Louth GAA club | Division One round-up

St Joseph's 6-10 St Mary's 2-9

There were goals aplenty in this Louth GAA John O'Neill Sand and Gravel League Division One clash between St. Mary’s and St. Joseph's on Saturday night as the Joes hit three goals in each half to win by 13 points.

The home side continues to operate without a large portion of what is likely to be their championship squad. The opening ten minutes were a cagey affair with Conall Smyth and Tadgh McDonnell on target to leave the sides level at 0-1 each.

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The teams hit three goals in four minutes, the first coming for the Joes on 11 minutes when Oisin McGuinness finished off a fine move between Cormac McKeown and Conall Smyth.

McGuinness added a second soon after, but in the next attack Mary's worked the ball down the right and the ever dangerous Adam Gillespie cut in to fire the ball to the net, to leave the Joes ahead by 2-1 to 1-1 after 15 minutes.

The teams traded points before Carl Gillespie found the net for the Marys, but in the final minute of the half, Ben Collier raised a green flag to send the Joes in with a 3-4 to 2-3 lead.

The visitors strengthened their grip on the game in the third quarter as goals from Cormac McKeown and Gabriel Bell saw them increase the advantage to 5-7 to 2-6 at the end of the third quarter. 

The Joes remained in control in the closing quarter and added a sixth goal from Pearse Grimes Murphy to seal an impressive win.

St. Josephs: Adam Cassidy; Ciaran Johnston, Michael Staunton, Rian Devlin; Michael O’Brien, David Kieran, Ben McKeown; Cormac McKeown (1-0), Gabriel Bell (1-1); Craig Doherty (0-1), Oisin McGuinness (2-0), Pearse Grimes Murphy (1-0); Alan Quigley (0-4), Ben Collier (1-0), Conall Smyth (0-3).

Subs: Conor Neary (0-1), Evan McEnteggart.

St Mary's: James McGillick; David Rooney, Karl Faulkner, Noah Coyle; Tadgh McDonnell 0-1, Paraic McKenny, Carl Gillespie 1-3; Liam Jackson, Eimhin Keenan; Conor Gillespie, Kian Moran, Brian Talty; Adam Gillespie 1-0, Ronan Carroll 0-2, Luke Keenan 0-1.

Sub: Tom Jackson 0-1.

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

St Mochtas 3-16 Nh Mairtin 1-19

St Mochtas struck a late goal to claim victory over Nh Mairtin in a high-scoring encounter at Louth Village on Saturday evening.

The visitors looked to have claimed a draw when Sam Mulroy levelled matters in the 60th minute from a free, but it was the Mochtas who had the final say with a dramatic winner from a Declan Byrne penalty to claim maximum points.

In a game where Oisin Callan and Ciaran Byrne also found the net for the Mochtas, it was Mulroy who opened the scoring with the first of his 13 points, only for Mochtas to storm into a four-point lead with a quick-fire 1-2.

The Jocks then hit back to level and it remained close for much of the half, only for Tom Gray (2) and a Mulroy two-pointer late in the half to give their side a 0-14 to 1-6 lead at the break.

The hosts responded well with a flurry of scores at the start of the second half, but Dara McDonnell’s goal kept his side three ahead at the end of the third quarter.

The game turned in the Mochtas' favour when they added a second goal and edged a point ahead in the dying moments. It looked as if Mulroy had rescued a draw only for the hosts to snatch victory with a last-gasp goal.

St Mochtas: Daire O’Shea; Liam Lawlor, David Lennon, Daniel Craven; Oisín Callan 1-0, Andrew English, Andy Lennon; Sean Flynn, Decky Byrne1-5; Gerry Garland 0-1, Dara Quinn 0-5, Shane Lennon 0-2; Jamie Farrell 0-3, Liam O’Flaherty, Casey Byrne 1-0.

Subs: Craig Lennon for O Callan, Cormac Smyth for L O’Flaherty, Owen Lennon for D Lennon, Dylan Farrell for L Lawlor. Phily Englishby for A English.

Nh Mairtin: Joe Gordon; Shane Morgan, Evan Whelan 0-1, Conor Healy; Craig Callanan, Sean Healy, Jack Murphy; Adam Booth, Dara McDonnell 1-0; Joe McGrane 0-1, Sam Mulroy 0-13 (4 x 2p), Wayne Campbell; Val Leddy, Tom Gray 0-4, Darragh Dorian.

Subs: Oran McDonnell for W Campbell.

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

St Patrick's 1-19 Dreadnots 2-15

St Patrick's picked up their first win of the Division 1A campaign when they held out to defeat Dreadnots at home on Saturday evening.

In an entertaining game that went right down to the wire, the hosts prevailed thanks to late scores from Conor Grogan (2p) and Jack Murphy before withstanding a late rally from the Dreadnots.

However, it was the contribution of goalkeeper, Martin McEneaney, that caught the eye as he landed five two-pointers to help the Pats over the line.

It was the Dreadnots who got off to the better start with the opening three points of the game before McEneaney got his first effort on target. The visitors then hit a purple patch, including a Sam Reilly goal to take a grip of the game.

The Pats responded well and pointed through Darren Connor and Conor McGuinness while a Joe Connor goal had them level at 1-7 apiece at the break.

The visitors started the second half with their second goal from Craig Shevlin on 34 minutes, but McEneaney landed two two-pointers to keep his side in touch.

Dreadnots went a point clear on 22 minutes only for Joe Connor, Grogan (2p) and Murphy to give their side a cushion that proved sufficient despite the Clogher men scoring the final two points.

St Patricks: Martin McEneaney 0-10 (5 x 2op); James McGeown, Kevin Toner, Jack Elvin; Darren O’Hanlon, Barry Dunne, Darren Connor 0-1; Tom McCann, Padraig Duffy; Micheal O’Shaughnessy, Joe Connor 1-1, Sean Fearon; Conor Grogan 0-4 (2 x 2p), Conor McGuinness 0-1, Jack Murphy 0-2.

Subs: Rory Duffy for J Elvin, Cillian Keenan for M O’Shaughnessy, Ruairi Traynor for D O’Hanlon.

Dreadnots: Dylan Cassidy; Ciaran Caffrey, Barry Faulkner, Aaron Scullion; Donnacha Skinnader, Anthony Williams, Conor Faulkner 0-1; Callum Skinnader, Ciaran Cunningham 0-1; Ciaran Finnegan 0-3, Sam Reilly 0-1, Conor Clarke; Donnacha Hodgins 0-2, Craig Shevlin 1-6, Owen Murphy.

Subs: Cian McEvoy for B Faulkner, Dean Hyland for O Murphy, Darragh Shevlin for D Skinnader, Conor Shevlin 0-1 for C Finnegan.

Newtown Blues 2-12 St Fechins 1-9

Newtown Blues continued their fine run of form as they surged up the Division 1B table with a victory over St Fechins at Beaulieu on Friday night.

As a result, it is now no wins in six outings for the hosts as this six-point reverse left them hovering just about the bottom of the table.

It got even worse as victory for Geraldines on Saturday night meant that the Termonfeckin side are now bottom of the table.

The Fechins were looking for a bright start to boost their confidence, but things didn’t go their way as Eoin McCoy had the ball in their net inside five minutes.

Ciaran Downey repeated the trick midway through the second quarter as his side took a 2-8 to 1-6 lead into the break, with Jamie Kelly landing four points.

The second half proved to be a low-scoring affair with Downey (3) and Kelly adding to the visitors' tally. The Fechins battled to the end but were unable to find the scores needed to ask any serious questions as the Blues held out for the win.

Newtown Blues: Ronan Brown; Dan McArdle, Aidan O’Brien, Lian Brannigan; Jack Healy, Emmet Carolan, Niall Devlin; Brian Kermode, Ciaran Cluskey Kelly; Alan Connor, Ciaran Downey, Conor Mac Criosta; Jamie Kelly, Eoin McCoy, Colm Judge.

Subs: Conor Moore for C Judge, Ryan Nugent for E McCoy, Joey Nally for L Brannigan, Iollan Farrell for N Devlin.

Hunterstown Rovers 1-13 Cooley Kickhams 2-10

An entertaining Division 1B encounter finished honours even at Hunterstown on Saturday evening as Cooley Kickhams made their way home with a share of the spoils.

Ryan Ward was the saviour for the hosts as his late point ensured Rovers earned a reward for their efforts.

Overall, it was another impressive display from the full forward as he finished the night with eight points to his credit, with that haul including two two-pointers.

Those points helped Hunterstown take a 0-8 to 1-4 lead into the halftime break, as Cooley scored their first goal of the game to stay in touch.

By the midway stage of the second half, Cooly had turned things around to lead by two points; however, Cian Matthews fired to the net for Hunterstown to keep his team in the contest.

Cooley added a second goal, but again Rovers remained in the hunt on a night when Donovan Sheridan, Alan Landy and Colm Murphy were on target before Ward had the final say to secure a share of the spoils.

Hunterstown Rovers: Donovan Sheridan 0-2 (2p); Daithi Carroll, Micheal Reid 0-1, Euan Woodlock; Colm Murphy 0-1, Shane Halpenny, David Finn; Marc Ward, Jason Monaghan; Tony McKenna, Ciaran Russell, Glen Mathews; Cian Matthews 1-0, Ryan Ward 0-8 (2 x 2p), Alan Landy 0-1.

Subs: Martin Lennon for C Russell, Oran Martin for C Matthews, Paul Carrie for A Landy.

Geraldine's 3-13 Sean O’Mahonys 1-15

Geraldines gave themselves a huge boost in the battle for Division 1 safety when they claimed a crucial win over fellow strugglers Sean O’Mahonys on Saturday night.

With St Fechins losing the previous evening, the Gers went into this game knowing that victory would see them leapfrog the Termonfeckin side and move off the bottom of the table, and they managed to achieve that objective with a four-point success.

The result adds to the concerns of the Sean O’Mahonys, who are now level with the Gers on nine points, just two ahead of St Fechins in what promises to be a tense battle at the foot of the table.

In a tight first half, it was the Geradlines who had a slight edge, and they made it count as Brian Devlin scored the only goal of the game to send his team in leading by 1-10 to 0-7. 

The Dundalk men fought back well in the second half and found the net themselves.

However, they were unable to recover from the concession of further goals from Danny Nordone and Ben Gartlan, while both Michael Rogers and Shane O’Hanlon contributed four points apiece.

Geraldines: Cian O’Donoghue; John McCrohan 0-2, Dara O'Gradaigh, Paul Clarke; Neil Gartlan, Gareth Neacy, Jack McGailey; Michael Rogers 0-4, Thomas McNamara; David O’Connell, Brian Cafferty, Jack Traynor; Shane Soraghan, Shane O’Hanlon 0-4 (2 x 2p), Brian Devlin 1-2.

Subs: Danny Nordone 1-0, Ben Gartlan 1-0.