Kilkenny IHL- Determined Mooncoin march off with the spoils against Freshford

Clever use of possession, an injection of pace plus the handy knack of knowing when to strike helped Mooncoin sprint their way to a pair of intermediate league points.

The men from the South were far too sharp for St Lachtain’s (Freshford) to contend with when the sides met in the opening game of the third round at John Locke Park on Wednesday.

Mooncoin followed the simple idea of letting the ball do the work and did it to perfection as they swiftly dismantled their opponents with a display of mixing short snappy passing with zipped drives that allowed them to open up scoring spaces.

It was a game of two halves for Lachtain’s, who toiled in the opening 30 minutes and struggled to find any rhythm. Trailing by 10 points at half-time (1-11 to 0-4) they knew they needed a bigger performance after the restart and doubled their efforts, but were almost undone when Mooncoin took a big stride towards the win.

With the Freshford men bustling their way back into the game, Mooncoin made a move to shut them down. John Fitzgerald and Patrick Walsh worked two quick passes which sent Kevin Crowley motoring through on goal, but as he pulled the trigger he was hooked.

The hard-working side got a break though, as the loose sliotar spilled into the path of Lee Tracey, who rushed in to steer it home.

The new half was only three minutes old, but with a gap of 12 points (2-12 to 0-6) between the sides, Freshford knew they were facing a mountain to climb.

Much of Mooncoin’s platform was built in a sparkling first half performance. While they conceded the first point of the game, a fine solo score from a fast break by Brian Kennedy, they quickly set about putting daylight between themselves and their rivals. They almost made the perfect start, Killian Hogan teeing up Walsh for a shot at goal but Lachtain’s netminder Jordan Burke made a superb point-blank save to turn the ball out for a 65.

Once Hogan converted the 65 Mooncoin were up and running. Their fast and direct play yielded the next four points — John Fitzgerald’s score following a searing diagonal ball from Paul Henebery was the pick of the lot — before Adam Croke pushed them even further ahead by the 14th minute.

The impressive Hogan was the architect, running at the Lachtain’s defence before popping a pass off his right shoulder to Croke. His first shot brought a good save from Burke, but Freshford hesitancy allowed Croke to steal in and finish at the second attempt (1-5 to 0-1).

Lachtain’s were all at sea in the opening half. They failed to deal with Mooncoin’s swift passing game and seemed congested at times, leaving large spaces for their opponents to run into. The gap was up to 10 points before Cathal O’Leary got their second score from a 65 in the 19th minute. They had a goal chance of their own when a swift attack unlocked the Mooncoin defence, but Kennedy’s 21st minute shot crashed into the side netting.

Mooncoin heeded the let-off and picked up the pace again. Fast on the break, Jim Delahunty and John Fitzgerald tacked on further scores either side of a Killian Hogan free. Lachtain’s did finish the half with points from James Maher and Cathal O’Leary (free), but knew they needed a big second half to get back into the game (1-11 to 0-4).

While they suffered another setback when Mooncoin pounced for their second goal within minutes of the restart, Lachtain’s showed a more dogged side to their game after the interval. Pressing the Mooncoin defence they began to create more chances, leading to points from O’Leary, Patrick Killeen and Maher. That helped to close the gap, as did further points from Kennedy - a mammoth score from distance - and Maher, leaving eight between the sides by the 40th minute (2-13 to 0-11).

Mooncoin were a little wasteful in the second half - their wides tally was into double figures by the three-quarters stage - but they stemmed the Lachtain’s rally with scores from Walsh and wing-back Martin O’Neill.

The Saints made another drive to get back into the game, cutting three points off the deficit when Darren Brennan showed great strength to hold off two defenders and slam the sliotar home from close range, but they couldn’t build on the momentum that the 47th minute goal gave them.

As for Mooncoin, they regained their early composure and went back on the charge, hitting six points without reply to all but seal victory. Fitzgerald and Walsh led the way with a brace apiece, while the busy Fitzgerald also set up Martin Gannon for another score, shutting the door on a late Lachtain’s comeback.

Teams and Scorers

Mooncoin - Killian Hogan (0-7, 0-6 frees, 0-1 65); John Fitzgerald, Kevin Crowley (0-4 each); Adam Croke, Lee Tracey (1-0 each); Patrick Walsh (0-3); Ciaran Quilty (0-2); Jim Delahunty, Martin O’Neill, Martin Gannon (0-1 each).

St Lachtain’s - James Maher (0-4); Cathal O’Leary (0-3, 0-2 free, 0-1 65); Darren Brennan (1-0); Brian Kennedy (0-2); Allie Rafter, Patrick Killeen, Noel McGree (0-1 each).

Mooncoin - Eoin Purcell; Aidan Doyle, Cormac Daly, Sean O’Dwyer; Martin O’Neill, Paul Henebery, Jim Delahunty; Martin Gannon, Kevin Crowley; Adam Croke, John Fitzgerald, Ciaran Quilty; Killian Hogan, Patrick Walsh, Lee Tracey.

Subs: Mark Kearns, Cormac Fleming, Ethan Ryan, Stephen Crowley.

St Lachtain’s - Jordan Burke; Brendan Quinn, Harry Burke, Criomhtann Bergin; Simon Rafter, Mark Donnelly, Darragh Maher; Cathal O’Leary; Cormac Rafter, Allie Rafter; Darren Brennan, John Fitzpatrick, Brian Kennedy; Patrick Killeen, James Maher.

Subs: Alan Rafter, Jack Hickey, Noel McGree, Paul White.

Referee - Patrick O’Reilly