Forde ensures Moate All Whites maintain winning ways

Moate All Whites 0-14, Garrycastle 0-7

Eamon A. Donoghue

Moate All Whites made it two wins from two games in the Westmeath Senior Football Championship by beating Garrycastle at Páirc Chiaráin last Friday evening.

The victory saw the All Whites pick up their second win against Athlone opposition. They beat Athlone in the first round and now Garrycastle.

It was a slow ponderous first half where both teams struggled to put any combination play together, and they both struggled in the scoring department.

Moate were slightly the better side in the first half, Robbie Forde showing the way with three points. They played at a higher tempo than Garrycastle. They kicked good scores after some sharp build-ups, though some of their attacks broke down from tough tackling by the Garrycastle defence and some turnovers were self-inflicted, running the ball into waiting tacklers.

Garrycastle’s build-up was slower with a lot of lateral passing and such moves mostly came to nothing. They scored just 0-2 in the first half from play, the lively Jason Nugent and corner-forward James Sheerin the scorers, and they lacked cohesion in a major way. At half-time, Moate led by 0-5 to 0-3.

After the turnaround Moate got the second half scoring up and running from a Tobby Conteh free, following a foul on Forde. Moments later, Ronan Murray was fouled and Conteh kicked another free. Moate didn’t look back after that as they completely took over. They had pushed out their ascendancy to 0-10 to 0-3 by the 41st minute. Forde, Murray and Billy Berry all kicked points and each score was a dagger in Garrycastle hearts.

The fourth quarter was about the Moate team’s character. The Roscommon management duo of Liam McNeill and Noel Galvin are not long in the job. Moate are mainly a young team and they probably weren’t in this position before, leading comfortably in a championship game going into the final quarter. Could they see it out?

Garrycastle did respond somewhat but nothing that could be called a test for the inexperienced Moate team. Nugent, Sheerin and Eoin Monaghan kicked scores to cut the arrears but it was too little, too late.

Moate did push on, inspired by Daragh Lowry at the back and wing-back Sam Finnan, who kicked his third from play. Murray’s score was their last in added time and with it the final whistle.

The men in white won this game for a variety of reasons. Overall, they were simply better on the day and they also had too much pace for Garrycastle. They played the more direct football and at pace and that was the biggest difference between the teams.

Garrycastle were depleted, missing players of the calibre of Eoin Mulvihill and Alex Gardiner - two players who have featured for Westmeath at senior level. The green and red outfit is very much in transition at the moment and they need every player fit and available to be competitive, not to mind winning those championship games. Also, the loss through injury of Justin Barrett at midfield in the first half was just too much of a barrier for the former Westmeath and Leinster club champions.

Moate will take a lot from this win, and they showed they were able to match Garrycastle in the trench battle that was played in the first half. They also showed they were capable of pulling away and keeping that lead to the final whistle. They will face much tougher challenges down the road in the championship, but every game will be a step in their progress.

Man of the match: Daragh Lowry (Moate All Whites). The Moate Community School student caught the eye mainly with his pace. He was always out in front in the first half, thwarting a number of Garrycastle attacks. In the second half he broke Garrycastle’s hearts with lengthy solo runs from deep in his own defence. Sam Fannin kicked 0-3 from wing-back and Harry Niall put in a good shift at midfield. Ronan Murray, Tobby Conteh and Robbie Forde were lively in attack.

For Garrycastle, Gary McCallon, Justin Barrett and Jason Nugent (with both of the latter two players going off injured) were best.

Scorers - Moate: R Forde 0-4 (2f), S Fannin and R Murray 0-3 each, T Conteh 0-2 (2f), E Bracken and B Berry 0-1 each. Garrycastle: J Sheerin 0-3 (1f), J Nugent 0-2, C Mannion 0-1, E Monaghan 0-1f.

Moate All Whites: Richie Price; Tom Gorman, Andrew Gorman, Luke Whitney; Sam Fannin, James Bracken, Daragh Lowry; Cathal O’Brien, Harry Niall; Conor Bracken, Robbie Forde, Eoin Bracken; Billy Berry, Tobby Conteh, Ronan Murray. Subs used: Philip King for C Bracken (55 mins), Ruairi Cunningham for Conteh (57), Ronan Conway for Berry (60).

Garrycastle: Sean Brennan; Fergal McKiernan, Jack Donohue, Bill Kelly; Jack Mulvihill, Gary McCallon, Neal Rattigan; Conor McKiernan, Justin Barrett; Cathal Mannion, Eoin Monaghan, Jason Nugent; James Sheerin, James Dolan, John Gaffey. Subs used: Ger Heneghan for Barrett (injured, 40 mins), Killian Redmond for J Mulvihill (42), Cathal Redmond for Nugent (injured, 55), Doron Harte for C McKiernan (60).

Referee: Pat Fox (Rosemount).