Louth GAA club | O'Connells and McDermotts progress to Kevin Mullen Plate final

O’Connells 3-13 St Nicholas 2-9

O’Connell’s GFC sealed their place in the Louth GAA club Kevin Mullen Plate Final on Saturday with a seven-point victory over St. Nicholas in The Grove.

In a hard-fought game, O’Connell’s started slowly and St. Nicholas were able to punish to lead 1-2 to 0-1 after 10 minutes with Alan Dyas finding the net. Following a Niall Conlon two-pointer, O’Connell’s started to play with a sense of freedom.

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Aided by a strong breeze at their backs, O’Connell’s would go on to score five unanswered points, with two-pointers from Niall Conlon and Robert Quigley along with a maiden O’Connell’s score for Conall Clerkin.

Although St. Nicholas would answer back with some score of their own, a hammer blow was delivered just before half-time as Niall Conlon found the back of the net to give O’Connell’s a 1-10 to 1-4 lead at the break.

The second half started perfectly for O’Connell’s with Quigley finding the back of the net within a minute of the restart. The home lead should have been extended further, but Robert Quigley missed a penalty won by T.J. Conlon.

Despite another St. Nicholas goal from Hayden Quinn, the result was never in doubt, as another Conlon goal sealed the win for O’Connell’s and sent the team to the Kevin Mullen Plate final.

O’Connell’s: Ciarán Kearney; Adam Flynn, Jack McGeough, Tadgh Kearney; Alan McGovern, Stuart Osborne, Nathan Carragher; Justin Cooney, James Walsh; Harry Kierans (0-1), Niall Conlon (2-5 2 x 2p), T.J Conlon; Conall Clerkin (0-1), Robert Quigley (1-6 (0-3 f)), Bernard Osborne.

Sub: David Hoey for T.J Conlon), Jake Kearney for A Flynn.

St. Nicholas: Shane Finegan; Stephen Finnegan, Ruairí Hanlon, Barry Woods; Aaron Flanagan, Cian Flynn, Hayden Quinn (1-1); Alex Finnegan, Phillip Kirwan (0-2); Fionn Meagher, Paudi Downey (0-4), Shane Downey (0-1); Sean Lynch, Lee Kavanagh, Alan Dyas (1-1).

Subs: Latvian Downey for S Downey; Tadgh Pentony for A Finnegan.

Sean McDermotts 0-18 Annaghminnon Rovers 1-9

Sean McDermotts booked their place in the Kevin Mullen Plate final after seeing off the challenge of Annaghminnon Rovers on Saturday evening.

The Mountrush side were rewarded for a good overall display as they based their victory on a strong opening half display.

Daniel Commins was the star man in terms of scoring on the night as he finished with a total of 11 points to his name, including an impressive four two-pointers to guide his team to victory.

The full forward’s accuracy helped the Seans take control in the opening period and by the time the half-time whistle sounded, they had moved 0-14 to 1-2 clear.

Midfielder Dylan McArdle scored the only goal of the game in the first half to give his side some hope.

Annaghminnon hit back in the second half and managed to close the gap with seven points. However, it wasn’t enough to spoil the day for the McDermotts who held out for a place in the final.

Sean McDermotts: Noel Tuite; Sean McMahon, Conor Walsh, Ronan Kerley; Nathan Commins Danny Reilly, David O’Neill (0-2 2p); Ian Corbally, David McArdle (0-1); Donnacha McCourt, Ian McDonald (0-1) Danny Commins (0-3); Matthew Little, Daniel Commins (0-11, 4 x 2 p), Jack Melia.

Subs: Tomas Devlin for J Melia, Pat Osborne for Ronan Kerley.

Annaghminnon Rovers: Ciaran O’Reilly; Chris Connolly, Heljvis Daugulis, Noel McArdle; Padraig Russell, Fergal Markey, Nathan Buckley; Dylan McArdle 1-0, James O’Connor 0-1; Rory Phelan 0-3, Tiernan O’Brien, Paul Tierney 0-1; Dwayne Markey 0-2, Aidan Lee Martin 0-1, Ronan McRedmond 0-1.

Subs: Ronan Byrne, Mark Tierney, Cathal McMahon, Micheal Marron, Ronan O’Reilly, Kyle Martin, Conor Russell.