A late rally saw Mullinalaghta salvage a draw with Abbeylara in their Longford SFC opener at Emmet Park, Killoe.
Abbeylara moved five points clear midway through the second-half before, five unanswered points from Mullinalaghta resulted in a draw; 1-5 to 0-8.
The game ended on a sour note with a brawl involving numerous players from both sides.
Abbeylara were sharper at the outset landing three scores inside the opening seven minutes. Nigel Rabitt, Ciaran Scanlon and Cathal Gilligan on target.
Jayson Matthews opened Mullinalaghta’s account on 11 minutes. Conor McElligott and Scanlon subsequently traded scores making it 0-4 to 0-2.
Matthews landed a pointed free on the stroke of half-time. However, Abbeylara still led four points to three.
Abbeylara could’ve been further ahead only for some inaccurate shooting. Frankie Dolan’s side had eight wides during the opening period.
Robert Smyth doubled Abbeylara’s advantage eight minutes into the second half. Five minutes later Jason Kelly made it a five-point game.
Kelly latched onto Nigel Rabitt’s dropping ball and calmly finished to the net as Abbeylara led 1-5 to 0-3.
Abbeylara failed to score thereafter. Mullinalaghta responded with five successive scores resulting in a stalemate.
Matthews accounted for three of those scores including the equaliser; Cian Mackey and Donal McElligott were also on target.
The game ended in dramatic fashion. Following Matthews’ equaliser, a physical confrontation ensued involving numerous players from both sides.
It appeared that the referee had already blown the final whistle and no cards were brandished.
Elsewhere, Clonguish and Longford Slashers played out a draw. While, in group A, Mostrim beat Kenagh 2-10 to 2-7. On Friday night in group B, Dromard opened with a 2-9 to 1-8 win over Carrickedmond.
