Padraic Downey leading a St. Nicholas attack. Picture by Arthur Kinahan
John O’Neill Sand & Gravel Louth Division 3A
OLIVER PLUNKETTS 4-15
NA PIARSAIGH/BLACKROCK 0-2
Oliver Plunketts bounced back from their defeat to the previous week to score a comfortable win over Na Piarsaigh Blackrock in Drogheda on Saturday evening.
It was clear from the outset that there would be no repeat of their slip-up against Glyde as the hosts cruised home to maintain their one point advantage over the O’Connells at the top of Division 3A.
Killian Nolan grabbed two goals for the winners to help them on their way while Luke Carley also found the net, and Sean Callaghan claimed the fourth.
At half time it was 1-10 to 0-2 in favour of the winners, with Callaghan going on to kick seven points while Luke Haggans added three. The Dundalk men failed to add to their tally of two first half points from Jamie Fealy and Mark O’Hare.
OLIVER PLUNKETTS: Luke Haggans 0-3; Cillian Matthews, David McTaggert, Ricky Bateson; Jamie Byrne, Dean Carolan, David Lambe; Shaun Smith 0-1, Stephen Keeley; Killian Nolan 2-1, Cian Brady 0-1, Luke Carley 1-1; Sean Callaghan 1-7, Robbie Brodigan, Kristian Nolan.
SUBS: Sean Boyle for C Brady, Sean Rice for D Carolan, Evan Byrne for J Byrne, Cillian Smith 0-1 for Cillian Matthews, Alex Shield for K Nolan.
NA PIARSAIGH: Aidan Marks; Gerry Rice, Eoin Farrell, Chris Kellett; John Galligan, Joe Woods, Michael Woods; Jonathan Deeney, Mark O’Hare 0-1; Fionn Tipping, Ciaran Murphy, Tommy Muckian; Ronan McCartney, Robert Murphy, Jamie Fealy 0-1.
SUBS: Stephen McGuinness, James McCartney, Tiarnan Mulvenna, Darren Muckian, Brooklyn Kenna.
O’CONNELLS 2-12
NH FIONNBARRA 1-10
O’Connells got the better of their neighbours Naomh Fionnbarra once again when they had five points to spare at the Grove on Saturday evening.
Niall Conlon got the first point of the game for the home side and a couple of minutes the same player set up Sean Geeney for the first goal of the night. Straight from the kickout the visitors when up the field and Jack Regan had his shot blocked but the rebound went to Martin Murphy and he made no mistake shooting to the net.
Corner back Nathan Carragher got a great point for the Bellingham side and Harry Kierans added another one a minute later. Bernard Osborne sent in a long ball which was caught by Conlon and he turned a shot to the net for his side’s second goal of the game.
Jackie Agnew got on the score sheet with a point to leave the score 2-4 to 1-0 after eleven minutes. Kalum Regan got the Barrs’ first point of the game but Conlon and Osborne added two more to the O’Connells tally.
Cormac McArdle got a second point for the visitors before Cailum Woods and Kierans added two more points for the home side. McArdle got the last point of the half to leave the score at the break 2-8 to 1-3.
McArdle got the first point of the second half from a free and Osborne got his side’s first of the second half also from a free. The teams shared the next four points, Conor Culligan and Dean Stanfield for the home side and a McArdle brace for the Togher team with ten minutes to go.
McArdle got another brace of frees and substitute Colum Kierans put over a great long range effort to leave the score 2-11 to 1-8 with only a couple of minutes to go. McArdle got his side’s last point of the game and Woods got the Bellingham side’s last score that keeps his team in second place in the league.
O’CONNELLS: John Brennan; Sam Shearman, Conor Byrne, Nathan Carragher 0-1; Emmet Byrne, Stuart Osborne, Liam Kiernan; Conor Culligan 0-1, Cailum Woods 0-2; Harry Kierans 0-2, Sean Geeney 1-0, Bernard Osborne 0-2(1f); Jackie Agnew 0-1, Niall Conlon 1-2(1f), Evan Kearney.
SUBS: Dean Stanfield 0-1 for N. Conlon, Tadhg Kearney for L. Kiernan, Padraig McCahey for E. Kearney.
NH FIONNBARRA: Fionn McQuillan; Sean Boyle, Kalum Regan 0-1, Ronan Callaghan; Colin McGrane, Chris McGlynn, Ronan McCreesh; Adam Hanratty, Brendan Simms; Jack Murtagh, Jack Regan, Dylan Hanratty; Thomas McCreesh, Martin Murphy 1-0, Cormac McArdle 0-8(8f).
SUBS: Ciaran Murphy for T. McCreesh, Kieran Lenihan for C. McGrane, James Butterly for R. Callaghan, Colum Kierans 0-1 for J. Murtagh.
JOHN MITCHELS 1-13
GLYDE RANGERS 2-10
A last gasp penalty from Mikey Nulty salvaged a draw for John Mitchels on Saturday night against Glyde Rangers in Ballybailie. A slow start saw Glyde race into an early lead and a goal from a penalty helped them post 1-3 on the board before the Mitchels got their first score through Trevor Matthews.
Mikey Nulty added a point before a second Glyde goal extended their lead. However a strong finish to the half with three good Andrew Bingham points from midfield closed the gap to leave the half time score at 2-4 to 0-5, with the goals from Barry Brennan and Tadhg Kellett give the visitors the edge.
With work to do in the second half, the hosts started better and closed the gap instantly through John Gallagher and Trevor Matthews frees. Glyde got another point to extend the lead to four before John Bingham popped up with a point.
The lead stayed at three with John Gallagher point and a Glyde score cancelling each other out. Mickey Quinn kicked two brilliant long range points to close the gap to one but Glyde responded strongly and got two points of their own.
Trevor Matthews and John Gallagher got further points for the Mitchels which were matched by two Glyde points to leave it a three point game in injury time.
A ball across the square bravely flicked on by Stephen Bingham was claimed by Mickey Quinn where he was then fouled before Mikey Nulty cooly stepped up to dispatch the penalty and leave the sides deadlocked and sharing the spoils.
JOHN MITCHELS: David Anderson, Mickey Quinn (0-2), Mitchell Keenan, James Sands, Mikey Nulty (1-1), John Bingham (0-1), Aaron Kane, Trevor Matthews (0-3), Andrew Bingham (0-3), Tristan Knowles, John Gallagher (0-3), Jamie Durnin, Robbie Coyle, Aaron Keely, Liam Devitt.
SUBS: Jake Gillespie for R Coyle, Stephen Bingham for L Devitt.
GLYDE RANGERS: David Brennan; Aaron Myles, Lee Finnegan, Mark McKeever; Barry Brennan 1-9, Conor Sheridan, Jack McKeever; Adam Sweeney, Ciaran Sheridan 0-1; Tadhg Kellett 1-4, Aaron Devlin; Brian Duffy, Sean Devenney, Killian Scott 0-2, Kevin Teather 0-1.
SUBS: Oisin Lynch and Leigh Byrne.
John O’Neill Sand & Gravel Louth Division 3A League Table
TEAM |
PLAYED |
WON |
LOST |
DRAWN |
FOR |
AGAINST |
DIFF |
PTS |
Oliver Plunketts |
13 |
10 |
3 |
0 |
166 |
99 |
67 |
22 |
O'Connells |
13 |
9 |
3 |
1 |
217 |
136 |
81 |
21 |
John Mitchels |
13 |
7 |
4 |
2 |
198 |
157 |
41 |
17 |
Glyde Rangers |
13 |
4 |
7 |
2 |
145 |
173 |
-28 |
12 |
Naomh Fionnbarra |
13 |
3 |
9 |
1 |
144 |
171 |
-27 |
7 |
Na Piarsaigh |
13 |
2 |
9 |
2 |
85 |
219 |
-134 |
7 |
John O’Neill Sand & Gravel Louth Division 3A League Fixtures
Wednesday, 7th August – Round 14
Naomh Fionnbarra vs. Oliver Plunketts – John Markey Park – 8pm
Glyde Rangers vs. O'Connells – Páirc Ui Taibh – 8pm
Na Piarsaigh vs. John Mitchells – Páirc An tAthair Ui Dhubhthaigh – 8pm
John O’Neill Sand & Gravel Louth Division 3B
ST. NICHOLAS 3-5
WOLFE TONES 0-13
St. Nicholas clinched the division 3B title in the most dramatic of fashions on Saturday evening in Jimmy Pentony park. The local derby drew in a large crowd who were treated to a thriller from start to finish. Both teams had something to play for in this crunch league encounter, the title for the Nicks and a third-place promotion play off for the Tones.
It was the visitors who struck first with two points from Rory Taaffe frees before Roy Kierans found the net for the Nicks against the run of play. Wolfe Tones continued their scoring from dead balls as the home side found their defence under pressure.
Soon the home side regained the lead when Lee Kavanagh raised a green flag with a finish low to the corner of the net. The first half finished with Nicks keeper Shane Finegan pointing a free from out on the sideline, extending their lead to three at the break.
The men from the Platin Rd. had their own purple patch and scored five to no reply, leaving them two up going into added time. This wasn’t the end of the scoring.
Nicks showed some real grit as they worked the ball up the field through Hayden Quinn, Meagher and Kierans. The ball landed into the hands of half forward Sam Reilly who drove past two defenders and won the title as his shot flew into the Wolfe Tones net and sent Jimmy Pentony park wild.
ST. NICHOLAS: Shane Finegan 0-1,1f; Stephen Finegan, Brian Carter, Alex Finnegan; Dylan Brogan, Ruairí Hanlon, Aaron Flanagan; Phillip Kirwan, Cian Flynn; Sam Reilly 1-0, Fionn Meagher 0-2, Hayden Quinn; Roy Kierans 1-0, Lee Kavanagh 1-0, Shane Downey 0-1.
SUBS: Paudi Downey 0-1(1f) for Hanlon, Conor Faulkner for Kavanagh, Josh Byrne for Flynn, Tadgh Martin for Kirwan.
WOLFE TONES: Alan Sweeney; Danny Byrne, Kevin Brady, Rhys McGovern; Sean Flanagan, Alan Fanning, Seán McQuail; Mark Healy, Dean Haggins; Dwayne Leavy 0-2, Eoghan Brennan 0-5(4frees), Darren Weldon; Liam Gaffney, Rory Taaffe 0-4 (2frees), Garrett Cooney 0-2 (1free).
SUBS: Niall Smith for Cooney, Eoghan O’Shea for Healy
SEAN MCDERMOTTS 1-12
NAOMH MALACHI 2-16
Naomh Malachi secured a play off place with a handsome away win over Sean McDermotts in Mountrath. Any slip up whatsoever would have cost the Courtbane men so after a stern half time talking to, they got the job done.
Pierce Carthy’s first half goal for the winners was cancelled out by the Seans Emmet Duffy. The even first half saw both sides go in level 1-8 a piece. With little to play for the Seans challenge wilted and Mals got even more fortified.
The key moment of the game belonged to their big midfielder Padraig Moley. He pounced to push the game beyond the hosts and allow the Mals to close out the league and prepare for a shot at returning to Division 3a for next season.
SEAN MCDERMOTTS: Finbar Moran; David O’Neill, David McArdle, Ronan Kerley; Danny Reilly, Sean McMahon 0-1, Donnacha McCourt 0-1; Pat Osbourne, Noel Tuite; Danny Commins 0-2, Emmet Duffy 1-2, Ian Corbally; Matthew Little, Declan Carroll, Sean Boyle.
SUBS: Ronnie Ruikis for Boyle, Brendan McGahon for Duffy, Dean Brennan for N Tuite.
NAOMH MALACHI: Darren Kearney; Donal Begley, Daniel Mulligan, Conor Begley; Jamie Kelly,Andrew Begley, Darragh Greene; Kevin McShane, Paudie Moley 1-3; Conor Nicholson 0-3, Matthew Campbell, Michael McLoughlin, Collie Rooney 0-4, Pierce Carthy 1-1, Dylan Rooney.
WESTERNS 1-14
CUCHULAINN GAELS 1-9
Westerns defeated Cuchulainn Gaels to close out a promising season in Division 3B. With promotion already secured before the game, the Reaghstown side have played up their end of the bargain with a final day win in over Cuchulainn Gaels in Omeath.
Chris Kerr’s 12th minute strike gave the visitors the perfect start but Mícheál McCabe’s goal at the start of the second half gave the Westerns a scare. The hosts even missed a free to level, but four in a row from James Maguire (3) and Patrick saw them over the line.
CUCHULAINN GAELS: Shea Quigley; John Morgan, Sean Brennan, Rowan Mulligan; Rammie Phillips, Martin Hynes, Eamonn Donnelly 0-1; Larry Brennan, Mícheál McCabe 1-1; Adam Sharkey 0-1, David McQuaid, Phillip McGovern; Cian McDonald 0-1, James Sharkey 0-4, Stephen Mullen.
SUBS: Peter Morgan for Rowan Mulligan, Jamie Molloy for Stephen Mullen, Eoin McDonald for Cian McDonald, Seamus McCabe for Rammie Phillips, James Keenan for Phillip McGovern.
WESTERNS: James Maguire 0-7; Cathal Kennedy 0-2 Rory Duffy 0-1, Dylan Ogle 0-1, Patrick Kerley 0-1; Aidan McGarrell 0-1, Chris Kerr 1-1, Joe Durnin 0-1.
John O’Neill Sand & Gravel Louth Division 3B League Table
TEAM |
PLAYED |
WON |
LOST |
DRAWN |
FOR |
AGAINST |
DIFF |
PTS |
St. Nicholas |
14 |
11 |
3 |
0 |
164 |
136 |
28 |
26 |
Westerns |
14 |
11 |
3 |
0 |
201 |
145 |
56 |
24 |
Naomh Malachi |
14 |
9 |
5 |
0 |
175 |
181 |
-6 |
21 |
Annaghminnon Rovers |
14 |
8 |
6 |
0 |
166 |
165 |
1 |
19 |
Wolfe Tones |
14 |
8 |
6 |
0 |
171 |
149 |
22 |
18 |
Sean McDermotts |
14 |
5 |
9 |
0 |
161 |
203 |
-42 |
11 |
Cuchulainn Gaels |
14 |
4 |
10 |
0 |
135 |
194 |
-59 |
9 |
Dowdallshill |
14 |
0 |
14 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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