Harkin goal decisive in dour Halloween fare

An excellent Eoin Harkin goal in the 27th minute propelled Tara to their first victory, 1-9 to 0-6, of the 2024 Regional Championship in Dunganny last night and in the process extended Ardbraccan’s wretched record to five games without a win over two years, writes Davy Rispin.

Quality football was at a premium in atrocious conditions in Dunganny however the Bective, Blackhall Gaels and Dunsany troops with a splash of St Peter’s Dunboyne and Dunshaughlin thrown in for good measure provided the better passages of play and ultimately deserved their comfortable victory.

Craig Munnelly O’Toole and Luke Mitchell exchanged pointed marks inside the opening five minutes of the contest before Stephen Coogan would nudge the Dunderry, St Ultan’s, Cortown and Navan O’Mahonys region in front for the one and only time in the 10th minute.

From then until the 28th minute, Paul Garrigan’s side endured a barren spell with their opponents notching 1-3 without riposte.

Eoin Harkin, Con Smith and Mark Dowdall were all on target to hand David Gallagher’s men a 0-4 to 0-2 advantage entering the closing stages of the opening period. The superb Harkin then started and finished a flowing Tara move. The former County man embarked on a typically penetrative run before interchanging with Smith and firing to the corner of the net with his weaker left foot for a terrific major.

Evan Coffey and Ruairi Buchanan did muster a brace of quickfire scores for their team, but Paul Kelly and Harkin immediately cancelled these out prior to the interval to give their side a cushion, 1-6 to 0-4.

Conditions worsened during half time and the football did likewise with just five points shared between the teams in a drab second half. Cathal Murphy popped over a free for the opening score of the half seven minutes in before Ardbraccan threatened a rally thanks to a couple of scores from Adam Kelly and Munnelly O’Toole (free).

However, that effort from Munnelly O’Toole in the 43rd minute would prove to be Ardbraccan’s last act of defiance as Tara comfortably saw out time with the minimum of fuss.

Smith added two late scores to put some gloss on the scoreboard, the former ought to have been a second goal but for a magnificent reflex save from Colm McGearty. It mattered not though, as Tara resurrected their Regional Championship aspirations with a much-needed win.

Tara - Niall Flynn (Dunsany); Pauric Burke (Dunsany), Matthew Cully (Bective), Jack Grant (Bective); Conor Harkin (Dunsany), Sean Ryan (St Peter’s), Ciaran McCarrick (Dunshaughlin); James Cahill (Dunsany), Eoin Harkin (Dunsany 1-2); Paul Kelly (Blackhall Gaels 0-1), Con Smith (Bective 0-3, two frees), Mark Dowdall (Bective 0-1); Cathal Murphy (Dunsany 0-1 free), Pierre Fox (Dunsany), Luke Mitchell (Dunshaughlin 0-1 mark). Subs - Declan Smyth (Dunsany) for Mitchell 15 mins, Neil Dowdall (Bective) for Grant, Mark O’Brien (Bective) for M Dowdall both 40m, Shane Whitty (Blackhall Gaels) for Fox 41m, Luke Jennings (Blackhall Gaels) for Murphy 52m, Finn Murray (Bective) for Kelly 58m.

Ardbraccan - Colm McGearty (Cortown); Darragh Murphy (Navan O’Mahony’s), Sean Traynor (Dunderry), Declan Ball (St Ultan’s); Simon Carty (Dunderry), Brian Dillon (Navan O’Mahonys), Aodhan Mallon (Navan O’Mahonys); Cian McBride (St Ultan’s), Conor Finnegan (Navan O’Mahonys); Hugh Staunton (Cortown), Evan Coffey (Navan O’Mahony’s 0-1), Dermot Kelly (Dunderry); Craig Munnelly O’Toole (Navan O’Mahonys 0-2, one free, one mark), Stephen Coogan (Dunderry 0-1 mark), Ruairí Buchanan (St Ultan’s 0-1). Subs - Paddy Dillon (Navan O’Mahonys) for Staunton half-time, Adam Kelly (Dunderry 0-1) for Coogan 34 mins, Donagh Ó Laoire (Dunderry) for D Kelly 37m, Daragh Smith (Cortown) for P Dillon 41m, Tommy Buchanan (St Ultan’s) for R Buchanan 45m.

Referee - Keith Sheerin (Drumconrath).