Louth GAA club | Division One round-up

Naomh Mairtin 1-16 St Patricks 0-19

Nh Mairtin struck late to claim a dramatic draw in an entertaining Louth Division 1 contest at home to St Patrick's on Saturday evening.

Jack Lynch was the saviour for the hosts as he landed a two-pointer to preserve his side’s unbeaten start and in the process deny the visitors a first win of the campaign.

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The game started with Martin McEneaney and Lynch exchanging two-pointers before Micheal O’Shaughnessy, Conor McGuinness and Aidan McCann struck to put the Pats in control.

The Jocks hit back through Jake Neilon, Tom Gray and Eoghan Callaghan but Sean Fearon’s late two-pointer helped the Pats to a 0-10 to 0-7 lead at the break.

Points from Val Leddy and Joe McGrane saw the hosts get back on level terms at the end of the third quarter but Jack Murphy struck the only goal of the game to put the Lordship side back in front.

However, the Monasterboice men stayed in the game and got their reward when Lynch found the target in the closing stages to claim a draw.

Nh Mairtin: Darren Morgan; Mark Whelan, Shane Morgan, Cian Sands; Jake Neilon 0-1, Sean Healy, Evan Whelan; Adam Booth, Joe McGrane 0-1; Ben Callanan, Eoghan Callaghan 0-1, Enda McDonnell; Jack Lynch 0-7, Tom Gray 0-7, Val Leddy 0-1.

Subs: Thomas Sullivan for C Sands, Adam Callanan for B Callanan, Colm Egan for M Whelan.

St Patricks: Martin McEneaney 0-3; Sean Holland, Rory Duffy, Darren O’Hanlon; Stefan Breen, Darren Connor, Brian Commons; Padraig Duffy, Tom McCann; Sean Fearon 0-2, Micheal O’Shaughnessy 0-1, Aidan McCann 0-2; Joe Connor 0-1, Conor McGuinness 0-3, Jack Murphy 1-4.

Subs: James Savage for T McCann, Daniel Tumulty for B Commons.

(John O'Neill Sand and Gravel Louth Division One League table)

St Josephs 0-22 Sean O’Mahonys 2-8

The Joes came out on top by eight points in their clash with the Sean O’Mahonys on the Point Road on Saturday night.

The home side opened the scoring with a two-pointer from a Thomas Rice free on five minutes before the Joes equalised through Alan Quigley and Conall Smyth, with Craig Doherty and Smyth making it 0-4 to 0-2 at the end of the first quarter.

The visitors then took control with the next four points as Conor Neary, Gabriel Bell and Rian Devlin were all on target.

However, the Seans rallied in the closing stages and with the help of a Conor Finnegan two-pointer and a Junior Shotayo goal, they cut the gap to just 0-11 to 1-6 at the break.

After Ben Collier and Terry Kelly exchanged scores at the start of the second half, the Joes stretched their lead with points from Alan Quigley.

An excellent two-pointer from Oisin McGuinness, an Alan Quigley free and an Alan McKenna mark to lead by 0-17 to 1-7 at the end of the third quarter.

Within three minutes the O’Mahonys were back within a score as Kayden Fisher pointed, then a high dropping ball broke out for Shotayo to punch the ball to the Joes net.

The Joes responded to the challenge by dominating the closing stages and with Oisin Smith among the points, they eased home to win by eight.

St. Joseph’s: Adam Cassidy; Rian Devlin (0-2), Michael Staunton, Ciaran Johnston; Michael O’Brien (0-1), David Kieran, Gabriel Bell (0-2); Ben McKeown, Conor Neary (0-1); Jack Mulligan (0-1), Ben Collier (0-3), Craig Doherty; Alan Quigley (0-5), Oisin McGuinness (0-3), Conall Smyth (0-3).

Subs: Killian Staunton, Alan McKenna (0-1).

Sean O’Mahonys: Kevin Brennan; Ciaran Jamison, Chris O’Neill, Oisin Breen; Conor Finnegan 0-2, Aaron Boyle, Sean Cassidy; Brian McGuirk, Gareth Hall; Luke Kelly, Thomas Rice 0-2, Junior Shotayo 2-0; Terry Kelly 0-1, Conor Martin, Kayden Fisher 0-3.

(John O'Neill Sand and Gravel Louth Division One League fixtures)

Dreadnots 1-21 Geraldines 1-16

Dreadnots maintained their good start to the season with a victory away to the Geraldines to make it two wins from two in Division 1.

The Clogher men certainly made good use of the new rules as they landed five two-pointers throughout the game, including two from sub Craig Shevlin, to ensure they returned home with full points.

The Gers went into the game hoping to get off the mark after losing out on the opening day but despite an improved second-half display, they were unable to match a Dreadnots side who were deserving winners in the end.

The visitors began in confident mood and Conor Clarke scored the only goal of the game to send his team in with a healthy 1-10 to 0-7 advantage.

Inspired by Jim McEneaney, who finished with ten points, and a goal from James Craven, the Geraldines posed a greater threat in the second half to give themselves hope.

However, the Clogher men were not to be denied on a night when Ciaran Finnegan, Darragh Shevlin and Ciaran Cunningham all claimed two-pointers.

Dreadnots: Dylan Cassidy; Joshua Kirwan, Barry Faulkner, Aaron Scullion; Ciaran Finnegan 0-2 (2p), Padraig Rath, Darragh Shevlin 0-2 (2p); Conor Faulkner, Gustas Knystavtas; Conor Clarke 1-2, Donnacha Skinnader, Ciaran Cunningham 0-2 (2p)l Owen Murphy 0-1, Sam Reilly, Callum Shevlin 0-2.

Subs: Craig Shevlin 0-5 (2 x 2p) for S Reilly, Paraic Smith 0-2 (2p) for C Faulkner, Ciaran Caffrey 0-1 for P Rath, Conor Shevlin 0-1 for C Cunningham, Nathan Sutherland 0-1 for A Scullion.

Geraldines: Cian O’Donoghue; Ryan Traynor, Daragh O Gradaigh, Paul Clarke 0-1; John McCrohan, Matt Corcoran, Jack Traynor; Thomas McNamara 0-1, Cian Farrell 0-1; Bran Cafferty, Gareth Neacy, Tiernan Hand 0-1; James Craven 1-1, Jim McEneaney 0-10, Eoin McDonnell.

Subs: David O’Connell for P Clarke, Danny Nordone for M Corcoran.

Hunterstown Rovers 2-12 Newtown Blues 0-12

Hunterstown Rovers are flying high on their return to the top flight as they notched a second successive victory to start the campaign.

Rovers made the trip to Drogheda on Saturday evening boosted by their win over the Geraldines on day one and they continued that form as goals from Dean Burns and Ryan Ward saw them return home with a deserved victory.

In a cagey first half, the visitors had the edge approaching the interval as points from Burns and Ward had them leading by 0-5 to 0-3.

However, the Blues rallied in the closing stages to go in at the break level at five points apiece, with Ross Nally, Jamie Kelly and Alan Connor finding their range.

Hunterstown edged ahead at the start of the second half, and a two-pointer from Donovan Sheridan gave them a three-point lead. Just before the end of the third quarter, they made the decisive move when Burns scored the first goal of the game.

Within three minutes the game was effectively beyond the Blues as Ward pounced for a second goal to make it 2-10 to 0-7.

With scores from Eoin McCoy and Ryan Kelly, the Blues hit back in the closing stages with five points, but it was too late to save the game, and they suffered a second successive defeat.

Hunterstown: Donovan Sheridan 0-2 (2p); Daithi Carroll, Adam O’Reilly, Euan Woodlock; Martin Lennon, Patrick Taaffe, Cillian Taaffe; Marc Ward 0-1, Jason Monaghan; Tony McKenna, David Finn 0-1, Glen Mathews; Aaron Levins 0-1, Ryan Ward 1-4, Dean Burns 1-3.

Subs: Oran Martin for G Mathews, James Rogers for A Levins, Colm Murphy for C Taaffe, Alan Landy for M Ward, Cian Matthews for D Burns.

Newtown Blues: Johnny McDonnell; Stephen Kerr Rafferty, Ciaran Cluskey Kelly, Dan McArdle; Ryan Kelly 0-2, Ian Connor, Eoin Brannigan; Alan Connor 0-1, Aidan O’Brien; Jack Healy, Colm Judge, Eoin McCoy 0-4; Jamie Kelly 0-4, Ross Nally 0-1, Niall Devlin.

Subs: Iolan Farrell for S Kerr, Joey Nally for E Brannigan, Conor Moore for N Devlin, Sean Cummins for A O’Brien.

Cooley Kickhams 0-14 St Marys 2-8

St Marys and Cooley Kickhams picked up their first points of the season when they played out a draw in this Division 1 encounter at Fr McEvoy Park on Saturday evening.

Following their disappointing result in their opening day clash with Nh Mairtin, the County Champions were hoping to pick up their first win of the season but they had to be content with a share of the spoils.

Cooley showed some good form in front of the posts and had a good spread of scorers on the day with Enda O’Neill, Cormac Malone, Paddy Johnston, Cian Connor and Calum O’Hanlon accounting for their scores.

Hampered by the unavailability of a number of players, St Marys had to dig deep and they came up with the goods with two goals from Evan Malone to ensure they claimed a draw.

Cooley Kickhams: Niall Brady; Sean Thornton, Dean McGreehan, Ronan McBride; Sean Hoey, Patrick Hanlon, Gerry Malone; Gerard White, Darren Marks; Niall Morgan, Jason Brady, Cormac Malone (0-2); Cian Connor (0-3), Enda O’Neill (0-4, 1 x 2p), Paddy Johnston (0-3).

Subs: Calum O’Hanlon (0-2) for P Johnston, James O’Reilly for G White, Fionn O’Reilly for J Brady, Ian Arnold for S Hoey.

St Marys: James McGillick; David Rooney, Karl Faulkner, Tiernan Corrigan; Flynn Markey, Eimhin Keenan 0-1, Finn Coyle; Robbie Leavy, Brian Talty; Cillian Keenan, Evan Malone 2-0, Jonathan Commins 0-2; Ronan Carroll 0-4, Conor Gillespie 0-1, Shane Matthews.

St Mochtas: 2-16 St Fechins: 2-12

Two Gerry Garland goals in quick succession on the half-time whistle gave the Mochta’s the edge they needed to hold on to their lead and claim victory over a winless St Fechins in Division 1.

Fechins Shane Reilly went on the attack from the throw-in and pointed to get the visitors off the mark, but it was the Mochtas who then went on the attack, firing off three points in quick succession.

Points from placed balls from Ryan Walsh and on the fly from James McGlew kept the Fechins in touch at the ten-minute mark. But Mochtas were unstoppable through Garland and Declan Byrne adding eight more between the uprights.

Fechins made a handful of forays into Mochta's defence but were unable to capitalise until the final minutes where again Walsh added two more to his tally.

With a minute to go there were only six between the sides but two goals in the final minute doubled the lead for the hosts and left the visitors with a lot to do in the second half to rescue the match.

Substitute Aaron McGlew made his presence known from the off with a well taken point from play and was then instrumental in the following play where Walsh began the fightback with his first goal.

Fechins put two wide from placed balls but regained their accuracy with scores from Walsh and Colm O’Neill. Mochtas continued to keep the lead putting three more over the bar through Cormac Smyth.

All looked lost in injury time but Walsh again found the back of the net from a free followed by two more points from frees to leave just four between the sides as the whistle went.

St. Mochtas: Daire O’Shea; Liam Lawlor, Conor McKenna, Oisin Kerr; Oisín Callan, Andrew Lennon, Daniel Craven 0-1, Gerry Garland 2-4, Declan Byrne 0-5, Dylan Farrell, Philly Englishby, Jamie Farrell 0-1, Darragh Quinn 0-1, Liam O’Flaherty 0-1, Cormac Smyth 0-3.

Subs: Sean McLoughlin for Oisin Kerr, Darren McMahon for Darragh Quinn. Andrew English for Liam Lawlor. Gavyn Short for Philly Englishby. Shane McMahon for Cormac Smyth.

St. Fechins: Caelum Dolan; Paddy Keane, Shane Reilly 0-1, Robert McCarthy; Garbhan O’Reilly, Adam O’Neill, Ciaran McGinty; Harry Haughney, Colm Hackett; Colm O’Neill 0-1, Ryan Walsh 2-6, Danny Burnell 0-1; James McGlew 0-1, Evan Dolan 0-1, Mathew Flanagan.

Subs: Aaron McGlew 0-1 for Matthew Flanagan, Cian Gorman for Paddy Keane, Dylan Rice for Garbhan O Reilly, John Woods for Evan Dolan, Cathal O’Reilly for Colm O’Neill.