Curraha opened their league campaign for 2023 by welcoming Navan O'Mahony's to Joe McDermott Park on Sunday morning, with the game played in perfect conditions.
The opening exchanges were a tight affair, with both sides probing cautiously, and registering a couple of early wides. O'Mahony's registered the opening score of the game with a 6tm minute free, and this was almost immediately cancelled out as Curraha went straight up the field to level. Luke McCarthy's accurate kick out was fielded by James McEntee who laid off to Niall Murphy who fed Andrew Coyle to fire over from the right hand side. Coyle registered the game's next score 5 minutes later. Sean Ronan done brilliantly to turnover possession, and Brian Joyce played an outstanding ball in to Coyle, who gathered and fisted the ball over the bar. Curraha won possession from the kick-out and worked the ball to Ruairí O'Sullivan who took his point well to leave the 'Ha ahead by 2 after 13 minutes. The visitors were spurred into action, and they responded well, registering the next 5 points of the game to open up a 3 point lead. This was followed by a crucial moment in the game, as a long range attempt at a point crept under the crossbar for the games opening goal, and the gap between the sides was now 6. Andrew Coyle pulled a point back after holding off a number of challenges on the edge of the square, but a further point for the Navan outfit left them in a strong position at half-time.
The visitor registered the first score of the 2nd half with an early free. Neil Shortall scored an excellent long-range free from out on the right hand side, and McEntee followed up with a free almost immediately, after great work by O'Sullivan. Curraha's second half performance was much improved, but the visitors were tagging on scores of their own to keep a comfortable gap in the scoreline. They hit a purple pitch around the 1oth minute, and fired over 6 unanswered points to pull away again. Substitute Danial Doran got his name on the scoreboard with a well taken point, with McEntee adding another after Niall Murphy had done brilliantly to win a breaking ball. Murphy and McEntee combined again, with the former's long ball in gathered by McEntee, who skinned his man and finished to the top corner of the net from around the penalty spot. Another McEntee free completed the scoring, as the visitors were mostly content to sit deep and see the game out.
Next up for Curraha is a trip to Rathkenny on Sunday March 12th. Throw in at 2pm.
Full Time: Curraha 1-10 Navan O'Mahonys 1-17
Curraha: Luke McCarthy, Ian Battersby, Matthew Webb, Seamus Hogan, Oisin Fay, Neil Shortall (0-1), Conor Joyce, Niall Murphy, Brian Joyce, Sean Ronan, Andrew Coyle (0-3), Ruairí O'Sullivan (0-1), Gavin Coyle, James McEntee (1-4), Cian Heagney
Subs: Mark Jackson for Gavin Coyle, Daniel Doran (0-1) for Cian Heagney
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