Blistering Mohill start blows Gortletteragh away

Maybe taking their inspiration from events in Pairs on Friday evening, Mohill flew out of the blocks like sprinters in this Connacht Gold SFC clash, leaving a shell-shocked Gortletteragh trailing in their wake in Philly McGuinness Park.

Inside the first eight minutes, Mohill hit two goals and six points to kill off this game before it even got started, recording their second win of the campaign and leaving Gortletteragh chasing shadows for the rest of the game despite knowing full well they would never catch their neighbours.

A bewildering array of scorers meant that Eamonn O’Hara’s side made light of the absence of Keith Beirne and Jordan Reynolds, prompting one to wonder if the defending champions are actually more potent without their two former Leitrim stars, the spread of scores meaning there is danger from every area of the field.

Perhaps the only concern for Mohill is that they haven’t been tested over their first two games against either Dromahair or Gortletteragh, winning margins of 19 and 18 points respectively don’t do much for road testing for harder battles ahead but one more win will be enough for the champions to be safely into the playoffs.

For Gortletteragh, this was a chastening experience after the boost they got from drawing with Glencar Manorhamilton as they struggled to match the intensity and pace of the champions in almost every department, leaving them to lick their wounds ahead of the third round next weekend.

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Gortletteragh will feel it should have been much closer - referee Martin Feeney awarded a penalty in the first half but then overturned the decision after consulting with his umpires while his umpires also disallowed a David Liu Doyle goal late in the second half, both decisions, in the eyes of this observer, spot on.

Domhnaill Flynn opened the scoring from a free after just forty seconds and in the very next attack, Flynn tried to curl a long range effort over the bar but the wind, Mohill were playing against it, held the ball up and Evan Harkin gathered, came around two men and buried the ball in the net.

Keith Keegan, Conor Quinn, Jack Rowley and Fiachra McGuinness all added points in the next five minutes before Shane Quinn, immense all day, turned the ball over, charged forward and off-loaded to Rowley who finished neatly to the net.

Seconds later, Flynn added his second point, this time from play, and Mohill were leading 2-6 to no score before eight minutes had passed. Evan Harkin was denied a goal chance by a timely block before Flynn added another good point for the champions.

The Mohill team who defeated Gortletteragh on Friday evening Picture: Willie Donnellan

A shell-shocked Gortletteragh opened their account with a Brendan Naughten free after 13 minutes but Mohill hit back with points from Shane Quinn and McGuinness. Gortletteragh were coming more into the game, Naughton missing a free before Barry Tiernan grabbed an errant Padraig Tighe kickout but the goal at his mercy, his shot went badly wide.

Sub David Liu Doyle made an instant impact with a fine point from play and Gortletteragh made it two in a row when Naughten converted a free. Typically, Mohill hit back with points from Ronan Gordon (2), Flynn and McGuinness.

Gortletteragh thought they had won a penalty when David Liu Doyle went down after he did well to get onto a wayward shot. Referee Martin Feeney awarded a penalty but after consulting with his umpires, he reversed his decision and booked Liu Doyle, Gortletteragh finishing the half with a Naughten free to leave Mohill 2-14 to 0-3 ahead at the break.

The second half was nowhere near the intensity of the first with Mohill hitting three points in the opening 16 minutes - Evan Harkin, Conor Quinn and Domhnaill Flynn on target. Nathan Ward got Gortletteragh’s first score after 49 minutes from a free and he added another from a mark six minutes later.

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Gortletteragh thought they had pulled a goal back when Liu Doyle palmed in a pass from Ryan Cunningham after 56 minutes but the Gortletteragh man was clearly in the square early. Nathan Ward would bring Gortletteragh’s scoring to a close, sandwiched between two Fiachra McGuinness scores as Mohill cruised home.

MOHILL

Scorers: Domhnaill Flynn 0-6, 2f; Fiachra McGuinness 0-5, 1M; Evan Harkin & Jack Rowley 1-1 each; Conor Quinn & Ronan Gordon (f) 0-2 each; Shane Quinn & Keith Keegan 0-1 each

Team: Padraig Tighe, Donal Duignan, James Mitchell, Ryan Bohan, David Mitchell, Shane Quinn, Sean Harkin, Domhnaill Flynn, Conor Quinn, Alan Tuthill, Keith Keegan, Evan Harkin, Ronan Gordon, Fiachra McGuinness, Jack Rowley. Subs: Johnny Boyle for D Mitchell (38); Adam McGuinness & Oscar Reynolds for Bohan & Gordon (43); Jamie Cosgrove for Rowley (47)

GORTLETTERAGH

Scorers: Brendan Naughton (3f) & Nathan Ward (2f, 1M) 0-3 each; David Liu Doyle 0-1

Team: Niall Tiernan, James Cunningham, Brendan Naughten, Conor Niblock, Eamon Reynolds, Gerard Campbell, Ryan Cunningham, Barry Tiernan, Evan Ward, Oisin Niblock, Oran Boyle, Cian McNulty, Nathan Ward, John Reynolds, Glen Ward. Subs: David Liu Doyle for G Ward (19); Noah McNulty for B Tiernan (35); Tom Crowe for O Niblock (47); Cian Mulvey for J Reynolds (59)

Referee: Martin Feeney