Louth GAA club | Kevin Mullen Shield round-up

GROUP A

O’CONNELLS 3-17 ST NICHOLAS 0-15

O’Connells picked up their first win of the new season when they held off the challenge of St Nicholas at The Grove on Sunday.

The Nicks made the trip in the hope of adding a second win in their efforts to maintain their pursuit of the table-toppers, Lannleire. However, three second-half goals saw the hosts through.

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Led by the scoring power of Robert Quigley and Niall Conlon, the hosts found themselves in a strong position at the break as they led by 0-12 to 0-5 at the break.

Any hopes of a Nicks comeback disappeared early in the second half as TJ Conlon scored the opening goal. Bernard Osborne came off the bench to add a second before Cian Geeney wrapped things when he raised a green flag with the last kick of the game. 

O’CONNELLS: Ciáran Kearney; Nathan Carragher, Jack McGeough, Adam Flynn; Harry Kierans, Liam Keirnan, Tadgh Kearney; Sean Cairns, Niall Conlon 0-4 (12p); Justin Cooney 0-1, Cailum Woods, T.J Conlon 1-1; Evan Kearney 0-3, Robert Quigley 0-7 (1 2p), Alan McGovern.

Subs: Jake Kearney for H Kierans, Cian Geeney 1-0 for C Woods, Leo Walsh for A Flynn, Bernard Osborne 1-1 for Alan McGovern, Dalton O’Brien for R Quigley.

(Powerscreen Kevin Mullen Shield - Group A, Round 4 table)

GROUP B

NH FIONNBARRA 3-11 NA PIARSAIGH BLACKROCK 1-5

Conditions couldn't have been better for football with little or no breeze and perfect sunshine. It was the visitors who played the majority of the football in the opening quarter, defending aggressively and breaking quickly from the back.

Unfortunately for them, they didn’t get their reward as numerous wides resulted in them picking up just five points - three white flags and an orange flag.

The home side didn't fare much better and struggled somewhat to get into the game. Once again handling errors were an issue early on. As the half progressed the Togher men began to cut out mistakes but were lacklustre in front of goal.

Jack Murtagh was proving a handful for the opposition and as the half wore on, Adam Hanratty, Josh Crosbie, Collie McGrane, Stephen O Reilly and Cormac McArdle began to impose themselves more on the game but it did not show on the scoreboard as Finbarrs only managed four points by half-time.

The second half was in stark contrast to the first as Finbarrs put the shoulder to the wheel from the off. They moved the ball with purpose and conviction.

Points from a range of scorers including Ciaran Murphy, Stephen O'Reilly, Jack Murtagh, Cormac McArdle and Colum Kierans were sandwiched between well-taken goals by Michael McArdle, Conor Boyle and Andy McCann.

Any threat to the Togher rearguard was easily snuffed out by cornerback Mairtin Murphy who quickly set the half-backs and half-forwards in motion.

In fact, so mean was the Togher full back line in the second half that Na Piarsaigh were reduced to a single score, a Ciaran Murphy goal.

NH FIONNBARRA: Fionn McQuillan; Mairtin Murphy, Adam Hanratty, Adam Kirwan; Ronan McCreesh, Collie McGrane, Cormac McArdle 0-1; Gary Matthews, Josh Crosbie; Matthew O'Reilly, Oisin Madden, Ben Turley; Jack Murtagh 0-3, Stephen O’Reilly, Ciaran Murphy 0-2.

Subs: Seanie Vaughan for R McCreesh, Colum Kierans 0-2 for O Madden, Ronan Callaghan for C McGrane, Fionn Murphy for A Kirwan, Conor Boyle 1-0 for J Murtagh, Andy McCann 1-1 for C Murphy, Michael McArdle 1-1, Aaron Kearney 0-1.

NA PIARSAIGH/BLACKROCK: Jordan Mackin; Chris Kellet, Shane Roddy, Eoin Farrell; John Galligan, Fionn Tipping, Joe Woods; Michael Woods, James McCartney; Oisin Woods, David Boyle, Ciaran Murphy 1-4; Calum Smith, Tommy Muckian 0-1, Jamie Fealy.

Subs: Conall Myles, Sean McGuill.

(Powerscreen Kevin Mullen Shield - Group B, Round 4 table)

GROUP C

WOLFE TONES 6-19 DOWDALLSHILL 2-2

Wolfe Tones moved to the top of the table thanks to this comfortable victory at home to Dowdallshill in Group C of the Kevin Mullen Shield on Sunday morning.

The result makes it three wins from three for the Junior Champions and allows them to leapfrog John Mitchels in the table.

The Drogheda side was always on top in this game and had six different players find the net. From the starting 15, Danny Molloy, Taidgh Rock and Dwayne Leavy all raised green flags while Darren Weldon, Chris Cudden and C Geraghty came off the bench to add goals.

Garrett Cooney top scored with five points while Liam Gaffney, Danny Byrne and Joe Comiskey were also on target.

At the other end, Dowdallshill got their first goals of the season through Paul Flynn and Ray Campbell, with Cathal Byrne two points.

WOLFE TONES: Chris Donnelly; Eoghan Clinton, Alan Fanning; Danny Byrne 0-1; Davey Bolger, Rhys McGovern, Sean McQuail 0-2; Mark Healy 0-1, Danny Molloy 1-1; Taidgh Rock 1-0, Dwayne Leavy 1-2, Liam Gaffney 0-2; Garrett Cooney 0-5, Niall Smith 0-1, Joe Comiskey.

Subs: G Fanning for S McQuail, P Fanning for M Healy, D Weldon 1-2 for N Smith, K Brady for A Fanning, S McMahon for D Bolger, S Flanagan for L Gaffney 0-2, C Geraghty 1-0 for D Molloy, Shane Kelly for R McGovern, C Cuden 1-0 for T Rock, N Keenan for G Cooney.

DOWDALLSHILL: Emmet O’Brien; Feidhlim O’Callaghan, John McKenny, Kevin McGonagle; Tommy Craig, Paul Flynn (1-0), Jusuf Balogun; Justin Halley, Cathal Byrne (0-2); Noel Finnegan, Donal Magennis, Niall McDonagh; Cian Kieran, Ray Campbell (1-0), Thomas McKenny.

(Powerscreen Kevin Mullen Shield - Group B, Round 4 table)

Powerscreen Kevin Mullen Shield Fixtures

Group B – Round 4 - Tuesday, 11^th March: Glyde Rangers v Naomh Malachi – Darver at 8.15pm.

Group A – Round 2 - Thursday, 13^th March: O'Connells v Westerns – Darver at 8.00pm. 

Group C – Round 5 - Thursday, 13^th March: Dowdallshill v Cuchulainn Gaels – Na Piarsaigh at 8.00pm

Group A – Round 5 - Saturday, 15^th March: St. Nicholas v Westerns – Jimmy Pentony Park at 4.30pm; Saturday, 15^th March: Sean McDermotts v O'Connells - Darver at 7.00pm.

Group B – Round 5 - Saturday, 15^th March: Naomh Malachi v Naomh Fionnbarra - Naomh Malachi at 4.30pm.

Group C – Round 5 - Saturday, 15^th March: John Mitchells v Wolfe Tones - John Mitchells at 4.30pm.