IFA Intermediate Cup
Finaghy 2-3 Mossley
Mossley triumphed in Saturday’s first round of the Intermediate Cup at Breda Park, fending off a late push to beat Finaghy 3-2.
The game got off to a slow start, with each side probing the defence of the other, but there wasn’t much in the way of any forward movement from both sides. This was broken at 18 minutes when Marcus Greenfield scored a great header which put the South Belfast men up 1-0.
Finaghy ended up dominating the first half, but they struggled to turn their possession advantage into goals, and missed a few good chances, such as a free kick at 22 minutes which would’ve gone in if it was a bit lower and a few minutes later when they missed a cross which would’ve been a brilliant chance for a header.
The first half continued in this vein for its remainder, with Mossley having one shot at goal, but it was expertly saved by Finaghy’s ‘keeper, Philip Warnock.
The second half got underway, with both sides making a few substitutions Mark Tweedie and Timothy Adamson coming on for Mossley with Jordan McCune and Bobby Crowe coming off.
Mossley were fighting back a lot harder in the second half, and were beating Finaghy back on possession compared with their performance in the first half, but overall it remained quite even between both sides until the final 10 minutes when the game really took off.
At 66 minutes Mossley got their chance at a free kick taken by Sebastian Manea but it was saved again by Philip Warnock. Mossley tried again a minute later with another go from Manea but this time it hit the outside of the net. A few minutes afterwards Manea would receive a yellow card for a bad tackle.
During the last 20 minutes, Mossley began pushing hard, with Timothy Adamson scoring a great header, levelling the score, and Richard Higgins following by taking two shots at goal, both of which were saved by Philip Warnock.
With 10 minutes to go, Mossley took the lead with another goal from Timothy Adamson, and he fulfilled a hattrick a couple of minutes later when Mossley were awarded a penalty which he scored with ease.
Finaghy hit back a few minutes later with a great header being scored by Jack Walsh, putting the scoreline at 3-2.
However, due to the action all coming in the last 15 minutes Finaghy didn’t get a chance to even the scoreline, and the final whistle blew moments later, with Mossley taking the win in the first round of the Intermediate Cup.
