Moydow Harpers 0-08 Grattan Og 0-12
Moydow Harpers were defeated by Grattan Og in a close Intermediate Championship contest at the Longford Slashers grounds on Friday evening last.
The game started with both teams trading points from an early stage. After the initial stages of the game, the Harpers defence gained dominance and snuffed out many Grattan Og attacks. However, some choice refereeing decisions offered the Stonepark outfit handy frees to push into the lead.
At the other end of the pitch, the Harpers forwards tormented the Grattan Og defence and good play from Paul Stuart and Ronan Mc an Bheatha reaped dividends in front of goal.
On the 20th minute, the Harpers were dealt yet another blow by the inept referee when Karol Farrell was shown a black card following Premier League style cheating by the Grattan Og centre-back. The Harpers re-shuffled the side and finished the half strong with a long range effort from Paul Stuart.
Half-time: Moydow Harpers 0-05 Grattan Og 0-05
The second half commenced with Grattan Og edging into the lead. This was a lead that Grattans never relinquished for the remainer of the game. The Harpers worked tirelessly and got back into the game with good work around the middle third of the pitch from Fergal Keenan and Cathal Hilliard.
However, Grattans made better use of their possession and converted further scores to leave a real uphill battle for the Harpers in the last 10 minutes. The Harpers chased the game and good scores from Paul Stuart and Mark Quinn made for a tense closing period. Indeed, the Harpers can feel hard done by on a couple of occasions when shots destined for the back of the net were foot blocked without penalty.
The Harpers now await the draw for the third round of the Intermediate Championship which will be held on Sunday night 10th Aug.
Team: Brendan Conway, Chad Costello, Conor Keenan, Gerard Farrell, Fergal Keenan, David Tiernan, Luke Costello, Karol Farrell, Mark Quinn, Cathal Hilliard, Niall Keenan, Paul Stuart, Gerard Slevin, Frank Doyle, Ronan Mc an Bheatha.
Subs: Sean Farrell, Colin Clyne, Frank Twaddle, Tom Hobin, John Doyle, Matthew Lee.
