LOUGHREA 4-15

MOYCULLEN 0-13

By OISÍN NOONE AT PEARSE STADIUM

FOUR opening half goals helped county champions Loughrea push past physical opposition Moycullen at Pearse Stadium on Sunday to book an eye-catching quarter final fixture against title contenders Clarinbridge.

Moycullen were up against a stung Loughrea side, who suffered a surprise round three defeat to Craughwell. The title holders had fallen behind by 12 points  at one juncture in that game, but made sure there would be no repeat occurrence in Salthill at the weekend.

Darren Shaughnessy starred on his return to Loughrea’s starting fifteen, recording a quick-fire brace during their first half goal fest. The in-form pairing of Vince Morgan and Martin McManus started and finished Loughrea’s goal run, and brought their championship tallies to 2-10 and 3-4 respectively after four games.

James Bradley was again Moycullen’s top scorer and he opened their account with a free that gave the rank outsiders – surprise winners over Gort last time out – an early lead.

That advantage didn’t last long as Loughrea began to bare their claws. Shaughnessy’s movement along with McManus and Morgan was too much for Moycullen to contain, as U-20-star Gavin Maher and Joe Mooney at six distributed well from out the field.

Sean Sweeney was deployed as a sweeper in the absence of usual centre-back Shane Morgan, one player in Loughrea’s long absentee list from this game which also included Jamie Ryan, Shane O’Brien, Oisín Coyle, Conor Jennings and Anthony Burns.

Fionn McDonagh’s return to the starting line up was a positive for Frank Enright’s charges, while Matt Donohue, Diarmuid Davoren, Eanna Noone, James Bradley, and Cian Folan are among key performers for Moycullen this season.

In an unusual scenario, Loughrea’s first half goal tally almost matched their points’ total. McManus, Shaughnessy and Tiernan Killeen all raising the white flag twice each.

Following on from earlier responses from Colm Cunningham and Mark Bradley, Moycullen struck five unanswered points through James Bradley (four) and Eanna Noone, reducing an 11-point deficit to six after 20 minutes.

Pictured: Moycullen’s Eanna Noone and Fiachra McDonagh follow the flight of the ball along with Loughrea’s Gavin Maher during Sunday’s Senior A preliminary quarter-final at Pearse Stadium. Photos: Joe O’Shaughnessy.