Late O’Reilly points deny Kingscourt
The Stars looked set for victory when sub Ryan McCormack dived to palm the ball to the Mullahoran net less than a minute before the end of normal time.
McCormack’s major left Mullahoran trailing 1-6 to 1-8 but O’Reilly’s late brace of frees secured the draw
Wind-aided Mullahoran raced into a 1-3 to 0-0 lead, with Raymond Lynch goaling in the 9th minute.
The underdogs continued to hold the upper hand, with their two man full-forward line of world handball champion Paul Brady and his brother Philip always dangerous.
Points from Joe McMahon and Barry Reilly (free) reduced Mullahoran’s lead to four points by the end of the opening quarter.
Mullahoran’s superior strength and cunning in the close exchanges continued to see them win most of the battles in what turned out to be a real war of attrition.
Kingscourt’s younger legs and more accurate fist passing came to the fore in the third quarter as they slowly ate into their opponents’ 1-4 to 0-3 interval lead.
The town team outscored Mullahoran by four points to one to draw level, 0-8 to 1-5, after 47 minutes .
McCormack’s goal — after a sweeping move — steered Kingscourt into the lead for the first time in the match but O’Reilly stepped up to force the replay.
Meanwhile, Cavan GAA officials are set to meet tonight after Saturday’s SHC final between Mullahoran St. Joseph’s and Ballymachugh failed to take place. The game was postponed just hours before throw-in after Mullahoran stated they were unable to fulfil the fixture due to a large number of players being involved in yesterday’s SFC final against Kingscourt Stars.
