SEVEN GOALS in the second half saw the crowd at Connolly Park get value for money yesterday as Malin scored a big win over St Naul’s.
Malin 6-9 St Naul’s 1-11
Malin started well getting great joy down the left with Brendan McLaughlin opening the scoring followed by Matthew Byrne with a long range score and then Stephen McLaughlin added another shortly after.
The visitors got off the mark when Shane Conneely’s shot from the left had to be pushed over by Darragh McLaughlin. Malin responded with Damien Harkin’s well timed run as he slotted over a rare point.
Stephen Griffin tapped over a free after Cathal Lowthar’s run had been halted. Malin came back with Matthew Byrne doing well up the right before cutting in and over with the left. Anthony Kelly scored a free when Stephen McLaughlin’s Usain Bolt-like run was halted by Brian McCabe who saw a black card dished out for his trouble.
[adrotate group=”68″]Mclaughlin”s speed again set up Matthew Byrne to advance and score to put Malin five ahead as the half time score read Malin 0-7 St Naul’s 0-2.
Matthew Byrne hit a beauty of a point right in front of the stand at the start of the second half before both sides missed goal chances.
Griffin hit a close in free as the Mountcharles men stayed in touch. A Malin fumble in defence was punished by Cathal Lowthar as he hit over from a central area and Griffin hit an excellent point with the outside of the boot as St Naul’s improved at the start of the second half.
[adrotate group=”46″]Conneely and Griffin worked a great move up the pitch and Malin looked set to concede a goal but they managed to get back well as Conneely settled for a point.
Malin then hit three goals in two minutes to put the game to bed.
The first a was a well worked move when a lovely through ball seeen Paul McLaughlin run down the right and shoot into the corner from outside the ‘13.
[adrotate group=”37″]Seamus Houghton then knocked down a long ball into Brendan Mclaughlin who finished with aplomb.
Kieron McColgan hit a third goal advancing in from the left and hitting high into the net.
They nearly had a fourth when Paul McLaughlin hit the base of the post but Matthew Byrne was on hand to make sure to get a point out of the move.
Malin got another goal when Stephen McLaughlin’s run drew in a defender and he passed to Seamus Houghton who hit between the keepers legs.
[adrotate group=”70″]Barry Rose jinked and hit a good score in reply for St Nauls. Brendan McCole also hit a good long range point for the visitors from the 45.
He added another a few minutes later from the left.
Declan Walsh then hit Malin’s fifth goal after Anthony Kelly put him through from the left and he cut in from the byline and hit a near post effort from the angle.
Barry Rose hit a good point from out on the toucline and the vistitors got a consolation goal when John Rose hit a fortunate effort for st Naul’s when his long ball in from the 45 out on the touch line deceived full-back, full-forward and keeper to creep in.
Malin came back immediately with a goal of their own with Seamus Houghton’s excellent high fetch and he had the composure to set up Dan McDaid who made no mistake one-on-one.
[adrotate group=”38″]Griffin hit a free but it was Malin’s day in the rain with plenty of goals on show to keep them in the promotion hunt.
Malin: Darragh McLaughlin; Michael McLaughlin, Conor Farren, Gary Farren; Kieron McColgan (1-0), Declan Walsh (1-0), Paul McLaughlin (1-0); Anthony Kelly (0-1), Christopher McLaughlin; Stephen McLaughlin (0-1), Matthew Byrne (0-5), Brendan Mclaughlin (1-1); Danny McCarron, Seamus Houghton (1-0), Damien Harkin (0-1). Subs: Adam Byrne for McCarron (half-time), Dan McDaid (1-0) for M Byrne (45), Darren McLarkey for C.Mclaughlin (50), Michael Byrne for McLarkey (52, black card).
St Naul’s: Paddy Burke; Conor McBrearty, Brendan McCole (0-2), Conor McDevitt; Martin Breslin, Aidan Kennedy, John Rose (1-0); Lee McBrearty, Des McGroarty; Cathal Lowther (0-1), Andrew Gallagher, Barry Rose (0-2); Shane Conneely (0-2), Stephen Griffin (0-4), Brian McCabe. Subs: Glen McDyre for Gallagher, Enda Lynch for McCabe (black card).
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