Louth GAA club | Division Three round-up

John Mitchels 3-12 Glyde Rangers 1-7

John Mitchels were crowned Louth GAA Division Three League champions on Sunday night with a 12-point victory over Glyde Rangers in Ballybailie to make it 12 wins in-a-row.

Playing into a stiff breeze in the first half, the hosts started well with early frees converted by Trevor Matthews before Gareth Kane punched into the net to give his side a 1-3 to 0-0 lead.

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Glyde responded with a two-pointer and a goal of their own to get back into the game before John Gallagher got a second goal to give Mitchels a 2-4 to 1-4 lead at halftime.

A controlled second-half performance saw the home side add a further 1-8 with the goal coming from a brilliant Andrew Bingham solo effort while the defence limited Glyde to just three points in the whole half.

Victory secures a return to Division 2 football for the first time in over 20 years and they will have the chance to complete the perfect season when they face Cuchulainn Gaels in their final game in Omeath on Saturday.

John Mitchels: Mickey Quinn; Barry Kirk, Shane Crosson, Aaron Kane; Mikey Nulty (0-1), John Bingham (0-1), Jake Gillespie; Trevor Matthews (0-5), James Clarke; James Sands, John Gallagher (1-2), Ruairi McCann (0-1); Andrew Bingham (1-1), Gareth Kane (1-0), Tristan Knowles.

Subs: Adam Keenan for B Kirk, Aaron Keely for J Gillespie, Conor Reilly for A Keenan, Stephen Bingham for J Gallagher, Anthony Coyle for T Knowles.

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

Naomh Fionnbarra 1-12 St Nicholas 0-11

Nh Fionnbarra missed out on the chance to claim the Division 3 title despite this four-point win at home to St Nicholas on Sunday afternoon.

Victory put the Barrs level on points at the top for a few hours, but the Mitchels restored the gap later in the day when they defeated Glyde Rangers. As a result, the Ballybailie side were guaranteed the top spot.

The hosts looked to be in control in the first half and they went on to open up a 1-6 to 0-2 advantage at the short whistle.

However, the Nicks responded well in the second half on got themselves right back into the game with the help of Hayden Quinn’s scoring.

However, they couldn’t produce the goal they needed and the Barrs held out for their 11th win of the campaign.

St Nicholas: Hayden Quinn 0-6 (2x2p), Lee Kavanagh (0-2, 2p), Phillip Kirwan 0-2, Shane Downey 0-1.

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

O’Connell’s 2-12 Sean McDermotts 2-10

O’Connell’s welcomed Sean McDermotts to the Grove for the penultimate round of Division 3 fixtures knowing that only a victory could keep the team’s slim promotion hopes alive.

Despite some key absences, O’Connell’s started the game perfectly, with Jackie Agnew finding the back of the net inside the opening two minutes.

There would be no scores for the next ten minutes before Bernard Osborne fired over two points to extend the O’Connell’s lead out to five.

The lead would only grow as Emmet Byrne added the home side’s second goal of the day to leave the gap at 2-2 to no score.

Jackie Agnew would add a point to his personal tally of the day before Sean McDermotts finally got on the scoresheet, hitting three unanswered points to cut into the deficit.

Bernard Osborne would add two more points along with a James Walsh point to extend back out the lead, with Sean McDermotts getting two scores to finish out the half with the score being 2-6 to 0-5 in favour of O’Connell’s.

The second half started very evenly, with both sides trading scores between them.

Scores from Cian Geeney and three from Bernard Osborne kept the home side’s lead intact before Sean McDermotts found the back of the net twice in the closing ten minutes through Lorcan Myles and Kevin McMahon to cut the gap to one.

Bernard Osborne settled the nerves for the home side with a late point to seal victory.

O’Connell’s: Stuart Reynolds; Adam Flynn, Jack McGeough, Tadhg Kearney; Liam Kiernan, Stuart Osborne, James Walsh (0-1); Ciaran Kearney, Sean Cairns; T.J Conlon, Harry Kierans, Cian Geeney (0-1); Emmet Byrne (1-0), Jackie Agnew (1-1), Bernard Osborne (0-9).

Subs: Sean Geeney for C Kearney, Dean Stanfield for H Kierans, Cathal O’Brien for L Kiernan.

Sean McDermotts: Finbar Moran; Tomàs Devlin, Sean McMahon, Ronan Kerley; Conor Walsh, Danny Commins, Ian McDonald; Pat Osborne, Sean Martin;  David McArdle, Emmet Duffy, Peter Tuite (0-1); Ian Corbally, Lorcan Myles (1-0), Cormac Walsh (0-8).

Subs: Kevin McMahon (1-1) for S Martin, Daniel Commins for I Corbally, Donnacha McCourt for I McDonald, Sean Martin for C Walsh.

Westerns 3-22 Dowdallshill 2-6

Westerns picked up their third win of the Division Three campaign when they proved too strong for Dowdallshill on Sunday afternoon.

The game in Reaghstown saw the hosts on top throughout and despite the best efforts of a determined Dowdallshill, they emerged with a comfortable win.

Goals from Dylan McDonald, Conor Kerr and Ciaran Scriven put the gloss on what was an impressive win for the Westerns.

It was Conor Kerr who grabbed the opening goal of the game to ensure his side went in at the break with a 1-12 to 1-2 lead at the break.

The Hill continued to fight hard and were rewarded with a second goal but the Reaghstown men were always on top and sealed the win with goals from Scriven and Kerr.

Westerns: T Sweeney; J Murphy, D Ogle, C Kerr; D Osborne, A Duffy, R Gallagher; M Kane 0-1, C Kennedy 0-1; P Kerley 0-1, C Scriven 1-2, R Duffy 0-7; E Smith 0-3 (2p), C Kerr 1-2, D McDonald 1-0.

Subs: A Murray for J Murphy, B Duffy 0-2 for R Gallagher, K Crosbie 0-4 for C Kerr, M Martin for D Osburn, A Durnin 0-1 for D McDonald.

Na Piarsaigh Blackrock 1-18 Naomh Malachi 0-14

Nh Piarsaigh Blackrock came from two points down at the break to claim a deserved victory at home to Naomh Malachi on Sunday afternoon.

A strong bench proved the difference on the day for the Dundalk men as the introduction of Robert and Ciaran Murphy, along with Oisin Woods, yielded a very impressive return of a combined 1-6.

Goalkeeper Darrin Kearney did his best to inspire victory for the Mals as he landed nine points, including four two-pointers. However, in the end, it wasn’t enough as the hosts deservedly came out on top.

Kearney’s scores helped give the Courtbane side the edge in a tight first half as they turned around with a 0-9 to 0-7 lead.

Pierce Caherty and Ronan McElroy scored two points each for the Mals on the day but they couldn’t halt Na Piarsaigh’s second-half dominance.

Ciaran Murphy finished with five points while Robert added a goal alongside Oisin Woods’ point to give their side victory.

Na Piarsaigh Blackrock: Ronan McCartney; Fionn Tipping 0-1, Shane Roddy, Stephen McGuinness; John Galligan, Michael Woods, Calum Smith; Darren McElhinney, Conall Myles; James Mahoney 0-1, Gerard Rice 0-2, Jamie Fealy 0-1; Tommy Muckian 0-1, David Boyle 0-6, Joe Woods.

Subs: Ciaran Murphy 0-5, Robert Murphy 1-0, Chris Kellet, Oisin Woods 0-1, James McCartney.

Nh Malachi: Darrin Kearney 0-9 (4 x 2p); Shayne Kirk, Stephen Burns, Conor Begley; Sean Gogarty, Donal Begley, Iarla McMahon; Kevin McShane, Andrew Begley 0-1; Matty Campbell, Darren Clarke, Ronan McElroy 0-2 (2p); Michael McLoughlin, Pierce Caherty 0-2, James McShane.

Subs: Fra McArdle, Gary McShane, Mark Meegan.

Cuchulainn Gaels 2-15 Annaghminnon Rovers 2-13

Cuchulainn Gaels came out on top in a ding-dong battle with Annaghminnon Rovers on Sunday afternoon.

The game in Stonetown provided plenty in the way of entertainment but in the end, it was the visitors who just about edged it.

Seven points from full forward James Sharkey, along with goals from Stephen Og McGuinness and Micheal McCabe made the difference for the Omeath men.

It was the hosts who made the brighter start to the game and were 1-3 to no score ahead before Stephen Og McGuinness stepped up to find the back of the net and get his team back in contention.

That proved to be the springboard for the team to go on to lead by 1-6 to 1-5 at the break. With the wind in their backs, Rovers started the second half well and edged ahead.

However, the visitors stuck with it and a scrappy goal by McCabe brought them back level.

In the last couple of closing minutes, David McQuaid scored a well-taken point and with the last kick of the game, James Sharkey slotted over a free to give Gaels a deserved two-point win.

Cuchulainn Gaels: Shea Quigley; Sean Brennan, Martin Hynes, Rory Watson; Euan McArdle, Philip McGovern, Jamie Molloy; Rammie Phillips, Michael McCabe 1-3; Stephen Og McGuinness 1-0, Seamus McCabe 0-1, Cian McDonald 0-2; Aodhan O’Hanlon 0-1, James Sharkey 0-7, John Morgan.

Subs: David McQuaid 0-1 for C McDonald, JP Elmore for A O’Hanlon.