McNulty's haul of two-pointers gets Leitrim past London
Six two-pointers from substitute Barry McNulty helped Leitrim fight back from a 10-point half-time deficit to beat London and record back-to-back wins in Division 4 of the Allianz Football League.
The result now means Steven Poacher's men sit second behind the leaders Carlow after three rounds of action, but they had to dig deep in order to leave Ruislip with maximum points.
London dominated the first half from the get-go. Captain Liam Gallagher scored the opening point of the game straight from throw-in and that was followed up by scores from Kristian Healy and a Joe McGill free as the home side took an early three-point lead.
London would find themselves six to the good when Micheal O'Reilly got on the end of a searching ball and found the net in the ninth minute.
Fergal McLoughlin's instinctive strike to the goal in the 10th minute gave Leitrim a real shot in the arm.
Still, London kept themselves in control of the game, keeping possession well and showing good patience with the ball. McGill showed he could score from range with a two-pointer before adding another to the London tally. Ryan O'Rourke at the other end added to the Leitrim account before London lost Kristian Healy, who was injured after being fouled while splitting the post by Mark Diffley.
The late challenge on Healy saw both sides throw their weight around, and by the time the referee Andrew Smith had calmed things down, London's skipper Gallagher and Leitrim's Kieran Clancy found themselves with a black card each.
Despite neither team having a numerical advantage, it was Michael Maher's side who made sure they finished the first half the strongest.
McGill scored two more two-pointers while his team-mates Ciaran Diver, Jim Davis and O'Reilly helped London to a 12-point lead while Tom Prior was doing his bit in what was an uninspiring first-half attacking performance from Leitrim.
The Canaries were staring down the barrel of a second league defeat this year; however, they went into the break with a little bit of momentum thanks to scores from Prior and Ryan O'Rourke. They still had a mountain to climb when the half-time whistle went in west London with the hosts leading 1-14 to 1-04.
Many inside McGovern Park had assumed the game was done and dusted and London would be picking up a second win in a row. Leitrim had other ideas.
Glencar-Manorhamilton man McNulty came off the bench at half-time to make himself a hero with half a dozen long-range points.
His first came minutes after the restart, which was answered by London native Shay Rafter immediately. That was then met at the other end by Prior, who scored the visitors' first goal of the game, closely followed by a Riordan O'Rourke point that cut the deficit between the pair to just five points.
Diver and Rafter continued to do the business for the hosts, but a series of points from Paul Honeyman, Riordan O'Rourke and an orange flag from McNulty got Leitrim and their supporters going, and suddenly it was a three-point game.
Momentum and belief had swung Leitrim's way; McNulty put all of his confidence in his range-kicking ability with two more two-pointers, the second of which giving his county the lead for the very first time in the 56th minute.
London's failure to come up with a plan to manage McNulty meant they'd gone from being in full control to being on the verge of a crushing defeat.
The Exiles had no answer and couldn't find the same rhythm that they had in the first half in front of the posts in the second.
A fifth McNulty two-pointer put Leitrim three clear, and despite Rafter and Diver doing their best to keep London's bid for at least a share of the points alive, McNulty was on hand once again to deliver a killer blow with his sixth and final two-pointer of the afternoon.
London will be left wondering what could have been, while Leitrim take that winning feeling across the Irish Sea.
London: Andrew Walsh; Daire Rooney, Matt Moynihan, Sean O'Donoghue; Conor Goggin, Conal Gallagher, Conor O’Donohue; Liam Gallagher (Captain) (0-01), Josh Obahor, Joe McGill (0-09, 0-02f), Daniel Clarke, Kristian Healy (0-02); Micheal O’Reilly (1-01), Shay Rafter (0-03, 0-02f), Jim Davis (0-01)
Subs: Ciaran Diver (0-03) for Kristian Healy (21), Tighe Barry for Daniel Clarke (48), Ciaran McKeon for Jim Davis (53), Liam Murphy for Ciaran McKeon (60), Nathan Feeney for Micheal O’Reilly (60)
Leitrim: Daire O’Shea ; Eoin McLoughlin, Kieran Clancy, Seán Harkin; James Rooney, Mark Diffley, Conor Reynolds; Cillian McGloin , Keith Keegan; Fergal McLoughlin (1-00), Riordan O’Rourke (0-02), Tom Prior (1-02); Ben Guckian, Ryan O’Rourke (Captain) (0-02, 0-02f), Jack Kelly
Subs: Killian Gaffney for Daire O’Shea (26), Conor Quinn for Cillian McGloin (35), Paul Honeyman (0-01) for Jack Kelly (ht), Barry McNulty (0-12, 5tp, 1tpf) for James Rooney (ht), Gavin Reynolds for Keith Keegan (71)
Referee: Andrew Smith (Meath)
