Malin upset odds to secure first leg championship victory over Aodh Ruadh

RTE Raidio na Gaeltachta senior football championship - First round, first leg.
16 July 2006
Aodh Ruadh 0-13
Malin 2-08
Sean Perry reports from Father Tierney Park.

Malin, undoubtedly, caused the surprise of the first round of the weekend in the Donegal senior football championship coming from eight points behind to edge out PJ McGowan's Aodh Ruadh in Fr. Tierney Park on Sunday afternoon.

In an amazing turnaround, Shane Ward received a straight red card in stoppage time at the end of the first half, Malin poached a soft goal and just five points separated the teams at the interval.

The Inishowen men used the extra man to great effect, an Aodh Ruadh side which strolled forward picking off scores at will in the first half were at sixes and sevens, as Malin upped the ante.

Outsiders may have tipped the Ballyshannon side to win with ease but Aodh Ruadh knew from an earlier league meeting between the sides in April, when matters finished all square, that Malin possess plenty of physical power and no small amount of ability.

It was only after seven minutes of the second half that the Inishowen side registered their first point of the game, a pointed free from the trusty right boot of Anthony Kelly.

Martin Lafferty drilled home his second goal of the game after a lapse in concentration by the Aodh Ruadh defence after 41 minutes, that left just 2 points between the sides.

However the reliable Val Murray had Aodh Ruadh two points in front with just seven minutes remaining, it was his sixth score of the afternoon but still, Malin refused to buckle. Anthony Kelly knocked over a beauty from away out on the wing and when Martin Lafferty took off in the last minute of normal time, there was an air of inevitability about the attack as he punched the ball over the bar for the winning score.

Five minutes of stoppage time couldn't produce an equaliser as Roper and Ciron Whoriskey tried desperately but blazed shots wide of the Malin goal.

Vital Statistics
Teams
Aodh Ruadh K O'Brien; J Gallagher, M Gallagher, P O'Reilly; C Whoriskey, T McPhelim, M Gurn; S Ward, B Ward; S Ward (0-2, 1 free), B Roper (0-1), S Kane (0-2); G Blake, V Murray (0-6, 2 frees), A Boyle. Substitutions M Lawless (0-2) for Boyle, B Mulligan for Kane.
Malin D Lafferty; J McLaughlin, P Lafferty, J McLaughlin; D Ward, C Byrne, D Greene; S Kelly, D Harkin; D Walsh, A Kelly (0-5 all frees), Ml Byrne; Matthew Byrne (0-1), M. Lafferty (2-1), D Diver. Substitutions D Lafferty (0-1) for Diver.
Referee
Trevor McBrearty (Kilcar)

Report Filed: 31 July 2006