Moycullen pay the price for not putting away goal chances

Date Published: {J}

Killererin 2-8Moycullen 0-13

FRANK FARRAGHER

MOYCULLEN got many close glimpses of the finishing tape but it was Killererin who crossed it first with just a thread to spare after an exciting senior football championship quarter-final replay at Tuam Stadium on Sunday last.

Many observers expected Killererin to come through this replay with a bit to spare, a prognosis mainly based on the acquaintance of the Barnaderg club with the old citadel of Galway football, but they were made fight every inch of the way by a well motivated Moycullen outfit.In the end, it all came down to that absolutely critical quality of natural forward craft and finishing instinct – over the course of the hour, Killererin created two goal chances and took both of them while Moycullen had three gilt edged opportunities of major scores but missed the lot.

Padraic Joyce’s relationship with the town goal in Tuam Stadium reflected the essential difference between the sides – the club’s most famous forward just seems to have developed a natural equilibrium with that rood of ground made famous in the past by the likes of Purcell and Stockwell.

He hit 1-2 from play in the course of the game’s first 30 minutes, his goal probably being the defining score of the contest just before half-time when brother Tommie picked him out with an inch perfect 50 yard drop kick – the finish was clean and clinical with the Moycullen net rattling before Seamus Friel had a chance to move a tendon.

That score helped Killererin into a 2-3 to 0-5 interval lead and afforded them a decent level of breathing space, which they needed, given that they had played with a stiffish breeze into the stadium’s traditional scoring goal.

For more, read this week's Connacht Sentinel.