Moycullen bounce back to senior ranks with a bang!

Kilconly 0-8

HAVING veered between the Intermediate and Senior ranks for spells in the past decade, Moycullen are carrying significant hope again with Sunday’s win over Kilconly at Pearse Stadium every bit as comfortable as the scoreline suggests.

Michael Donnellan has constructed a physical and pacy team that is ready to perform and pose questions at this level. The experience brought by Gareth Bradshaw, Seosamh O Fatharta, and David Wynne dovetails nicely with the considerable promise of youngsters like Sean Kelly and Dessie Conneely, who appear ready to make an impact in the green and white shirt.

Kilconly were surprisingly accommodating opponents, especially in a first half that was dominated by Moycullen, who set the tone. At the break Kilconly were fortunate to only trail by 1-8 to 0-3 because Moycullen had ruled the match with Wynne and Bradshaw highly effective.

Wynne excelled in a withdrawn role, while Bradshaw was always influential at centre-forward ensuring Kilconly were pegged back throughout the opening period. Such was Moycullen’s utter control, Kilconly failed to score until the 20th minute and they were restricted to six shooting attempts before the break.

At the opposite end, Moycullen converted 1-8 from 14 opportunities, meaning that the margin of victory was all that needed to be determined after the restart. That illustrated how impressive a return to the top flight it was for a Moycullen outfit that seized the initiative early on.

A flurry of Moycullen points from Bradshaw, Peter Cooke (free), Wynne, and the splendid Kelly had the West Board side 0-4 to 0-0 ahead by the 17th minute. Indeed during that initial Moycullen burst Kelly had a goal effort blocked, but Kilconly did muster a reply of sorts.

Conor Marsden terminated a lengthy search for a Kilconly score, but Moycullen weren’t overly concerned. Another purposeful Moycullen spell yielded points for Conor Bohan, Bradshaw, and Brian Faherty as the interval approached.

JP Steede, who is still a key contributor for Kilconly, slung over a delightful point on the turn, but then Moycullen pounced for the decisive goal. Pat Lydon’s clever flick released Kelly, and the talented teenager was sufficiently skillful to net a goal for Moycullen.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.