Moyola Park 2 - McCann, Mullan Queen's 0 Moyola Park welcomed Queens University to the Mill Meadow on Saturday for their first game of 2017.
They were looking to build on last week’s derby victory against Tobermore United.
Moyola won 2-0.
The first chance of the game came in the third minute when Rafferty found Beggs and he saw his shot saved by Brown in the visitor’s goal.
Three minutes later McCann and McIlhatton combined to find Rafferty, however he shot wide. The visitor’s first chance came in the 10th minute however a shot from Hagan hit his own team mate Tumilty.
The 17th minute saw Rafferty shoot wide from a Harris cross and a minute later McIlhatton also shot wide and then Rafferty found Beggs who also missed the target.
The 25th minute brought the opening goal when a ball from Rafferty found McCann and he advanced on goal and somehow scored from a tight angle past Brown - two minutes later a free kick from Rafferty was met by McAuley at the back post - however his effort hit the side netting.
The visitors were struggling to get into the game and A Keenan headed wide from a corner in the 32nd minute and the 38th minute saw a run and shot at Brown from the impressive Beggs. The referee reached for a yellow card in the 39th minute and booked Hagan for a foul on McIlhatton and the last action of the first half saw Tumilty find Jones who shot wide.
The visitors made a double change at half time with Byrne and G Keenan replacing Hagan and A Keenan. The home side had the first chance when a corner from Beggs was headed on by McIlhatton and Rafferty saw his shot blocked out for a corner.
The referee reached for the cards again in the 58th minute with Byrne booked for a foul on McIlhatton and the home side made their first change in the 65th minute, with Hassan replacing Paul and three minutes later the visitors made their final change with Harper replacing Jones.
The 72nd minute saw Rafferty find Hassan and his cross was cleared and four minutes later the home side replaced Rafferty with Taggart. With 20 minutes left a free kick for the visitors was just missed by Allison and a minute later at the other end, Beggs shot wide following another impressive run.
With eight minutes left the home side made their final change with Mullan replacing McCann and a minute later Hassan fired a free kick just wide following a foul by Harper on Taggart.
The home side continued to push for a second goal and Mullan shot wide in the 91st minute and Taggart shot wide a minute later following a challenge on Brown by Beggs. With the game deep in injury time Culbert was booked for Queens following a challenge on Beggs and from the resulting free kick by Beggs, Mullan rose unchallenged for the second game in a row and headed the ball past the visiting keeper to make the score 2-0. The last action of the game saw Farniok make a great save from McManus.
Moyola Park’s next fixture is on Saturday (14th January) when they welcome Newry City to the Mill Meadow. This game will kick off at 3pm.
Moyola Park: Farniok, Harris, Doey, McQuillan, Forrest, McAuley, Beggs, McIlhatton, Rafferty, McCann, Paul. Subs: Taggart (Replaced Rafferty), Hassan (Replaced Paul), Mullan (Replaced McCann). Subs not used: Kells, McNamee.
Queens: Brown, Culbert, Plant, Orr, McManus, A Keenan, Allison, Hagan, Jones, Tumilty, Hughes. Subs: G Keenan (Replaced A Keenan), Byrne (Replaced Hagan), Harper (Replaced Jones). .Subs not used: O’Hare, McAuley