Five-star Mountbellew-Moylough hit the goal trail

Finnerty and Mulhern impress in win over Killannin

Mountbellew-Moylough 5-11

Killannin 1-11

By Oisín Noone

At Pearse Stadium

THREE first half goals built Mountbellew-Moylough a healthy advantage they never relinquished against Killannin in Friday's Senior Football Championship Group 1 opener in Salthill. This rematch of last year’s preliminary quarter-final, when Killannin overturned an 11-point deficit, bore little resemblance to that contest with Damien McHugh’s side in control throughout.

Neither side had a full pick, though Killannin felt the absentees more. Co-managers Kevin Walsh and Dave Melia, who were selectors last season under the late Gay O’Brien, were without several key players with Johnny Heaney, Dara Walsh and Ryan Roche topping the list.

Though chief scorer Barry McHugh is suspended until Round 3, Mountbellew-Moylough showed their depth with nine different scorers. Eoin Finnerty and Galway senior Ciarán Mulhern impressed in attack, while Patrick Kelly marked his return from long-term injury with 1-1 from the bench.

A slow start saw Mountbellew-Moylough dominate possession, with scores arriving more freely in the second quarter. Finnerty began brightly with two points from play but despite eight first half wides, Killannin drew level after 13 minutes when Cathal Walsh struck a sweet two-pointer. Their captain and centre-back Cathal Sweeney was already lost to injury, however, and his absence was felt as Mountbellew-Moylough began to expose gaps in the Killannin defence.

Goals from Mulhern, Tony Shields and Colin Ryan in the 15th, 19th and 28th minutes propelled Mountbellew-Moylough to a 3-5 to 0-5 half-time lead. James Walsh made two early saves before Mulhern capitalised on a rebound for the first green flag. Mulhern then set up Shields’ effort before a sharply taken sideline ball from Finnerty put Ryan through for a close-range finish.

Killannin responded through Brian Mitchell, target man Cian Folan and Enda Kelly (free), while Folan went closest to a goal when he rattled the post just before half-time.

Finnerty brought his tally to four points with a couple of frees, while also setting up James Foley, as Mountbellew-Moylough carried a commanding lead into the interval.

Facing a mountain to climb, Killannin’s struggles in front of the posts continued before the winners hit 1-3 with no reply. Mulhern pointed twice, also setting up Brian Noone, before Sean Kelly scored Mountbellew-Moylough’s fourth goal after 36 minutes.

Some hope for a Killannin revival was sparked after Enda Kelly’s free yielded an orange flag before Cian Folan outmuscled Billy Mannion for a goal after 46 minutes, reducing the gap to ten. That score gave the West Board side renewed hope under the new scoring rules.

Patrick Kelly finally put the game to bed with an almost immediate response as he netted his team’s fifth goal. He pointed in the next play and almost netted a second time as James Walsh was kept busy.

Kelly and Folan closed out Killannin’s scoring, while Shields pointed and 'keeper Michael Foley’s free provided Mountbellew-Moylough’s final score in a contest that had long been decided.

Mountbellew-Moylough face Corofin next. Picking up points against Claregalway is non-negotiable for Killannin as they await the return of key players.

MOUNTBELLEW-MOYLOUGH: M. Foley (0-1, free); A. Colleran, B. Mannion, J. Foley (0-1); B. Noone (0-1), J. Daly (captain), F. Colleran; M. Barrett, S. Kelly (1-0); C. Mannion, T. Shields (1-1). L. Donnellan; C. Mulhern (1-2), C. Ryan (1-0), E. Finnerty (0-4, 0-2 frees). Subs: O. O’Reilly, for Barrett, 37 mins; P. Kelly (1-1), for Noone, 41 mins; S. Fallon, for Finnerty inj., 46 mins.

KILLANNIN: J. Walsh; T. McAndrew, D. Henderson, R. Joyce; C. Kinnevey, C. Sweeney (captain), B. Mitchell (0-1); J. O’Toole, R. Melia; G. Bohan, E. Kelly (0-5, one 0-2 free, 0-2 frees), C. Walsh (0-1); K. O’Connor, C. Folan (1-3), P. Sweeney. Subs: S. Heffernan, for C. Sweeney inj., 11 mins; C. Marks, for Bohan, 38 mins; M. Geoghegan, for P. Sweeney, 54 mins; M. Maloney, for Kinnevey, 55 mins; P. Bohan (0-1), for Walsh, 58 mins.

REFEREE: Thomas Murphy.

HERALD SPORT MAN OF THE MATCH: Shared by Eoin Finnerty & Ciarán Mulhern (Mountbellew-Moylough)