A month makes a big difference in football – a statement that’s rung true for Playr-Fit Premier Intermediate League basement battler Moyola Park.
February started with a whimper for the Castledawson club with defeats to the two main sides around them, but what followed were a couple of results that have painted a contrastingly different picture for the inaugural Irish Cup champions.
That landmark success in April 1881 remains their magnum opus 143 years later, and while back-to-back wins over Dollingstown and Ballymacash Rangers may not carry the same grandeur as that triumph over Cliftonville in their infancy, the rudimentary beginnings of a great escape may mean precious survival is the note upon which they commemorate the winning anniversary in 2024.
That mini-sequence, their first successive victories in the third-tier this season, was much-needed, too, as an endangered animal were set to be dragged into 14th-place and a potential drop-out from the Irish League.
Kenny Shiels’ troops began the month with a disappointing derby defeat to near-neighbours Tobermore United, who recorded three points to boost their own hopes of staying up courtesy of a sole Daniel McIlhatton goal 17 minutes from time at the Coleraine Showgrounds – Moyola’s home away from home while their artificial surface at Mill Meadow is upgraded to meet the league standards.
Things got worse for The Park the following week when they travelled to The Dub to take on PSNI, and despite Paul Smith twice replying to Kyle McCleery strikes that nudged the hosts in front, the police side broke their visitors’ hearts in the fourth minute of stoppage-time when Henry Capper delivered a lasting dagger and inflicted a 3-2 defeat upon their rivals.
At that point, you’d have worried for the team who turned heads when confirming the hire of history-making former Northern Ireland Women’s boss Shiels in October 2023.
But they’ve shown their steel ever since and secured two triumphs in the games you’d have less expected them to get results in.
A busy January window saw them bolster their ranks with a few big-name captures, notably former Coleraine marksman James McLaughlin and Bannsiders loanee Lee Harkin.
That pair proved to be instrumental in their return to winning ways after three straight reversals, with Harkin hitting the opener at the mid-table Dollybirds and McLaughlin bagging a second-half brace at Planters Park to rubber-stamp a 3-1 victory after the seasoned Gary Liggett had levelled for the hosts.
It was a welcome bit of good fortune on February 20 and, four days later, they were smiling once more having entertained promotion-chasing Ballymacash and scooped up another prized maximum gain.
Harkin was the hero again, slamming home the only goal on 64 minutes that means further breathing space from the bottom.
Moyola are eight points safe and now closer to seventh-placed Banbridge Town than they are to PSNI in last place, perched on 17 points from their 17 encounters to date with extra quality showing its worth when it matters.
Work is still to be done, of course, to consolidate their position, but arguably for the first time this season, The Park can start looking up the league rather than over their shoulders.
Featured image from Alan Houston.
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