe Bergin who lofted a lovely effort from the right wing got the points, while Barry McHugh stole in for the goal when a mix-up among defenders left him free. David Warde, one of Cortoon's better players, got a point during that spell but his side trailed 2-9 to 3-2 at the break. The leaders sent on Mark Geraghty and Seán Sweeney for the second half but their lead was quickly cut when a fine delivery by the hard-working Adrian Varley found Derek Savage who pointed superbly, but Paddy Gardiner got one in reply and when David Warde converted a real pressure free James Collevy did likewise at the other end. Warde and the tireless David Finnegan were driving Cortoon on at midfield with Donal O'Neill playing a crucial role too, but they were finding it difficult to get scores. Mountbellew-Moylough goalkeeper Brian Donnellan brought off a fine save to deny Derek Savage and Cortoon's problems worsened when Cathal Mulryan was sent off. Another well-taken score by James Collevy made it 2-12 to 3-4 but Cortoon were fighting hard to get back into contention. Adrian Varley sent over one free after Fergal Heverin was fouled but another by Derek Savage failed to curl in enough. For all Cortoon's great effort, the Mountbellew-Moylough defence which looked distinctly shaky at times during the first half, particularly in the full-back line, was now coping comfortably and some wonderful counter-attacks by Gary Sweeney, especially during the final quarter, ensured that the M and Ms were always likely to score. The classy Cathal Kenny duly converted two late frees, either side of a Paul Varley point from play for the battling Shamrocks, and the Black and Amber men were safely through. Mountbellew-Moylough: B. Donnellan; C. Duffy, A. McHugh, J. Kelly; G. Sweeney, J. Moore, P. Donnellan (0-1); J. Bergin (0-2), D. Hogan; S. Boyle, C. Kenny (1-4, 1-0 penalty, 0-2 frees), P. Gardiner (0-1); J. Collevy (0-4, one free), J. Meehan (0-1, free), B. McHugh (1-1). Subs., S. Sweeney for Meehan, M. Geraghty for A. McHugh, A. McHugh for Kelly, A. Sweeney for Duffy. Cortoon Shamrocks: D. Flynn; A. Boyle, N. Connolly, M. Concannon; D. Varley, P. Varley (0-1), C. Mulryan; D. Warde (0-3, one free), D. Finnegan; A. McDonnell, A. Varley (0-1, free), S. Gilmore; D. Savage (1-1), F. Heverin (2-0), D. O'Neill. Subs., M. Costelloe for McDonnell, D. Heverin for Gilmore, B. Boyle for D. Varley, B. Walsh for F. Heverin, F. Heverin for A. Varley, inj. Referee: Gearóid Ó Conamha. Herald Sport Man of the Match: Cathal Kenny (Mountbellew-Moylough).[/private]