Moortown arrived at Musgrave intent on putting on a show for their strong travelling squad. The Naomh Brid men were in no doubt they were in for a tough challenge in what for many was the first time back after last year’s impressive promotion from Div 5. Brigids were very slow off the blocks and Moortown took full advantage and gained a strong early dominance in proceedings with some very fluent football built with a lot of pace from defence. They raced into a 5 point lead without Brigids raising a flag and things weren’t looking well for the home team.
A few words from management on the side seemed to spark St Brigid’s into life midway through the first half with Bogue and Owens sorting out how to deal with the excellent talent that was the Moortown centre forward. With more confidence and intensity injected into Brigid’s play the scores began to mount up with fine efforts from Mackle and Sweeney. Niblock and the returning Malone showed signs of their ability and began to link up play effortlessly resulting in productive attacks with Moortown defence losing discipline on occasion and offering Brigids further opportunities to claw their way back into the game. Both teams continued to trade scores until deep into the first half when a fine move from Niblock resulted in Leonard slotting the ball calmly past the Moortown stopper. Game on.
Brigids began the second half well with a much more structured defence with Brennan and Smyth leading their troops with some big hits and telling interceptions. Dowling and Mackle were full of running in the forward line and caused Moortown defenders with endless problems. Leonard added to his personal tally with a fine score from a free kick around 45′ and after another fine move Dowling smashed home to reduce the gap to the minimum. However this proved to be the closest Brigids would get as they just ran out of steam after gifting Moortown such a big lead in the opening minutes. Moortown began to dominate midfield and the home side were under the kosh and unable to mount any telling attacks. After the Tyrone men had kicked over a quick-fire 3 unanswered points Brigids hit with an electric counter attack from deep in there half which resulted in McGrady going through one on one only to send the ball wide of the near post.
However, it was apparent the fitness levels of the Tyrone men were much superior as they ended the game on a high and come the final whistle they were full value for their victory. A fine performance from the travelling team who seemed very pleased to leave Musgrave with the spoils. However, Brigids showed some spells of brilliant football for early February which will provide a lot of confidence for both squad and management. the Ulster league is a great opportunity to brush away the cobwebs in preseason and hit the ground running for a good performance in Div 4 which should be the ultimate goal for this very talented Brigids side.
