Louth GAA club | Division One round-up

St. Josephs 4-16 Cooley Kickhams 2- 11

A dominant first-half display at Cluskey Park on Friday night helped St. Joseph’s continue their impressive Louth Division One League run with victory over Cooley Kickhams.

The opening score of the game came when Michael O’Brien broke forward to split the posts for the Joes in the first minute with Mickey Carron equalising for Cooley a minute later.

READ NEXT: Louth GAA club | Division Two round-up

The hosts hit back through Conall McCaul (2), Doherty and Alan Quigley to lead by 0-5 to 0-1 at the end of the first quarter. 

The Joes took control when they hit two goals in three minutes. Firstly Conor Neary drove the ball to the net on 16 minutes and soon after Gabriel Bell palmed the ball home after Conall Smyth’s shot had been saved.

Jack Mulligan and Ben Collier added to the tally but Cooley hit back with a Michael Rafferty goal and a Jason Brady two-pointer to cut the gap to 2-10 to 1-3 at the break.

Cooley took the game to the Joes in the third quarter and with Mickey Carron among the scorers, they cut the gap from 2-11 to 1-8.

However, the final quarter saw the home side regain their composure with Conall McCaul landing a two-pointer free before setting up Smyth for the third goal on 50 minutes.

Alan Quigley then put the game beyond doubt three minutes later when he also raised the green flag. Cooley battled until the end and added a consolation goal in injury time through Richard Brennan.

St. Josephs: Adam Cassidy Ciaran Johnston, Cormac McKeown, Rian Devlin; Gabriel Bell (1-2), David Kieran, Michael O’Brien (0-1); Conor Neary (1-1), Conall McCaul (0-4); Jack Mulligan (0-1), Craig Doherty (0-3), Evan McEnteggart (0-1); Alan Quigley (1-2), Ben Collier (0-1), Conall Smyth (1-0);

Subs: Ben McKeown, Aidan Kieran, Adam Dullaghan, Killian McDonald, Sean Allen. 

Cooley Kickhams: Adam Brady; Gerry Malone, Dean McGreehan, Ian Arnold; Sean Hoey 0-1, Darren Marks, Niall Morgan; Richard Brennan 1-0, Gerard White; Finn Reilly, Michael Carron 0-1, Jason Brady 0-4 (2 x 2p); Cian Connor 0-1, Enda O’Neill 0-1, Michael Rafferty 1-1.

Subs: Gerard Hanlon, Dara McDaid, Cormac Malone (0-1) ,Michael-John Hanlon, Calum O’Hanlon.

(John O'Neill Sand and Gravel Louth Division One League table)

St. Mochtas: 2-9 Newtown Blues: 1-11

St Mochtas picked up their seventh win of the campaign, ensuring they remain level at the top of Division 1.

The Louth Village side played host to an improving Blues side on Sunday afternoon and after being made to fight all the way, they eventually came out on top by a single point.

The Drogheda men will be disappointed not to have taken anything from the game and to make matters worse, results elsewhere meant they fell back to joint bottom of the table.

The Mochtas got off to a great start and after 24 minutes found themselves 0-6 to 0-1 ahead with the help of three Declan Byrne points before he was forced off.

However, late points from Eoin McCoy and Iollan Farrell cut the gap to 0-7 to 0-3 at the break. 

A pair of Gerry Garland added to a Liam O’Flaherty goal on 38 minutes points before a Cormac Smyth goal had his team 2-9 to 0-6 ahead with ten minutes to play.

The Blues refused to give up and a goal from Eoin McCoy gave them hope while two two-pointers left just a point between the teams. However, there wasn’t time to produce the equaliser as the Mochtas held out.

St Mochtas: Daire O’Shea; Andy Lennon, Liam Lawlor, Conor McKenna; Oisín Kerr, Ben Goss Kieran, Jamie Farrell; Dara Quinn, Gerry Garland 0-4; Dylan Farrell, Liam O’Flaherty 1-1, Decky Byrne 0-3; Owen Lennon, Cormac Smyth 1-1, Darren McMahon.

Subs: Shane Lennon for O Kerr, Andrew English for D Byrne.

Newtown Blues: Johnny McDonnell 0-4 (2x2p); Joey Nally, Ian Connor, Paul Moore; Jack Healy, Iollan Farrell 0-1, Jamie Kelly 0-1; Alan Connor, Conor Mac Criosta; Sean Cummins, Conor Moore, Eoin Brannigan; Ryan Nugent 0-1, Ross Nally, Eoin McCoy 1-2.

Subs: Lorcan McQuillan 0-2 for R Nally, Joe Harte for I Farrell, Cathal Broderick for E Brannigan.

(John O'Neill Sand and Gravel Louth Division One League fixtures)

St Marys 1-14 Dreadnots 0-12

St Marys remain at the Division 1 summit after coming home from Clogherhead with a hard-earned five-point victory on Sunday afternoon.

Dreadnots turned in a good display and were very much in contention in the closing stages but in the end, it was a late Ronan Carroll goal that put the game beyond them.

The first quarter of the game was evenly contested with the first six points shared. However, the visitors upped the pace and at the break they had opened up a 0-8 to 0-4 advantage.

On a night when Carl Gillespie hit four points, while Evan Malone, Shane Matthews and Conor Gillespie added two each, the Marys kept their noses in front throughout the second half and were five clear at the end of the third quarter.

However, the Dreadnots, inspired by Craig Shevlin’s seven points, reduced the gap to 0-13 to 0-12 with five minutes to play. As the hosts went in search of the equaliser it was the Ardee side who clinched it with Carroll’s late goal.

St Marys: James McGillick; Conor Keenan, Karl Faulkner, Jay Crawley; Flynn Markey, Paraic McKenny, Fionn Coyle; Kian Moran 0-1, Evan Malone 0-2; Carl Gillespie 0-4, Shane Matthews 0-2, Luke Keenan 0-1; Conor Gillespie 0-2, Ronan Carroll 1-2, DJ Matthews.

Dreadnots: Dylan Cassidy; Callum Skinnader, Conor Faulkner, Barry Faulkner; Donnacha Skinnader 0-1, Ciaran Finnegan, Darragh Shevlin; Craig Shevlin 0-7, Gustas Knystavtas; Ciaran Cunningham, Conor Clarke, Ciaran Caffrey 0-1; Owen Murphy 0-1, Sam Reilly, Callum Shevlin 0-2.

Nh Mairtin 2-11 Hunterstown Rovers 2-7

Nh Mairtin proved too strong for Hunterstown Rovers on Sunday evening to ensure they finish Round 10 of the league at the top of the table.

The game in Hunterstown saw the visitors open the scoring through Jack Lynch only for Rovers to hit back in style with the first goal of the game through Ryan Ward.

That proved to be only a minor setback for the Jocks as they quickly assumed control of the game. Adam Booth, Evan Whelan and Oran McDonnell were on target as they went in at the break with a 0-10 to 1-2 advantage.

Donovan Sheridan raised hopes for his side when he kicked a two-pointer just after the restart, but Jack Murphy found the net at the other end to put the Mairtins back in control at the start of the final quarter.

With eight minutes remaining Tom Gray pounced for a second goal to settle the issue before Dean Burns struck a late consolation goal for the hosts.

Nh Mairtin: Jack Lynch 1-4, Tom Gray 1-1, Evan Whelan 0-2, Oisin Gray 0-2, Adam Booth 0-1, Oran McDonnell 0-1.

Hunterstown Rovers: Donovan Sheridan 0-2 (2p); Daithi Carroll, Patrick Taaffe, Adam O’Reilly; Colm Murphy, David Finn, Cillian Taaffe; Marc Ward, Shane Halpenny; Jason Monaghan 0-1, Glen Mathews, Jamie O’Callaghan; James Rogers 0-1, Ryan Ward 1-3, Dean Burns 1-0.

Subs: Cian Matthews for G Mathews, Euan Woodlock for M Ward.

Geraldines 0-21 St. Fechins 1-5

Geraldines recorded an emphatic away victory to St. Fechin’s on Sunday afternoon. The win takes them to the points tally as Newtown Blues and only two between their opponents on the Division 1 table.

The two-point shooting from Jim McEneaney was Steph Curry-like in the NBA with the former Louth star chalking up six from beyond the arc.

With that accuracy and Fechins’ inability to convert the other end made it a long afternoon for John Kennedy’s side.

Despite James McGlew finding the net, Geraldines ran out easy winners with Brian Cafferty also shining for the visitors.

The loss in Beaulieu dents the Termonfeckin side’s slim outside chance of making the top six for Cardinal O’Donnell glory. With one round to go, they will have to contend with fighting relegation. 

Geraldines: Jim McEneaney 0-14, Brian Cafferty 0-3, Michael Rogers 0-2, Neil Gartlan 0-1, David O’Connell 0-1.

St Fechins: James Mc Glew 1-0, Aaron Mc Glew 0-3, Danny Burnell 0-1, John O Connell 0-1.