Naps strike late to beat Lannléire

Division Two/Three Play-off

Na Piarsaigh 1-12 Lannléire 1-9

Na Piarsaigh put on a late show against Lannléire to maintain their hopes of remaining in Division Two for 2018 on the Rock Road last night.

A goal from Paul Callan with 15 minutes to play had forced the Dunleer outfit three-points ahead, however, with time running out, Eamonn McAuley popped up to score an all-important goal for the Naps who outscored the visitors 1-4 to 0-1 in the closing quarter of the match.

The teams were evenly matched in the first-half and they went level at 0-6 apiece to the break. 

Mark Larkin and Alan Murphy were locked in a shootout, while David Boyle - who replaced the injured Michael Woods after eight-minutes - registered two important minors for hosts.

However, Callan's excellent goal looked set to sway the game in the favour of John O'Connor's team, before a late blitz, including McAuley's goal, helped the Dundalk side over the line.

They now await the winners of Roche vs St. Kevin's tomorrow night, while Lannléire have Saturday's JFC semi-final replay with Glen Emmets to prepare for.

Na Piarsaigh: Damien McCrink; Joe Woods, Jarlath Lyons, Stephen McGuinness; Ciarán Murphy, Conall Shields, Gary O'Hare; Michael Woods, Mark Larkin (0-4); Eamonn McAuley (1-1), Gerard Smyth (0-1), Robert Murphy (0-2); Damien McGeeney, Ronan McCartney, Mark O'Hare

Subs: David Boyle (0-2), Des McCann (0-2), Stephen Arrowsmith

Lannléire: John King; Jason Torris, Paul McGeough, Thomas Doyle; Gary Monaghan, Brendan McEvoy, Paul Doyle; Andrew Dowd, Paul Callan (1-1); Colin Murphy (0-1), Ian Mulroy, Liam Callan (0-1); Niall Lennon (0-2), Bob Murphy, Alan Murphy (0-4)

Subs: Briain McGuinness, Conal Maher, Andrew Flanagan

Referee: Thomas Brennan (Westerns)