Scintilating second-half performance sees Fenagh fire past Rangers
Fenagh captain Cormac Lomax opened the scoring during his side's impressive victory over MLR on Sunday. Photo: Pat Ahern.
The bottom two sides in the Michael Lyng Motors Senior Football Championship went head-to-head on Sunday evening, as Fenagh and Mount Leinster Rangers went in search of their first points of the campaign.
Having lost both opening games, Fenagh are now off the mark thanks to a magnificent second half performance, led by their outstanding wing back, Padraig O'Brien, and two-point specialist, Padraig Hynes.
It was all square at half time, but Fenagh outscored Rangers by 1-10 to 0-3 after the restart to capture a fully deserved victory.
Taking place in McGrath Park in Bagenalstown, the game got underway at the tail end of a welcome shower of rain, with Cormac Lomax kicking Fenagh into an early lead.
Rangers responded in ferocious fashion, with an unanswered 1-4 inside ten minutes, which was started with a two-point free from captain, Fiachra Fitzpatrick.
Donagh Murphy and Conor Fenlon then added singles either side of the goal, which came when Murphy found Gary Kelly who forced the ball beyond Pat Butler.
Jack Kehoe pulled a score back for Fenagh midway through the half before tempers began to flare over. Referee Lar Murphy was in danger of losing control already and went to his pocket, flashing a black card on either side to Fenagh's Zach O'Hara and Rangers' Jack Griffit; but it did little to de-escalate the rising tensions.
The sides swapped two points apiece, with Ian Craddock and Jack Treacy on target for Fenagh, wiped out at the other end by Kelly and Fitzpatrick.
But Fenagh ended the half in some style, with a two-pointer each from Hynes and Craddock, before Hynes pointed again just before the break to send the sides into the changing rooms with honours even; 0-9 to 1-6.
Fenagh made the superior start to the second half, with Hynes kicking two-point frees either side of a Fitzpatrick free at the other end, sending Fenagh into a three-point advantage heading into the final 20 minutes.
Hynes and O'Hara added further scores before Murphy brought it back to a four-point game heading into the final quarter.
Kelly cut the gap further for Rangers, but two break-away moves from Fenagh produced scores from Ciaran Whelan and substitute Padraic Kearney.
Lar Murphy's yellow card got plenty of use in the second half, but it took until the 59th minute for the referee to produce a red, giving Jon Nolan his marching orders after a second bookable offence.
Fenagh closed the game out in style, with another two-point free from Hynes - his fourth orange flag of the game - before star wing back, O'Brien, played the ball over the top to Kearney, who put the cherry on top of a fine performance with a goal right at the end.
P Hynes 0-10 (3tpf, 1tp), P Kearney 1-1, I Craddock 0-3 (tp), C Lomax, J Kehoe, J Treacy, Z O'Hara and C Whelan 0-1 each.
G Kelly 1-2, F Fitzpatrick 0-4 (1tpf, 2f), D Murphy 0-2, C Fenlon 0-1.
Pat Butler; Darragh Byrne, Jamie McCabe, Mark Dermody; Padraig O'Brien, Jack Kehoe, Ciaran Whelan; Tommy Bric, Sean Murphy; Cormac Lomax, Colin Byrne, Ian Craddock; Jack Treacy, Padraig Hynes, Zach O'Hara.
Padraic Kearney for O'Hara (51).
Tomás Joyce; Jack Griffith, Jamie Nolan, Joe Dundon; Sean Joyce, Jon Nolan, Tim Brennan; Patrick Stafford, Evan Kealy; Conaill Fitzpatrick, Gary Kelly, Conor Fenlon; Donagh Murphy, Fiachra Fitzpatrick, Chris Nolan.
Eoin Doyle for Fenlon (HT), Kyle Nolan for Stafford (39), Richie Coady for Kelly (57).
Lar Murphy (Grange).
