Louth GAA club | Division One round-up

St Patricks 2-19 St Marys 1-19

St Patrick's held out in a tense finish to secure an impressive victory over St Mary's, which sees them qualify for the top six in the Louth Division One League.

The hosts laid the foundations for the win in a dominant first half that saw them establish a ten-point lead, but they had to withstand a late Marys revival before claiming the points.

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Two pointers from Martin McEneaney, Jack Murphy and Conor Grogan helped the Pats lead by 0-9 to no score inside ten minutes before the visitors got off the mark.

A Micheal O’Shaughnessy goal on 18 minutes put further distance between the teams although the Marys hit five points in the closing ten minutes to cut the gap to 1-13 to 0-6 at the break. Conor Gillespie and Adam Gillespie were among the scores.

The Ardee side cut the deficit to seven early in the second half but the Pats responded with points from Conor McGuinness, Jack Murphy and Darren Connor along with a second goal from O’Shaughnessy to re-establish control.

The Marys battled to the end and found the net through Evan Malone while adding the final four points to get within three points of the lead. However, time ran out before they could complete the comeback and the Pats held out for victory.

St Patricks: Martin McEneaney 0-3 (2p); Sean Holland, Ross Murphy, Daniel Tumulty; Darren O’Hanlon, Barry Dunne, Darren Connor 0-1; Padraig Duffy, Jack Murphy 0-7 (2 x 2p); Aidan McCann 0-3; Conor Grogan 0-2, Micheal O’Shaughnessy 2-1; Conor McGuinness 0-2, Joe Connor, Tom McCann.

Subs: Cillian Keenan for C McGuinness, Stefan Breen for R Murphy, Cillian White for M O’Shaughnessy, Jack Elvin for B Dunne.

St Marys: James McGillick; Eimhin Keenan, Paraic McKenny, Jay Crawley; Noah Coyle, Conor Keenan, Kian Moran; Robbie Leavy, Brian Talty; Carl Gillespie 0-2, Evan Malone 1-3, Fionn Coyle; Conor Gillespie 0-7, Shane Matthews, Adam Gillespie 0-6.

Sub: Josh Taaffe 0-1.

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

St Mochtas 0-15 Sean O’Mahonys 1-9

St Mochtas ensured they finished top of the Division 1 table after phase one thanks to this three-point win over Sean O’Mahonys at the Point Road on Friday night.

With Nh Mairtin and St Marys both slipping up on the same night, victory allowed the Louth Village side to finish above St Josephs in the table.

The result had significance for the O’Mahonys at the other end of the table as they remain just two points above bottom side Geraldines.

In a tight first half, the hosts put it up to their opponents and a goal from Conor Martin gave them real hope. However, on a night when Gerry Garland and Dara Quinn both finished with four points, the Mochtas hit back to lead by 0-10 to 1-5 at the break.

The scoring rate dropped in the second half but the visitors always appeared to have the edge as they held out for victory, with Sean Flynn, Liam Lawlor and Oisin Callan contributing points.

Meanwhile, Thomas Rice top-scored for the Dundalk men with three, with Ben McLaughlin, Conor Finnegan and Kayden Fisher adding a brace apiece.

St Mochtas: Daire O’Shea; Liam Lawlor 0-2, Andrew English, Owen Lennon; Oisín Callan 0-1, Ben Goss Kieran, Andy Lennon; Darren McMahon, Sean Flynn 0-2; Daniel Craven, Dara Quinn 0-4, Shane Lennon 0-1; Gerry Garland 0-4, Cormac Smyth 0-1, Jamie Farrell 0-1.

Subs: Dylan Farrel for O Callan, Brendan Duff for C Smyth. 

Sean O’Mahonys: Kevin Brennan; Stephen Kettle, Chris O’Neill, Thomas Cassidy; Oisin Breen, Aaron Boyle, Brian McGuirk; Gareth Hall, Sean Cassidy; Conor Finnegan 0-2, Ben McLaughlin 0-2, Thomas Rice 0-3; Luke Kelly, Conor Martin 1-0, Kayden Fisher 0-2.

Sub: Mark Agnew for L Kelly.

Cooley Kickhams 2-16 Hunterstown Rovers 2-13

Both Cooley Kickhams and Hunterstown Rovers went into this final game in Phase One with designs of making the Division 1 top six, but in the end neither managed to achieve their goal.

After an entertaining game, it was Cooley who came out on top at Fr McEvoy Park but ultimately victory would be in vain as results elsewhere ensured that they would both be pipped by St Patricks and Dreadnots.

The home side built their success on a dominant performance in the opening 20 minutes that saw them lead by nine points. Although Rovers came back strongly in the second half, they were unable to rescue the game and the hosts finished strongly.

Fionn O’Reilly and Michael Carron found the net for the Kickhams as they raced into a 2-6 to 0-3 lead after 20 minutes. The visitors responded before the break with a goal from Cillian Taaffe to cut the gap to 2-6 to 1-5 at the short whistle.

Ciaran Russell added a second goal early in the second half as Rovers edged ahead by 2-10 to 2-9 with ten minutes remaining. However, on a night when Fearghal Malone and Cian Connor were among the points, Cooley hit back to secure the win.

Cooley Kickhams: Niall Brady; Daire McDaid, Niall Morgan, Ian Arnold; Gerry Malone (0-2), Darren Marks, Sean Hoey; Fionn O’Reilly (1-2), Richard Brennan; Fearghal Malone (0-5, 2 x 2ptr), Michael Carron (1-0), Jason Brady (0-1); Cian Connor (0-3), Enda O’Neill (0-1), Thomas McCarragher (0-1).

Subs: Gerard White (0-1), Callum O’Hanlon. 

Hunterstown Rovers: Donovan Sheridan; Euan Woodlock, James Russell, Adam O’Reilly; Colm Murphy, Micheal Reid 0-2, Cillian Taaffe 1-0; Shane Halpenny, Jason Monaghan 0-4 (2p); Jamie O’Callaghan, Glen Mathews 0-2 (2p), James Rogers; Cian Mathews, Ryan Ward 0-3, Dean Burns 0-1.

Subs: Ciaran Russell 1-0 for J O’Callaghan, Paul Carrie 0-1 for J Rogers, Martin Lennon for C Mathews.

Dreadnots 2-19 Nh Mairtin 0-16

Nh Mairtin missed the chance to finish level at the top of Division 1 after suffering a nine-point defeat at home to Dreadnots on Friday night.

The Clogher men travelled knowing that they required victory in the battle for a top-six place and that desire was obvious throughout the game as they deservedly secured their place in the top half of the table for the second phase of the league.

The Dreadnots made the perfect start as Owen Murphy opened the scoring with a goal and they followed up with two two-pointers as they went on to lead by 1-5 to no score inside ten minutes.

A Jack Lynch two-pointer got the Mairtins off the mark and although Tom Gray, Ben Callanan and Craig Callanan were also on target, they were struggling to make any inroads.

The Dreadnots continued to dominate and at the break were leading by 2-11 to 0-10 with Paraic Smith adding a second goal.

Darragh Dorian and Daire O’Donnell cut the gap to five early in the second half, but on a night when Craig Shevlin, James Califf and Smith all landed two-pointers, the visitors responded to restore a 12-point gap at the end of the third quarter.

Dreadnots comfortably managed the remainder of the game and held on for victory despite late scores from Tom Gray.

Dreadnots: Craig Shevlin 0-6 (2 x 2p), James Califf 0-5 (2 x 2p), Owen Murphy 1-1, Calum Shevlin 1-0, Paraic Smith 0-3 (2p), Sam Reilly 0-1, Donnacha Skinnader 0-1.

Nh Mairtin: Joe Gordon; Colm Egan, Shane Morgan, Conor Healy; Craig Callanan 0-1, Evan Whelan, Jake Neilon; Adam Booth, Jack Lynch 0-2; Darragh Dorian 0-2, Ben Callanan 0-3, Enda McDonnell; Oisin Gray, Tom Gray 0-7, Daire O’Donnell 0-1.

Subs: Darren Morgan for J Gordon, Oran McDonnell for O Gray, Tadhg O’Brien for E McDonnell.

St Joseph’s 4-21 Geraldines 1-7

St. Josephs closed out the first phase of the John O’Neill Sand & Gravel Division 1 League with a fine win over the Geraldines in Haggardstown on Friday night.

Joes, playing with the wind at their backs dominated the first half, with Conor Neary opening the Joes account on two minutes with Oisin McGuinness landing an excellent two-pointer minutes later.

The first goal of the game came on five minutes and just before the end of the first quarter Alan Quigley calmly guided the ball to the net.

The Joes pressed home their advantage as Cormac McKeown hit the net while points from David Kieran and Gareth Neacy saw their side lead by 3-11 to 0-1 at the break.

The third quarter saw the Joes hit four points in a row while the home side struggled to find the target with a number of long-range efforts. Points from Conall Smyth, Conall McCaul, Pearse Grimes Murphy and Craig Doherty extended the Joe's lead.

The Gers continued to battle and were rewarded with a goal but the visitors weren’t finished and completed the victory with the fourth goal from Conall Smyth.

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

Subs: Pearse Grimes Murphy (0-2), Ben McKeown, Aidan Kieran, Adam Dullaghan, Killian McDonald. 

Geraldines: Cian O’Donoghue, John McCrohan, Dara O’Gradaigh, Jack McGailey, James Craven, Gareth Neacy, Neil Gartlan, Michael Rogers, Thomas McNamara, Brian Cafferty, Jim McEneaney, David O’Connell, Ben Gartlan, Brian Devlin, Niall Brennan.

Newtown Blues 0-14 St Fechins 1-4

With both sides level on points just off the bottom of the table, their position in the bottom half of the split league was sealed regardless of the result. However, with vital points up for grabs, it was all to play for from the throw-in.

St Fechins were put under early pressure resulting in the first three points for the home side coming from Eoin McCoy frees. Aaron McGlew got the Fechins scoreboard started with a point from a placed ball while his side had a few shots on goal but all went wide of the mark. 

The Blues midfield dominated the kickouts and piled the pressure on, scoring from play on a further three occasions with their final score of the half coming from a free.

Fechins got their second score of the half in the 25th minute when James McGlew turned over the ball in the scoring zone and found the back of the net to leave just three between the sides at the halfway stage.

At the start of the second half the Blues again pointed from a placed ball. Fechins then hit a purple patch with points from Evan Dolan - fisted point, and two more from placed balls from Aaron McGlew to leave just one between the sides and a glimmer of hope for the Fechins supporters as they headed into the final quarter.

But the Blues were just more accurate up front and added six more points, including two Conor MacCriosta orange flags, to claim the win by double scores.

Newtown Blues: Johnny McDonnell; Dan McArdle, Ian Connor, Paul Moore; Jack Healy, Colm Judge, Jamie Kelly 0-2; Brian Kermode, Ryan Kelly 0-2; Alan Connor, Conor MacCriosta 0-4, Eoin McCoy 0-6; Ryan Nugent, Niall Devlin, Emmet Murray.

Subs: Ross Nally, Aidan O’Brien Sean Cummins.

St. Fechins: Cormac Dola; Robert McCarthy, Dylan Rice, Garbhan O’Reilly; Paddy Keane, Ciaran McGinty, Adam O’Neill; Shane Reilly, Colm Hackett; Colm O’Neill, John O’Connell, Danny Burnell; James McGlew 1-0, Evan Dolan 0-1, Aaron McGlew 0-3(f).

Subs: Matthew Flanagan for Dylan Rice, Caelum Dolan for Adam O’Neill.