Mullinavat 2-13
Mooncoin 1-13

The third round of the Joe Coogan Auctioneer’s Intermediate hurling championship took place in Kilmacow. Mooncoin faced Mullinavat in an exciting local derby; full of passion and pride and no little skill on display. The Rod Iron men were quickly into their stride. They dominated the early exchanges and made it count on the scoreboard, registering a 0-8 to 0-1 lead after 20 minutes. The quality of the ball going into the forward division was excellent which made it even more difficult for our backs to contain the threat posed by an exciting forward line. Michael Murphy; Willie O’Dwyer; Conor Conway and young minor star Nicky Anthony all got in on the scoring act. Mooncoin began to settle and gradually edged their way back into the game. A Gerry Kirwin goal before the half-time break aided this process. Points from Diarmuid Mackey, Niall Mackey and Keith Kirwin ensured the minimum was between the sides at the interval (0-9) Ml. (1-5) Mn.

This was poor consolation for Mullinavat, who having done most of the hurling during this period still only took a single point lead to the dressing room. The situation could have got worse early in the 2nd half. Jamie McGrath was unlucky when he cut through the heart of the Mullinavat defence and kicked for goal. P.J. Alyward deflected the shot for a 65 however Diarmuid Mackey managed to point the resulting placed ball to leave the sides’ all square. Mackey added another point from a free before Keith Kirwin stretched the Mooncoin lead to two points (1-8)(0-9).

The response from Mullinavat was swift and deadly. A superb strike by young Nicholas Anthony landed in the back of the Mooncoin net before full forward Michael Murphy added further salt to the wound with another Mullinavat green flag to stretch their lead (2-9) (1-8). Murphy added another point from play but Thomas O’Hanlon cancelled that score with a pointed free. Four Diarmuid Mackey frees were cancelled out by a single Michael Murphy placed ball (2-10) (1-12). Jamie McGrath added further fuel to the fire with another point to leave it all square with 5 minutes left. However a stronger finish by Mullinavat ensured victory thanks to Murphy, O’Dwyer and Anthony all, taking point scoring opportunities late on.

Best for Mullinavat were Ger Anthony; Richie Raftice and Tom Frisby when introduced in defence, while up front Michael Murphy; Willie O’Dwyer and Nicholas Anthony were able to get the vital scores. For Mooncoin Thomas O’Hanlon was exceptional on a day when some of their players failed to deliver although Richard Mackey and Eoin Hennebry were sound in defence; Niall Mackey was good at midfield alongside Ray Wall while only Jamie McGrath and Diarmuid Mackey found any sort of form in the forward line.

Scorers
Mullinavat: M. Murphy (1-4 1f) W. O’Dwyer (0-5 4fs) N. Anthony (1-2)
C. Conway (0-2)
Mooncoin: D. Mackey (0-7 6fs + 165) G. Kirwin (1-0) K. Kirwin + J. McGrath (0-2) N. Mackey (0-1) T. O’Hanlon (0-1f)

Teams
Mullinavat: P.J. Alyward; R. Raftice; G. Anthony; S. Farrell; D. Alyward;
T. Duggan; K. Alyward; M. Duggan; W. O’Dwyer; L. Murphy; D. Butler;
N. Anthony; C. Conway; M. Murphy; J. Fennelly
Subs: T. Frisby; L. Alyward; P. Raftice.
Mooncoin: D. O’Brien; R. Mackey; Ed. Mackey; T. Hennebry; O. Dunphy;
E. Hennebry; T O’Hanlon; R. Wall; N. Mackey; E. Mackey; J. McGrath; G. Kirwin; K. Kirwin; D. Mackey; M. Purcell
Subs: S. Wall.

Referee: J.Bennett (Tullogher)