Division 2 Reports: Derby defeat sees Gaels miss out on top six

HOLLYWOOD DEVELOPMENTS DIVISION 2 ROUND 11

CLAN NA GAEL 2-9 DUNDALK GAELS 1-10

Despite setting a scorching pace at the start of the Division 2 campaign, Dundalk Gaels miserable run of form over recent weeks saw them miss out on a top 6 place after losing to neighbours Clan na Gael at The Ramparts on Saturday evening.
The result sees the Clans finish level at the top of the table on 15 points after they picked up a sixth win of the campaign.

Despite their faltering form in recent weeks, Gaels still had the chance to finish in the top half and in a very competitive opening half they were very much on course to do so.

Dylan McKeown led the charge for the hosts as he landed all six points for his side as they went in at the break on level terms. Robbie Curran was in fine form at the other end as his side matched their opponents all the way.

It remained delicately balanced in the second half, but it was the Clans who did just enough to secure the win.

Goals from Mark McGeown and John Byrne provided the platform for success, and they held out for a two-point victory despite Mark McCabe finding the net for The Ramparts men.

CLAN NA GAEL: Sean Smyth; Brian McDonnell, Gerard Curran, Jack Callan; John Byrne (1-0), Paul Gartland, Conall McKeever; Robbie Curran (0-5), Chris Noonan; Paul Crewe, Shane Carroll (0-1), Mark Lee (0-1); Jason Cullen (0-1), Sean O’Hanlon, Liam O’Hanlon (0-1). Subs: Mark McGeown (1-0) for P Gartland, Gavin Gaffey for J Cullen.

DUNDALK GAELS: Adrian Rafferty; James Lynch, Oisin Murray, Mark Hanna; Kyle Rafferty, David McComish, Paul McCrave; Sean McCann, Jordan Keating; Mark McCabe (1-1), Dylan McKeown (0-8), Jack Mullen; Barry Watters, Thomas O’Connell (0-1), Shaun Duffy. Sub: John O’Hare for Paul McCrave.

COOLEY KICKHAMS 2-12 ROCHE EMMETS 0-8

Cooley Kickhams claimed the points on offer at Fr McEvoy Park on Saturday evening to ensure they claimed a place in the top half of the table.

Michael Rafferty caused the main damage for the hosts on the night as his brace of goals went a long way to ensuring a vital win.

Despite losing, Roche were also able to celebrate a place in the top six as they claimed the final place ahead of St Josephs, thanks to a superior score difference.

Cooley’s victory was based on a strong first half display when they made good use of the elements to build up a lead. Rafferty claimed his first goal to send his team in with a 1-8 to 0-2 lead at the short whistle.

Roche enjoyed a greater share of the game in the second half and saw Barry O’Hare finish with seven of his team’s eight points. Mark Byrne added the other score, but it wasn’t enough to trouble Cooley as Rafferty added his second three-pointer in the closing stages.

Cian Connor, Callum O’Hanlon, Peter Thornton and James O’Reilly were also on the scoresheet for the winners.

COOLEY KICKHAMS: Neil Gallagher; Ronan McBride, Dean McGreehan, Ian Arnold; Gerry Malone, Fearghal Malone, Patrick Hanlon; Darren Marks, Peter Thornton (0-2); James O’Reilly (0-1), Enda O’Neill (0-2), Cian Connor (0-2); Callum O’Hanlon (0-1), Michael Rafferty (2-3), Richard Brennan. Subs: Michael Carron (0-1), Eddie Kirwan.

ROCHE EMMETS: Jamie O’Hare; Harry O’Connell, Adam McKay, Dermot Carthy; Andrew Carroll, Caoimhin Reilly, James McDonnell; Glen Stewart, Dan O’Connell; Jack McKay, Liam Carthy, Gerry Browne; Barry O’Hare (0-7), Shane Byrne, Mark Byrne (0-1). Subs: David Quigley, Martin Carroll, Fionn Conlon, Daire Reilly, Marc Murphy.

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YOUNG IRELANDS 3-18 LANNLEIRE 1-9

Young Irelands secured a fourth-place finish in Division 2 thanks to a comfortable win over Lannleire in Dunleer on Saturday evening.

A first half goal blitz from the Dundalk men helped them to establish an 11-point lead at the break and despite a gallant effort from the hosts, they were never in a position to threaten that advantage.

Jack McArdle got the ball rolling for the visitors in the ninth minute when he scored the opening goal of the game. Cian O’Donoghue added a second at the start of the second quarter and in the 25th minute Jordan O’Donoghue found the net to effectively put the game beyond Lannleire.

Darragh Malone kicked four of Lannleire's first half scores with the other two points coming from Ian Mulroy and Paul Callan.

Lannleire competed well in the second period and were rewarded with a fine Darragh Malone goal on 52 minutess after good approach play by Mulroy.

However, at no stage was the Irelanders lead ever threatened on a night when Dermot Mone, Derek Maguire and Liam McStravick were also on the scoresheet.

YOUNG IRELANDS: Fergal Sheekey; Lee O’Donoghue, Ciaran Murray, Conn O’Donoghue (0-1); Liam McStravick (0-4), Jamie Browne (0-2), Cian O Naraigh; Ryan Malone, Ruairi Kelly (0-1); Jack McArdle (1-0), Cian O’Donoghue (1-2), Jordan O’Donoghue (1-5); Derek Maguire (0-2), Dermot Mone (0-1), Mark Gahon. Subs: Peter McCourt for C Murray, Caolan McCabe for C O Naraigh, Leon Duffy for Derek Maguire, Michael Mone for M Gahon, Stephen Bellew for R Malone.

LANNLEIRE: Liam Callan; Alex Carroll, Paul McGeough, Jason Torris; Matthew Malone, Briain McGuinness, Kyle van Rhijn; Pierce Hawkins, Paul Callan (0-2); Luke Dunne Boylan (0-1), Bob Murphy, Killian Gregory; Darragh Malone (1-5), Ian Mulroy (0-1), Lawrence Jones. Subs: Cathal McEvoy for Lawrence Jones; Aaron McArdle for Bob Murphy.

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HUNTERSTOWN ROVERS 2-14 ST KEVINS 1-14

St Kevins lost the outright lead in Division 2 when they suffered a narrow defeat away to Hunterstown Rovers on Saturday night. Dean Burns was the man in form for the winners as he bagged 2-3 to help his side to their fifth win of the campaign.

Although it was too late to rescue a place in the top six, the win represents a boost for Rovers, who are finding their form at a crucial time of the season.

It was very tight between the teams throughout the game in terms of possession, and at the end of the first quarter the teams were deadlocked at five points apiece.

However, it was the hosts who made the most of their goal-scoring opportunities before the break as Burns fired in two excellent goals to give his side a 2-7 to 0-8 advantage at the break.

The Kevins gave themselves a fighting chance when Cian Callan found the net after the restart to cut the gap to 2-10 to 1-10 at the end of the third quarter. The Philipstown men battled for the goal they needed in the closing stages, but Rovers defended their lead well and held out for victory.

HUNTERSTOWN ROVERS: Donovan Sheridan; Martin Lennon (0-1), Paddy Taaffe, Euan Woodlock; Finn Kelly, Daithi Carroll, David Finn (0-1); Tony McKenna, Jamie Ward (0-2); James Rogers, Ryan Ward, Glen Matthews; Paul Carrie (0-2), Ryan Burns (0-5), Dean Burns (2-3). Sub: James Russell for R Ward.

ST KEVINS: Danny Crosbie; Eoin McKenna, Seanie Crosbie, Aaron Khan; Dylan Maher, Cameron Maher (0-1), Darren McMullan (0-1); Evan Maher (0-1), Shane Meade; Caolan McMullan, Tom Matthews, Patrick Clarke (0-2); Cian Callan (1-3), Lee Crosbie (0-5), Paul Duff (0-1). Subs: Jack Stokes for C Callan, Brian Callaghan for C McMullan, Keelan Maher for P Duff.

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ST JOSEPHS 4-16 GLEN EMMETS 1-8

Despite a comfortable win over Glen Emmets in Tullyallen, St Josephs missed out on a place in the top six on score difference.
The Joes opened the scoring with points from Craig Doherty and Jack Mulligan before Conor Grimes responded from wide left with a superb point for Glen Emmets.

The Joes then settled into the game and took a grip on proceedings when a Jack Mulligan free was followed by a Conall McCaul goal to help their side into a 1-5 to 0-2 lead. Alan Quigley and Gabriel Bell also pointed, while Alex Carolan added a point for the Emmets.

The sides exchanged points, with Conor Neary finishing a well worked move for the Joes and James Butler pointing with an excellent effort from wide right.

However, the remainder of the half belonged to the Joes and a goal from Jack Mulligan saw them lead by 2-11 to 0-5 at the break.

It got even better for the visitors just after the restart when Oisin McGuinness claimed his side’s third goal.

The Tullyallen men did respond with a goal from Cian Talbot, but they were unable to make any inroads on the deficit as the Joes continued to dominate. A second goal for McGuinness on the stroke of full-time sealed a very comfortable win.

ST JOSEPHS: Steven Carron; Killian McDonnell, Michael Staunton, Aidan Kieran; Gabriel Bell (0-2), Alan McKenna, David Kieran (1-1), Conor Neary (0-1); Conall McCaul, Jack Mulligan (1-4); Craig Doherty (0-3), Oisin McGuinness (2-3); Conall Smyth, Ben Collier (0-1), Alan Quigley (0-1). Subs: Cian Sheridan, Sean Allen, Patrick McKenna, Oran McParland, Darragh Collier. 

GLEN EMMETS: Damien Grimes; Emmet Delaney, Keith Boylan, Luke McCarthy; Tom Grimes, Evan English, Cathal Maguire; Sam Kenny, Conor Grimes (0-1); James Breen, Kealan O’Neill (0-2), James Butler (0-2); Alex Carolan (0-3), Cian Talbot (1-0), Eoghan Maguire. Subs: Andrew Mooney for T Grimes, Sean Byrne for S Kenny, Robbie Byrne for E Maguire, Rory Fordham for J Breen, Alex Fowler for J Butler.

KILKERLEY EMMETS 6-15 O’CONNELLS 0-9

Kilkerley Emmets moved to joint top of the Division 2 league standings with an easy victory over the winless O’Connell’s at The Grove on Saturday evening.

The visitors scored 1-3 in the first five minutes, with the goal coming from Tadhg McEnaney and the points from Conor Quigley, Aidan Corrigan and Cormac Mallon. Stuart Osborne got the home side on the board with a point, but a fine effort from McEnaney soon restored the six-point margin.

Scores from Sean Cairns and Cathal O’Brien cut the lead to four, but Quigley and McEnaney points and McEnaney’s second goal left the score 2-5 to 0-3 after 15 minutes.

Two points from Jackie Agnew left five between the sides, but the rest of the half was all Kilkerley and they added another six points to their score to lead at the break 2-11 to 0-5.

In the first minute of the second half Kilkerley had a quickly taken free saved by the keeper, but the rebound was put in the net by Quigley. Two frees from Agnew added to the Bellingham side’s score but a point from Conal McEnaney was followed by the Emmets' fourth goal from Corrigan.

Agnew landed another free kick, before three in a row from Quigley left the score 4-15 to 0-8 well into the last 10 minutes.
Agnew got his sixth point of the night for O’Connells, but two more goals for the visitors from Cormac Bellew and substitute Shane Lennon finished the scoring for the night and put them joint top of the table.

KILKERLEY EMMETS: Ultan McEnaney; Cormac Bellew (1-1), Cillian Mulligan, James Bellew; Kyle Cotter, Ciaran Clarke, Conal Brady; Fintan Brady, Liam Cawley; Conal McEnaney (0-1), Conor Quigley (1-5, 0-1 free), Cormac Mallon (0-3); Tadhg McEnaney (2-4), Aidan Corrigan (1-1), Rian Hand. Sub: Shane Lennon (1-0).

O’CONNELLS: John Brennan; Stuart Osborne (0-1), Micheál Cairns, Conor Byrne; Sam Shearman, Conor Culligan, Emmet Byrne; Ciaran O’Brien, Sean Cairns (0-1); Nathan Carragher, Jackie Agnew (0-6), Padraig McCahey; Cailum Woods, Conor Kiernan, Cathal O’Brien (0-1). Subs Cian O’Dwyer for C. Woods, TJ Conlon for P. McCahey, Dalton O’Brien for S. Shearman.