The ability to learn from your mistakes is often a crucial factor in sport and Melvin Gaels demonstrated that in some style last Sunday evening in Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada as they took advantage of two crucial errors from Mohill to record a victory that was more comfortable than the scoreline suggests!

Melvin Gaels .................2-11 Mohill .............................1-9

by John Connolly

Two Mohill mistakes led directly to two Melvin Gaels goals but the Kinlough men were far more comfortable throughout the game than they were in the drawn game as they obviously learned from what went wrong in that encounter.

George Dugdale was never allowed to charge through the middle the way he did in the drawn game while the Melvin Gaels defence were far, far sharper in an impressive display of intent.

And upfront, Melvin Gaels were far, far sharper with Liam Gilmartin looking a far different player. Last Sunday, he was involved in the play, looked sharp and roamed around with effect and the addition of Brendan Brennan added a lot of potency to the full-forward line where Gerry McGurrin again caused untold problems.

McGurrin took advantage of a very uncharacteristic mistake by Michael McGuinness to blast home an early goal. But Mohill didn’t know how to deal with the big Kinlough man as they tried out three different markers on him without any great deal of success.

Mohill too couldn’t match the physical power of the Kinlough side and Mohill were never able to build up any rhythm or momentum thanks to the shuddering tackles that flew in time and time again. A few Melvin Gaels players were lucky only to receive yellow cards for some heavy tackles.

Unfortunately, the match was nowhere near as entertaining or as open as the drawn game a week before - the Gaels controlled the game and put their stamp on it during the second half when they pulled away convincingly form their opponents.

Mohill never moved with the same sort of spirit or adventure that they displayed so much in the drawn game, perhaps thinking deep down that they lost their chance in the drawn game.

They did have a few chances, particularly early in the second half, but were unable to take them. With Dugdale and Peter Gaffey effectively shackled and no

Mohill attacker allowed the room they got the previous week, their game plan suffered.

Melvin Gaels game plan may have been simple in the extreme with high balls being hit time and time again into McGurrin but with Gilmartin lurking so effectively, it worked and the Gaels are a good bet for the remainder of the competition.

A first minute foul on Liam Gilmartin saw Gilmartin slot over the free but Peter Gaffey replied with a low driving shot from 35 yards out after a Dugdale pass. A minute later, James Gaffey pointed a fine curling effort when Dugdale tipped on a Shane Canning ball.

But then came disaster for Mohill when a high James Phelan ball was inexplicably dropped by Michael McGuinness. To compound the error, he slipped and Gerry McGurrin nicely sidefooted the ball past an advancing Gerry Costello for a dramatic goal.

However, Mohill responded well as a foul on John McGuinness earned Padraig McGloin a yellow card and Peter Gaffey popped over a free after Joe Tiffoney was harshly punished for picking the ball off the ground.

Straight from the kickout, George Dugdale scored a fine point on the run to level the score but Mohill missed a couple of chances through Dugdale & John McGuinness while Martin McCarron and Gilmartin both missed chances.

However, a more active Gareth Foley converted a free to regain the lead but Liam Gilmartin wasted a good chance after a brilliant jinxing run. George Dugdale also went close to a goal with a powerful shot that flew over the bar with nine minutes of the half left following a run.

With two minutes to go, a terrible Peter Gaffey mistake saw Brendan Brennan sweep over a point. Gareth Foley was yellow carded but the game was then held up for a bad knee injury to Seamus McCrann, a loss Mohill could not afford even though McCrann was not as effective as the previous week.

Two Gaffey points in added time, one from a free, put Mohill in front but a very harsh

call for a pick-up allowed Liam Gilmartin to level. And just before the break, Anthony Tiffoney tipped a McCarron cross back to Liam Gilmartin who pointed.

That gave Melvin Gaels a 1-5 to 0-7 lead at the break and despite Mohill bringing on Philip Casserly for Shane Kilrane, Melvin Gaels set about putting the game beyond Mohill.

After just forty-five seconds, Gilmartin converted a free and, two minutes in, Gerry McGurrin fisted over a Gilmartin free to stretch the lead to an ominous looking three points. However, Mohill did have their chances and a powerful Shane Canning run ended with John McGuinness firing wide from close range.

They did get a point but it could have been so much more as Peter Gaffey set up brother James but Gareth Phelan made a brilliant save to deny him a goal. However, Gaffey did put the rebound over the bar after six minutes.

Joe Tiffoney was yellow carded for a late foul on John McGuinness but Gilmartin restored the three point lead when a long ball saw McGurrin work hard to set up his teammate for a great score.

Dugdale sent a free wide before McGurrin tipped down a high ball and Gilmartin saw his shot tipped over the bar by Gerry Costello. With Gilmartin running riot, he could have added a goal to his tally after fourteen minutes when he got behind the defence but shot over rather than under the bar.

Gaffey and Dugdale both shot wides but the crucial second mistake for Mohill arrived after nineteen minutes. Anthony Tiffoney fired a magnificent long range 50 yard effort what looked like over the bar. However, the green flag was raised as the ball had gone through the grasp of Gerry Costello and ended up in the net for a truly amazing score!

Philip Casserly hit back with a well taken point but Gilmartin fired a fifty yard effort over the bar a minute later. Peter Gaffey had a shot deflected for a fifty and when

he floated the ball in, Mohill were handed a lifeline when Gaffey’s fifty eluded a host of hands and somehow ended up in the net.

That cut the gap back to five points but Mohill were never able to engineer an opening for the second goal they so badly needed with Ray O’Carolan being denied by a good Phelan save in injury time.

Melvin Gaels

Gareth Phelan, Matt Connolly, Padraig McGloin, Fabian McMorrow, David Gillespie, James Phelan, Joe Tiffoney, Aidan Dolan, Gareth Foley (0-1), Anthony Tiffoney (1-0), Martin McCarron, Shane McCarron, Liam Gilmartin (0-8), Gerry McGurrin (1-1), Brendan Brennan (0-1). Subs: Simon Foley for S. McCarron (48 mins).

Mohill

Gerry Costello, Stephen Clyne, Michael McGuinness, Shane Kilrane, Olly Wynne, Paul McDermott, Ciaran Kennedy, Colin Murphy, Shane Canning, Peter Gaffey (1-4), George Dugdale (0-2), Philly McGuinness, James Gaffey (0-2), John McGuinness, Seamus McCrann. Subs: Ray O’Carolan for McCrann (28 mins), Philip Casserly (0-1) for Kilrane (30 mins), Gerry Scollan for Wynne (47 mins), Derek Canning for J. Gaffey (54 mins).