Naomh Bríd keep hopes of promotion alive with victory over Moville

Naomh Bríd keep their hopes of pushing for promotion from Division 3 alive as they overcame a weakened Moville side on Sunday afternoon in Ballintra with the men in green coming out with a 2-12 to 3-5 victory.  

Moville would have been kicking themselves at the fact that it took them until the 29th minute to come alive in the game with their first score, and from then until the half-time whistle blew, they registered 1-2. 

But six points on the day from Eoin Rush and two goals from Aaron McGrory were enough to keep Naomh Bríd leading throughout despite serious questions being asked of Moville at different periods of the match. 

It was Naomh Bríd who started the better of the two teams and no doubt they would’ve been wondering how they failed not to have a greater lead in the first half.  

However, they still nailed over some fine points in the first half, with Gearoid Gallagher being used very well in the full-forward line, with the home team kicking the ball into space for the Naomh Bríd captain to run onto and exploit the Moville defense. 

And it was the towering forward who landed his team’s first point from a ‘Mark’ on the sixth minute which set the ball rolling for the remainder of the half with Donal Gallagher, Darren Russell, and Eoin Rush all raising white flags with the home side cruising into a 0-4 to no score lead by the 20-minute mark. 

The only real talking point up to that point was the two goal chances that Naomh Bríd let slip. The first came on the 10th minute when Ryan Brogan fired in a superb ball into Gallagher which left him one-on-one but he kicked wide. 

While moments later Aaron McGrory floated a superb ball into the Moville box, but goalkeeper Ciaran Bonner failed to control the flight of the ball leaving it for Eoin Quinn to grab and try attempt to blast into an empty net, but the half-forward miskicked and hit the crossbar instead. 

But Moville eventually turned up the gears and landed their first score on the 29th minute when Stephen Teles slotted home a goal with ease before Michael Barr hit back-to-back points, but Callum Gallagher would kick over from distance in what was the score of the half to leave it 1-2 to 0-6 at the break in favour of the home side. 

Naomh Bríd would start the second half with blast with Eoin Rush kicking over in the opening seconds to set the ball rolling with the half forward nailing over another four points before the half would end. 

But it was McGrory’s two goals, both within a minute of each other that gave Naomh Bríd a significant and more importantly safe lead. 

The first goal on the 41st minute saw Brogan drop an unreal ball over the heads of the Moville defense and on top of his teammate inside the penalty box for the corner-forward to kick into the net. 

While the second goal came from a nice team effort, with the south Donegal side pressing the Moville kickout, turning the ball over and darting in numbers towards the goal, with McGrory finishing into the net. 

But Moville didn’t die or give in with them popping up with two goals of their own, the first with Barr easily walking through the Naomh Bríd defense to finish the ball into the net, while the second was blasted home, again by Barr, into the roof of the goalmouth from a penalty following a foul inside the Naomh Bríd box.  

Leaving it tight and exciting for the final minutes of the match, it looked like the match could spin either way, but Rush was on hand to kick his side further into the lead as Naomh Bríd held out for the victory. 

Scorers – Naomh Bríd: Eoin Rush 0-6, 2fs, 1 ‘mark’; Aaron McGrory 2-0; Gearoid Gallagher 1 ‘mark’ and Darren Russell 0-2 each; Dónal Gallagher and Callum Gallagher 0-1 each. Moville: Michael Barr 2-2, 1 penalty; Stephen Teles 1-0; Dylan Doherty 0-2, 1 ‘45’; Evan Hudner 0-1. 

Naomh Bríd: Pauric McDaid; Richard Walsh, Gary McCafferty, Patrick Gormley; Callum McCafferty, Eoin McGarrigle, Dónal Gallagher; Cale Breslin, Callum Gallagher; Eoin Quinn, Darren Russell, Eoin Rush; Ryan Brogan, Gearoid Gallagher, Aaron McGrory. Darragh Brogan for Quinn (42 mins); Shaun Gormley for Gallagher (55 mins); Shane Walsh for Rush (59 mins). 

Moville: Ciaran Bonner; Brendan McClenaghan, Enda Faulkner, Daithí Peto; Josh McDermott, Shay McLaughlin, Mike McClenaghan; Michael Leech, Dylan Doherty; Nigel McMonagle, Michael Barr, Matthew Harkin; Evan Hudner, Stephen Teles, Lorcan Gillen. 

Referee: Greg McGroary