Intermediate Football Championship quarter-final
Rostrevor 1-12 Saval 0-12
TOMAS Mulholland’s superb first-half goal separated the sides at the end of a titanic championship battle on Friday, as Rostrevor held on for a thoroughly deserved victory over dejected Saval at Burren.
DJ Morgan has had to endure his fair share of misfortune and frustration during his first year as Reds’ boss, but the steadfast efforts of Morgan and his staff over the campaign paid dividends as a host of his players; new and seasoned, delivered a statement performance to unseat the pre-competition favourites.
It was a clinical opening half; followed by a resilient second into the stiff wind, that sealed a semi-final berth for Rostrevor, with Saval’s sterling fightback and momentum being crucially repelled in the final quarter.
The stage was set for a riveting evening before a ball was thrown in, with both sides holding aces up their sleeves following the warm ups.
Pat Havern of Saval; along with the Reds’ Conor Doyle and Shaun Parr, would surely see action in the proverbial melting pot of the second half but their continued injury returns meant they watched on, as Rostrevor took charge of the opening period.
With the wind at their back, the Reds had an opportunity to take more risks in attack in the initial stages and their reward eventually arrived, as the first half wore on.
However, it was the men from the Rathfriland Road that made the first mark on the scoreboard with Daniel McCarthy; goalscorer in the 2022 decider, sending over a point from the first attack.
Colm Murney was briefly replaced by the aforementioned Doyle in the early stages, following a nasty collision in the same phase of play as the opening score, with the latter’s free eventually ending up in the hands of Tomas Mulholland who tapped over a leveller in the fourth minute.
Paddy Magee was involved as Mulholland put Rostrevor in front with a fine score; five minutes later, with James McConville benefitting off a run from McCarthy to level the scores once more by the end of a tight opening quarter.
In what was a tremendous start to the match by Tomas Mulholland, the Rostrevor man was at his very best to blast the contest into life in the 16th minute.
Conall Gordon found Ardghal MacMahon down the Reds’ right hand side with the Rostrevor full-forward sending a peach of a cross-field ball into Mulholland whose height allowed him the chance to touch the ball down to Peter Magee, under pressure. There was still work to do for the wingman, as the ball arrived back from Magee, but the ball was cutting through the air in a flash, as Mulholland crashed an effort past Conor McAteer and into the roof of the net from 18 yards.
A couple of Saval wides were further punished with Ardghal MacMahon and the fantastic Conor Rocks stretching the Rostrevor lead out to five by the 20th minute; 1-4 to 0-2.
Brendan Tumelty sent over a much needed Saval score from the dead ball, before trading frees with MacMahon, as Saval struggled to probe into the breeze from play.
A patient Rostrevor attack presented a scoring opportunity for Peter Magee to restore the five-point advantage, as the Reds faced up to the second half wind with a little more than something to hold onto.
In the full report there were some lessons to learn from how Saval played against Rostrevor.