We are underway here in Naomh Mearnog GAA club. A 1030 throw in on a Sunday morning. You love to see it. Unfortunately for Mearnogs the opening half didn’t go the way they would have liked it to. Craig Dias in the opening few minutes is dictating the play. He gets the opening 2 points of proceeding, before a Shane Kavanagh free gets Mearnogs up and running. 12 minutes in and disaster strikes. A low kick out due to the swerling wind gets intercepted and worked in where full forward Niall Mullin dispatches the ball to the net. This is an early sucker punch for the Mearnog boys, who are struggling with Kilmacuds running game. The same player then tagged on a fisted score leaving the score 1-4 to 0-2. Quick frees are exchanged one for Mullin and Mearnog respond quickly with a free from 30 meters from Kavanagh. On the restart, Mearnogs win primary possession and it’s booted into Michael Gibbs, the no 14 turning and adapting a shoot on site policy, which brings the Naomh Mearnog management and supporters alike to life. However over the course of the next few plays poor Naomh Mearnog discipline leads to 2 frees in succession. Leaving the score at 1-7 to 0-4. Hugh Kennedy then gets on the end of a lovely bit of interplay amongst the Crokes half forward line which leaves the score at 1-8 to 0-4. Another goal goes in soon after from an uncharacteristic defensive mistake. The goal is finished off by no 14 Dara Mullin. However Naomh Mearnogs no 9 Oisin Taylor has an instant response.The no 9 carrys the fight to Crokes. He kicks a beauty . Leaving the score 2-8 0-5. The Naomh Mearnog boys however are lacking that cutting edge. The exclusion of Shane Carty due to injury has hurt the team as Kilmacuds primary route to scores has been through no 8 Craig Dias. However at this level mistakes will be punished, but you can’t fault the Naomh Mearnogs bravery in possession. Karl Lynch Bassett at no 11 looks a fine talent. And with that comes half time. There is a few boys soul searching buts it’s early days in this league campaign. The second half gets underway with wing forward Kavanagh being replaced by Jamie Walsh. Also there is a tactical change with Bisset moving to midfield. However Kilmacud start the second half like they finished the first, with one of their starmen Hugh Kennedy converting from the left wing. From the next few minutes of play it is clear that Mearnogs have increased their work rate and intensity in the tackle. However being 10 points behind its more about pride in the jersey and working towards upcoming games it would seem. In the 38th minute ill discipline from the Mearnogs defense leads to another score from Kennedy . The wind has changed direction with just over 20 minutes remaining can Mearnogs change tactics to improve things? Niall Murphy of Naomh Mearnog is next on the scoresheet. He makes a fine catch in the right corner and splits the posts leaving the score Naomh Mearnog trailing 0-6 to 2-10. Murphy follows this up with a left footed kick from outside the D to raise hopes once more. It is telling that on more than one occasion, Naomh Mearnog have had great build up play but their attacks have broken down and been turned over by the more experienced Crokes outfit. Life ain’t easy at the top. Jamie Walsh no 20 of Mearnogs has looked very menicing since being introduced. He has gone at the Kilmacud defense and opened up space for his teammates. With 12 minutes to play Niall Murphy is replaced by Mearnogs No 18 Mark Phelan. Kilmacud bring on a flurry of substitutes to freshen up their options. With 10 minutes remaining off a fine piece of goalkeeping from Kilmacuds Conor Ferris, the ball is worked upfield with no 5 Cian O Connor dueling striking from the right hand side to put Kilmacud further ahead. The final 10 minutes are all about Kilmacud keeping the Mearnogs at arms length. Jamie Walsh wins a free in the 52nd minute finishing it himself. Before 2 further strikes from Dara Mullin gives the scoreline a glosser look. Mearnogs to their credit most definitely improved in the defensive side of their play. They flooded the middle 3rd in the 2nd half and held their own for long spells. Moving forward you could see that individual mistakes can be ironed out. No doubt they will learn from it and improve. The game finishes on a scoreline of Kilmacud Crokes 2-14 Naomh Mearnog 0-8. Both teams had some outstanding talent on display. For Kilmacud Dias, O Connor, Kennedy and Mullin were outstanding. These guys laid the foundations for this magnificent win. For Mearnogs Karl Lynch Bissett and Oisin Taylor in particular caught the eye. Expecting bigger and better things from this Mearnogs team as the league takes shape. Let’s see what happens.
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