Castlecomer 0-17
Mooncoin 1-12

It was the home side who were victorious in this all county league tie played at the Prince Grounds last Saturday evening. The commitment given by both sides was intense with some of the pulling similar to that of championship mode.

The visitors opened brightly thanks to points from Sean Wall and Liam Walsh; however the home side were quick to respond thanks to Conor Fogarty and Brian Dillon. The main Castlecomer threat was John Feehan and he began to take control at centre forward adding several points to their tally before half time. The visitors kept in touch thanks to points from the aforementioned Wall and Michael Purcell. At half time the home side led by 0-10 to 0-6.

The second period remained competitive throughout and the home side had the best of the early exchanges. The added to their tally thanks to points from Feehan, Barry Dunne and Michael Moran who could have rattled but his shot just sailed over. Mooncoin continued to battle hard and a point from Alan Walsh seemed to help them settle. A goal from a 21 metre free from Michael Purcell brought them right back into contention before points from John Phelan, Brendan Mackey and Thomas Kearns edged them into the lead.
However the home side had the last laugh with Barry Dunne and John Feehan adding points to give them the lead before substitute Anthony Ownes secured victory late on.

The competitive nature of the game and the fast surface ensured an intense encounter throughout. Even though some of the challenges weren’t the cleanest both teams tried their best to play good hurling. The home team had a series of good performers with Joe Meagher, Tomas Dwyer and Conor Fogarty best in defence. The midfield pairing of Brian Dillon and Donal Dunne were solid for the hour while up front Barry Dunne was threatening. However the performance of John Feehan was certainly outstanding and he was a major thorn in the side of the visitors defence for the full hour.

Mooncoin were short several key players and can take great credit considering these circumstances. The positive aspects that they can take from this game were the performances of Shane Walsh, Sean Wall, Michael Purcell and Liam Hennebry when returned to defence.

Scorers:
Castlecomer: J. Feehan (0-7); B. Dunne (0-3 2f); B. Dillon (0-2); P. Boran, M. Moran,
D. Dunne, A. Ownes (0-1 each); C. Fogarty (0-1 65)
Mooncoin: M. Purcell (1-3, 1-0f); S. Wall (0-4 1f); L. Walsh, J. Phelan, B. Mackey, A. Walsh, T. Kearns (0-1 each)

Teams:
Castlecomer: D. Fenlon; L. Shore; M. Ownes; J. Meagher; A. Holden; T. Dwyer;
C. Fogarty; B. Dillon; D. Dunne; D. O’Gorman; J. Feehan; P. Mullins; B. Dunne;
M. Moran; P. Boran. Subs: S. Dwyer; A. Ownes.
Mooncoin: P. Kinsella; J. Phelan; B. Quinn; O. Dunphy; C. Daly: L. Walsh; S. Walsh;
B. Mackey; S. Wall; L. Hennebry; A. Walsh; B. Purcell; K. Law; M. Purcell; T. Kearns.

Referee: P. Butler (Tullaroan)