Division 1 Reports: Gers and Mattock Rangers narrowly secure spots in 1A

HOLLYWOOD DEVELOPMENTS DIVISION 1 ROUND 11

MATTOCK RANGERS 2-8 DREADNOTS 0-8

Mattock Rangers confirmed their place in the top half with a six-point win over Dreadnots in Collon on Saturday evening. Goals from Oisin McKenna and Aaron Smith proved the difference as the home side denied the Clogher outfit a place in the top half of the table.

Both teams went into the game knowing that victory was required to break into the top six and it proved to be a competitive affair, with the outcome in doubt until the closing minutes.

The teams traded scores in the first half, but the most decisive came from Aaron Smith at the midway point when he scored the first goal of the game to send his team in with a 1-4 to 0-3 advantage.

Carl Monaghan came off the bench to contribute three points and with Darragh Shevlin and Dermot Campbell also on target, they were still in the game with minutes to go. However, Mattock once again conjured up a vital score as Oisin McKenna added a second goal to put the game beyond the visitors.

MATTOCK RANGERS: Stephen Smith; Eoin McCloskey, Cillian Hickey, Shane Maguire; Terry Donegan, Sean Clarke, Robert Holmes; Ben McKenna (0-1), Brendan Leacy; Darren Henry, Shane Hickey (0-4), Jack Thompson; Oisin McKenna (1-0), Cathal Fleming (0-2), Aaron Smith (1-0). Sub: Aaron O’Brien (0-1).

DREADNOTS: Dylan Cassidy; Aaron Scullion, Pop Rath, David O’Brien; Conor Clarke (0-1), Dermot Campbell (0-1), Darragh Shevlin (0-2); Craig Shevlin, Anthony Williams; Owen Murphy, Paraic Smith, Conor Shevlin; Dean Hyland, James Califf (0-1), Peter Kirwan. Subs: Carl Monaghan (0-3), Ciaran Cunningham, Richard Kirwan.

GERALDINES 1-11 SEAN O’MAHONYS 0-10

Geraldines continued their return to form on Saturday evening at the Point Road when they picked up a valuable four-point victory that sealed a top six place.

In a game that was affected by the elements, it was the Gers who made the most of the wind advantage to over-turn an interval deficit and emerge with a deserved victory.

The home side had the better of the first half, but despite points from Terry Kelly and Thomas Rice they were unable to take full advantage on the scoreboard.

Despite facing the breeze, the Gers were much more efficient at the other end and scores from Jim McEneaney and Michael Rogers ensured that they trailed by just 0-6 to 0-4 at the break.

The visitors would have started the second half confident that they could overturn that lead and so it transpired as they added a further seven points to their tally, while McEneaney made sure his side would return with full points by scoring the only goal of the game.

Terry Kelly brought his tally for the evening to five points, but it wasn’t enough to save his side as they missed out on a place on the top six.

SEAN O’MAHONYS: Eddie Maguire; Robbie Galligan, Chris O’Neill, Conor Jameson; Brian McGuirk, Kian McEvoy, Robbie Clarke; Conor Martin, Gareth Hall; Tiaranan Cassidy, Thomas Rice (0-3), Kyle Carroll (0-1); Conor Finegan, Terry Kelly (0-5), Ben McLaughlin (0-1). Sub: Vinny Smith for T Rice.

GERALDINES: Des Reenan; Tiarnan Hand, Jack Traynor, Paul Clarke; Paul Smith, Dan Corcoran, Neil Gartlan; Gareth Neacy (0-1), Michael Rogers (0-3); Paddy Hoey (0-1), Jim McEneaney (1-4), Beanón Corrigan (0-2); Ben Gartlan, Brian Cafferty, Ryan Brennan. Subs: James Craven, Thomas McNamara, Shaun Callan, Jamie Callan.

ST MOCHTAS 3-14 NEWTOWN BLUES 0-9

St Mochtas completed phase one of the Division 1 league in second place after a comfortable win over Newtown Blues in Newfoundwell on Saturday night.

The visitors were rarely troubled over the hour as they chalked up a ninth win of the campaign, while the Blues saw their struggles continue as they remain second from bottom in the table.

The Louth Village side didn’t have it all their own way in the opening period, and it took a goal from Sean Flynn to help them lead by 1-6 to 0-7 at the break. Ciaran Brannigan and Robert Carr pointed to keep the hosts in contention.

However, the second half saw the Mochtas raise their performance levels and they dominated the remainder of the match.

With the Blues only managing two further points, the Mochs cruised home as Declan Byrne finished with six points, while Cormac Smyth, Liam O’Flaherty and Darren McMahon added to their tally. Goals from Jamie Farrell and Craig Lennon put the seal on a satisfactory evening for the visitors. 

ST MOCHTAS: Jason Calln; David Lennon, Andy English, Ben Goss Kieran; Andy Lennon, Oisin Callan, Conor Garland; Danny Kindlon, Sean Flynn (1-0); Gerry Garland (0-2), Phily Englishby, Jamie Farrell (1-1); Eamon O’Neill, Declan Byrne (0-6), Cormac Smyth (0-3). Subs: Craig Lennon (1-0) for E O’Neill, Darren McMahon (0-1) for P Englishby, Owen Lennon for D Kindlon, Liam Lawlor for D Lennon, Liam O’Flaherty (0-1) for D Byrne.

NEWTOWN BLUES: Johnny McDonnell; Zach Levins, Ciaran McCann, Evin McConnon; Iolan Farrell, Alan Connor (0-1), Ciaran Brannigan (0-3); Andy McDonnell (0-1), John Kermode; Jamie Kelly, (0-1), Daire Nally (0-1), Ciaran McGuirk; Ian Connor, Declan McNamara, Robert Carr (0-2). Sub: Ciaran Broderick for J Kermode.

Heartbreak for Louth Ladies as Roscommon defeat sees them relegated to Junior

ST PATRICKS 3-14 ST FECHINS 1-14

St Fechins welcomed in-form St Pats to Beaulieu for the final game in the first round of the league and it was the visitors who came away with the two points on offer. It was very much a game where Pats took their goal chances, whilst Fechins squandered theirs and paid the price at the finish.

A feature of the whole game was the long distance frees/45s (5 in total) from captain McDonnell in the Fechins goals and McEneaney in the Pats goals.

The hosts started well with points from the Devlin brothers and Ryan Walsh but were hit for a sucker punch early when the Pats played a slick one-two, allowing Adam Finnegan to find the net.

It was very much end to end for most of the first half with Ronan Holcroft knocking over two points, but Pats again responded with a few points of their own and a second goal from Jason Woods to knock the stuffing from the Fechins sails and lead by 2-6 to 0-7 at the break.

The Fechins, playing with a slight breeze in the second half, closed the gap to four on a couple of occasions but just couldn’t exert enough pressure on the Pats to bridge the gap. The Pats added a third goal through Aidan McCann on 53 minutes and ran out comfortable winners, despite a late goal from Niall Devlin.

ST PATRICKS: Martin McEneaney (0-2); Daniel Tumilty, Kevin Toner, Conor Grogan; Joseph Connor (0-2), Barry Dunne (0-1), Darren Connor; Leonard Grey, Matthew Pagni; Aidan McCann (1-3), Adam Finnegan (1-0), Tadhg O’Connor (0-1); Jason Woods (1-1), Cathal Grogan (0-2), Sean Fearon. Subs: Darren O’Hanlon for D Tumilty, Eoin O’Connor for J Woods, Dessie Finnegan for S Fearon, Shane Murphy (0-2) for A Finnegan, Cillian White for K Toner.

ST FECHINS: Niall McDonnell (0-3); Mark Holohan, David Lally, Danny Burnell; Neal Hodgins, Niall McCabe, Cian Gorman; Lee Grifferty (0-1), Eoin Hackett; Joe Corrigan, Brian Devlin (0-2), John O’Connell; Ryan Walsh (0-2), Niall Devlin (1-4), Ronan Holcroft (0-2). Subs: Adam Kirwan for D Burnell, Eoghan Ryan for R Holcroft, Evan Dolan for B Devlin, Mikey Mac Mahon for J Corrigan, Matt Flanagan for D Lally.

NH MAIRTIN 2-19 ST BRIDES 0-13

Naomh Mairtin won this one-sided affair in Monasterboice on Saturday evening to complete the first part of the Division 1 season on top of the table.

Sam Mulroy was top scorer in his player of the match performance, scoring 1-5 in the first half and 1-3 in the second half. St Brides had no answer to him and his side's domination from start to finish. 

The hosts took an early lead and never relinquished this throughout. They were well in control and led at the break, leading 1-11 to 0-08. Things went from bad to worse for the Reds after the interval and they eventually lost by 12 points.

NH MAIRTIN: Joe Gordon; Shane Morgan, Tom Sullivan, Conor Healy; Evan Whelan (0-1), Sean Healy, Jack Murphy; Wayne Campbell (0-1), Val Leddy (0-1); Ben Callinan (0-1), Sam Mulroy (2-8), Craig Callinan (0-1); Stevie Campell, Tom Gray (0-3), Conor Whelan (0-2). Subs: Joe McGrane, Tadgh O'Brien (0-1), Oisin Gray, Cathal Dorian.

ST BRIDES: Aaron Devin (0-2); Robert McCaughey, Ronan Bailey, Richard Halpenny (0-1); Andrew Smyth (0-3), Sean Marry (0-1), Steven Hoey; Kieran McArdle (0-2), Bernard Laverty; James Costelloe, Neil Thornton (0-2), Sean Brennan (0-1); Nathan Kirk, Emmet Kirk (0-1), Ciaran Deane. Subs: Evan Wynne, Brian Faul.

ST MARYS 1-12 O RAGHALLAIGHS 0-6

St Mary’s got back to winning ways on Saturday evening when they proved too strong for O Raghallaighs in Drogheda. The result sees the Ardee men finish the opening phase of the league in third position, five points adrift of leaders Nh Mairtin.

It was another disappointing outing for the O Raghallaighs, who remain rooted to the bottom of the table without a point to show for their efforts thus far.

Following their defeat to Geraldines the previous week, the Mary’s looked eager to make up for that setback as they dominated the opening half. Darren Clarke and Ronan Carroll were among the scores, while a goal from Conor Gillespie gave them a comfortable 1-6 to 0-1 lead at the interval.

The O Raghallaighs did enjoy a better time in front of the posts in the second half, but a comeback was never really on the cards and the Marys held out to win by nine on a night when Calum Noade, Ciaran Cian Commins, Ciaran McConnon and Paudy Clarke also contributed to the scoring.

ST MARYS: Gavin Douglas; Noah Coyle, Paraic McKenny, Jay Crawley; Rory Cousins, Donal McKenny, Calum Noade (0-1); Conor Hennessy, Ryan Rooney; Paudy Clarke (0-1), Conor Gillespie (1-3), Ciaran McConnon (0-1); Cian Commins (0-1), Ronan Carroll (0-2), Darren Clarke (0-3). Subs: Richard Rogers for R Carroll, Ben Clarke for C Commins, David Rooney for P Clarke, Shane Malone for C McConnon.