Newcastle West deny Galtee Gaels' storming comeback to earn dramatic draw in Limerick SFC

NEWCASTLE West needed an injury time Eoin Hurley free to scrape a 3-12 to 2-15 draw with Galtee Gaels in their Irish Wire Products Limerick SFC Round Four clash at Fitzgerald Park, Kilmallock on Saturday afternoon.

The Magpies had led by 11 points at half time with Iain Corbett raising two green flags, while Bryan Nix also added a three-pointer.

However, Galtee Gaels fought back gallantly after the break with goals from Alan Condon and a late one from Conor Moriarty.

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Moriarty’s strike in the 59th minute saw Galtee Gaels hit the front for the first time, only for Hurley to give Newcastle West their second draw in as many games.

The contest started at a ferocious pace with Newcastle West hitting the front on four minutes courtesy of a sharp Sean Murphy two-pointer from play.

Zach McCarthy replied for Galtee Gaels with an excellent score but Todd Donovan’s effort had Newcastle West leading 0-3 to 0-1 after six minutes.

Alan Condon reduced the deficit to one before McCarthy hit the target once again to level the game for the first time.

A Thomas Quilligan free restored the advantage for Newcastle West and it was further enhanced when Michael Cremin was fouled inside the large parallelogram.

Corbett stepped up and sent Danny McGrath the wrong way with a placed shot into the bottom left hand corner with 16 minutes played.

Bob Childs countered for Galtee Gaels with two excellent scores from play to reduce the gap to two but Bryan Nix made it a three-point game moments later.

The same man was on hand to finish for Newcastle West’s second goal on 24 minutes after a sweeping move involving Thomas Quilligan and Corbett. Nix found the net with a palmed effort to leave the score at 2-5 to 0-5.

That lead was soon at nine points when Corbett raced away after being found by Darren O’Doherty and provided a cool finish to the left bottom corner once more.

Eoin Hurley then kicked a free, that was followed by a two-pointer from play to put his side 3-7 to 0-5 ahead at the short whistle.

Galtee Gaels came out a different outfit in the second half with a Childs two-point free and then Condon fired to the net after being set up by Conor McGrath.

Childs and Sean Casey then brought the deficit back to six with points in quick succession and then Maurice O’Sullivan landed a two-pointer from play to leave the score at 3-9 to 1-11 on 42 minutes.

Quilligan settled Newcastle with a free but Galtee kept on coming back. Childs sent over a couple of two-pointers before Moriarty’s goal saw them one clear heading into added time.

However, the nerveless Hurley ensured the game finished level with his 61st minute free seeing the final scoreline at 3-12 to 2-15.

SCORERS: Newcastle West: Iain Corbett 2-0 (1-0pen), Eoin Hurley 0-5 (3f), Bryan Nix 1-1, Thomas Quilligan 0-3 (3f), Sean Murphy 0-2, Todd Donovan 0-1. Galtee Gaels: Bob Childs 0-9 (3 2pf, 2f), Alan Condon 1-1, Conor Moriarty 1-0, Zach McCarthy and Maurice O’Sullivan 0-2 each, Sean Casey 0-1.

NEWCASTLE WEST: Mike Quilligan; Darren O’Doherty, Michael Cremin, Brian O’Sullivan; Lee Woulfe, Ruadhan O’Connor, Aaron Neville; Iain Corbett, Sean Murphy; Tonn Donovan, Bryan Nix, Thomas Quilligan; Brian Hurley, Mike McMahon, Bryan Nix. Subs: Cian Sheehan for Donovan (47 mins), Brian Foley for Murphy (52 mins).

GALTEE GAELS: Danny McGrath; Eoin Gallahue, Declan Moriarty, Alan Coughlan; Edward Quinn, Maurice O’Sullivan, Eoghan McNamara; Tommie Childs, Sean Clancy; Jack Ryan, Alan Condon, Bob Childs; Sean Casey, Conor McGrath, Zach McCarthy. Subs: Cian Ryan for Clancy (42 mins), Conor Moriarty for Coughlan (46 mins).

Referee: Timmy McGrath (Oola).