Joe's late goal secure Louth Division 1 promotion against Roche

St. Joseph's clinched promotion to Division 1 with a dramatic last-minute goal to overcome a spirited second-half fightback from Roche Emmets in the Louth John O’Neill Sand and Gravel Division 1/2 Promotion/Relegation Playoff on Friday night at PPFS, Darver.

The Dromiskin/Darver outfit dominated much of the first half and their opening score came just two minutes in as Oisin McGuinness knocked over a free to give them an early lead.

Roche struggled to break through the Joes' defence as Craig Doherty and McGuinness added more points when they went forward.

Emmets goalkeeper Evin Quigley kept his team in the contest with a double save in the 27th minute to deny Gabriel Bell and prevent St. Joseph's from pulling further ahead.

The Joes took a five-point lead of 0-7 to 0-2 going into the halftime break leaving Roche with it all to do in the second half.

Roche came out stronger in the second half and eight minutes after the restart Michael Staunton received a black card to reduce the Joes temporarily to 14 men.

Barry O'Hare took advantage with a couple of frees and closed the gap to three points by the 43rd minute as Jamie O'Hare's team began to mount a comeback.

St. Joseph's finally got their first score of the second half in the 54th minute, with Conall Smyth palming over the bar after some excellent work from Pearse Grimes-Murphy.

However, Roche continued to chip away and Shane Byrne's shot was deflected over by St. Joseph’s goalkeeper Adam Cassidy, and more free-taking accuracy from O'Hare brought them within a point as the clock ticked down.

With just a minute remaining Gabriel Bell reacted quickest to a rebound off the post and found the back of the net from close range to seal a 1-8 to 0-7 victory for St. Joseph's and secure their promotion to Division 1.

Roche Emmets will be disappointed after their strong second-half showing but the loss means they are relegated to Division 2 for the 2025 season.

St. Joseph’s: Adam Cassidy; Rian Devlin, Michael Staunton, Cormac McKeown (0-1); Cian Sheridan, Craig Doherty (0-2), Gabriel Bell (1-0); Killian Staunton, Conall McCaul (0-1, 1f); Killian McDonnell, Conall Smyth (0-1), Ben Collier; Pearse Grimes-Murphy (0-1, 1 ’45), Oisin McGuinness (0-2, 2f), David Kieran

Roche Emmets: Evin Quigley; Dermot Carthy, Seán Connolly, Aidan Grant; James McDonnell, David Quigley, Conor Carthy; Peter Lynch, Dan O’Connell; Ryan Martin, Shane Byrne (0-1), Daire Reilly (0-1); Mark Byrne, Barry O’Hare (0-4, 4f), DD Reilly

Referee: Stephen Murphy (Naomh Máirtín).