Fox and Delaney steer Moate CS home

Moate CS 0-9 St Joseph's Rochfortbridge 0-6

By Eamon A. Donoghue

Moate CS made heavy work of seeing off St Joseph’s, Rochfortbridge in the first round of the Leinster Schools SF 'A' championship on Tuesday of last week.

Playing on their home pitch, Moate CS had the strong wind at their backs from the off but they struggled in how best to use it. They had a game plan, and it seemed that, wind or no wind, it wasn’t changing. They had plenty of possession but lacked creativity and directness in their play.

Managed by Roscommon player Niall Daly, Moate struggled to mix up their build-up play and they were unable to find the target in the first quarter. They had their best period of the game in the second quarter and were in the ascendancy at half-time, leading 0-6 to 0-3.

It was the visitors, although playing against the wind, that started brightest. Ben Kennedy showed boldness and his 12th-minute score was one of the highlights of the game. He slipped past numerous opponents and then, with the outside of his left foot, he bisected the posts.

Kennedy was also fouled for their first score, Rory Cole kicking the free. Cole pointed his second free after Mark Doherty was fouled in the 15th minute. Moate had been doing a lot of huffing and puffing, but they had nothing to show for it on the scoreboard.

Having kicked a number of wides, the home side finally got up and running when Conor Fox kicked a score from 40 metres. Conaire Martin kicked a long range score in the 18th minute and then goalkeeper James Mitchell kicked their third score, leaving the sides level at 0-3 each by the 23rd minute.

Moate went into the ascendancy in the 25th minute, with midfielder Martin kicking his second point. In between a number of wides, Fox kicked two more frees to give last year's Leinster finalists a three-point lead at half-time.

The Moate forwards kicked just one score from play in the first half. The other scores from play came from their midfielder Martin and keeper Mitchell. The signs didn’t look good for them at half-time. Rochfortbridge, with the elements to come in the second half, appeared well placed to kick on for victory.

St Joseph's did cut the arrears after the turnaround, but they were slow about it. They lost Kennedy with a leg injury and they depended on Cole and Shane Cully for scores. Cully was fouled and he kicked the resultant free. The same player was unlucky moments later when his attempt came back off the post.

Then Cole kicked a score from play to cut the arrears even more. Cully was fouled again and he kicked the free to put just the bare minimum between the teams (Moate 0-7 St Joseph's 0-6) with minutes left to play.

Moate were struggling to manufacture scoring chances. They did attempt to score from distance a few times, but the wind was a factor.

They badly needed a score when Fox kicked his fourth point and then Darragh Delaney pointed his second free to extend the lead as the clock went red.

The Rochfortbridge boys needed a goal at this stage and they went close. After Joe Mulvanney floated the ball in around the Moate goal, Cully picked up the loose possession, but his goal attempt was blocked and with that came the final whistle.

Both teams will need to improve a lot if they are going to contest for the Leinster title.

Moate worked a lot of ball from deep through their keeper – a modern tactic that tends to annoy GAA supporters. In fairness to James Mitchell, he did kick Moate’s best score from play, though this is another sign of the need for change in the game. Moate will need to demonstrate better skills from their outfield players if they are to compete for the championship.

For St Joseph's part, if they had a little more boldness and went for scores with the wind in the second half, instead of keeping the ball, they could have won this game.

The Rochfortbridge side will need to avoid defeat in their next game against St Mary's, Edenderry to stay in the hunt.

Player of the match: Conor Fox (Moate CS). Fox wore the number nine jersey but played at centre half-forward. The Tubber player was direct and stylish in possession and his scores were crucial to Moate’s win. Conaire Martin looked impressive at midfield. For St Joseph's Rochfortbridge, Rory Cole carried them for long periods and Shane Cully was busy inside.

Key moments: A crucial moment for Rochfortbridge was their key forward Ben Kennedy going off injured. Wind assisted in the second half, the comeback was on when Kennedy went down with an injury, though he did come back on in the closing stages. Key for Moate was Fox’s score in the 54th minute; they had scored just once in the second half up to that point. That score turned the momentum back in Moate's favour and they saw out the win.

Scorers - Moate CS: C Fox 0-4 (2f), C Martin and D Delaney (2f) 0-2 each, J Mitchell 0-1. St Joseph's: R Cole 0-3 (2f), S Cully 0-2 (2f), B Kennedy 0-1.

Moate Community School: James Mitchell, Tom Gorman, Brian McCabe, Adam Keane, Cian Whitney, Tadhg Heavin, Cormac Murphy, Aodhan Curran, Conaire Martin, Padraig McLoughlin, Conor Fox, Hagan Niall, Tiernán O’Donovan, Aaron Murphy, Darragh Delaney. Subs: Darragh Madden for Gorman (40 mins).

St Joseph’s Rochfortbridge: Ciaran Kavanagh, Adam Smyth, Oisin Carroll, Joe Mulvanney, Ethan Hannon, Eoghan Daly, Cormac McKeogh, Callum McKeogh, Rory Cole, Mark Doherty, Conor Callaghan, Donnacha Coogan, Charlie Cullen, Ben Kennedy, Shane Cully. Subs: Shane Briody for Coogan (41 mins), Gavin Murphy for Kennedy (injured, 44), Ben Kennedy for Doherty (54), Ryan Murphy for Smyth (56).

Referee: Kevin Williamson (Offaly).