A poignant minute’s silence in memory of Cloughaneely club man Séamus MacGéidigh preceded what was a very important, high intensity match between Cloughaneely and Malin.
Cloughaneely 0-12 Malin 0-12
The home side were first on the scoreboard and knocked over three unanswered points within the first 11 minutes thanks to the finishing touches of Shaun McGuire and John McGarvey.
Malin’s response began in the 16th minute when Malin top scorer Matthew Byrne knocked over the visitors’ first point of the day.
Cloughaneely’sCillian Gallagher got his name on the score sheet on the 21st minute, a point which was quickly cancelled out by Byrne again. Further first half points for the home side came from John McGarvey and Shaun McGarvey; with Damien Harkin and a converted free from Anthony Kelly adding to the visitors’ tally.
Just before the half-time whistle Malin’s Gary Farren found Brendan McLaughlin who took a shot on target which hit the upright before being cleared to safety by Cloughaneely’s Michael McCausland.
The home side were 0-7 to 0-4 up at the break.
[adrotate group=”70″]The Cloughaneely men got off to a storming start to the second half with Shaun McGarvey feeding Shaun McGuire with a perfect ball to register the first second half point straight from throw-in.
Cloughaneely again won the subsequent kick out which Shaun McGarvey knocked over to put the home side five points ahead. Malin then stepped up a gear and managed to keep Cloughaneelyscoreless for a period of 20 minutes during which time Malin made a strong comeback.
Malin points were attributed to an array of scorers from Matthew Byrne, Brendan McLaughlin, Stephen McLaughlin, Declan Walsh and Anthony Kelly; which saw Malin go 1 point ahead of CCF in the 50th minute which made for a nail biting final 10 minutes.
The game progressed on a point for point basis. Shaun McGarvey managed to bring the game level for the second time in the game with a 23rd minute converted free; however Matthew Byrne, having received the ball from the kickout, again put Malin one point ahead after a storming run down the middle.
[adrotate group=”68″]Cloughaneely substitute Lee O’Brien did excellent work to win the ball, after a goal mouth scramble, and knock over a point in the dying seconds of normal time to put the hosts one point ahead. In the second of injury time Malin were then awarded a free which Brendan McLaughlin easily converted to draw the game level before the final whistle.
Cloughaneely: Ciaran Gallagher, Ciaran McGeady, Paul McFadden, John Harley, Ciaran McFadden, Paddy Cannon, Ronan Cannon, Darren McGeever, Michael McCausland, John McGarvey (0-2), Kevin Mulhern, Shaun McGarvey (0-4, 1f), Martin McGuire, Shaun McGuire (0-4, 1f), Cillian Gallagher (0-1). Subs: Lee O’Brien (0-1) for Harley (44), Darren Ferry for McGarvey (48), Eugene McGuire for M McGuire (49)
Malin: Darragh McLaughlin, Michael McLaughlin, Connor Farren, Gary Farren, Kieron McColgan, Declan Walsh (0-1), Paul McLaughlin, Anthony Kelly (0-2, 1f), Christopher McLaughlin, Stephen McLaughlin (0-1), Daniel McDaid, Brendan McLaughlin (0-2, f), Matthew Byrne (0-5, 1f), Seamus Houghton, Damien Harkin (0-1).
Tags: