Louth GAA club | Division Two round-up

Kilkerley Emmets 2-15 St Kevins 1-11

Kilkerley Emmets kept themselves in touch with the top four as they chalked up a seven-point win over St Kevins in Philipstown on Saturday night.

A goal from Micheal Begley in each half held tip the scales in his side’s favour as they picked up a sixth win of the campaign.

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Kilkerley made a bright start to this Louth Division Two League clash and after Luke Shevlin opened the scoring, Kieran Murtagh landed the first two-pointer of the game.

However, the advantage didn’t last long as St Kevins hit back with a goal from Lee Crosbie to level matters.

The visitors replied with scores from Micheal Begley, Utan McElroy, and Cathal Bellew to go six clear. The hosts responded with four successive scores but Begley had the final say of the half to send his team in with a 1-9 to 1-5 advantage.

After an early Geoghegan point, the Philipstown side again hit four in a row to reduce the deficit to a single point. However, the Emmets struck a major blow when Begley pounced for his second goal of the night.

The teams traded scores for much of the remainder of the game and with the Kevins unable to find the goal they needed, Kilkerley wrapped things up with late points from Ronan Deery and Fintan Brady.

Kilkerley Emmets: Callum Mulholland; Fintan Brady 0-1, Cillian Mulligan, Cormac Bellew; Aaron Crawford, Patrick Murtagh, Kieran Murtagh 0-2; Ronan Deery 0-1, Cathal Bellew 0-1; Ultan McEneaney 0-4, Luke Shevlin 0-1, Darren Geoghegan 0-2, Michael Begley 2-3, Ciaran Bellew, Cormac Mallon.

Subs: Darragh Conlon for C Mallon; Rian Hand for K Murtagh.

St Kevins: Joshua Finlay; Caoimhin Prout, Niall Gregory, Darren McMullan; Donnacha Boylan, Seanie Crosbie, John Callaghan (0-1); Caolan McMullan, Cameron Maher (0-2); Sean Powderly, James Kieran, Jacob Finlay (0-2); Lee Crosbie (1-5), Cormac Rogers (0-1), Ciaran Logue.

Subs: Enda McKenna for C Logue, Jack Stokes for S Powderly, Cian Martin for J Kieran, James Stokes for J Finlay.

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

Roche Emmets 3-15 Stabannon Parnells 2-18

Roche Emmets kept themselves at the head of the chasing pack in Division 2 following this entertaining draw in Stabannon on Saturday night.

Despite dropping a point, the Faughart side remains in second place although they are now four points adrift of leaders Dundalk Gaels.

This proved to be an even contest throughout and in the end a share of the spoils was probably the fairest result on a night when Harry Butterly added 12 more points to his impressive season’s tally.

At the other end, Cathal Corcoran made a telling contribution as he finished with 2-2. At the end of a close first half, just a point separated the teams with Roche going in with a 1-9 to 1-8 advantage as Corcoran hit his first goal of the night.

He added a second just a minute after the restart along with another from Sean Dawe in the second period, but it wasn’t enough as Stabannon claimed a draw on an evening when Bobby Butterly and Tristan Hartung found the net.

Stabannon Parnells: P Malone; J McGee, M Lynch, T Carroll; R Rogers, A Reynolds, D Cluskey 0-1; H Butterly 0-12 (3 x 2p), N Cluskey; T Hartung 1-1, B Butterly 1-3 (2p), P Reynolds 0-1; D Crilly, S Sweeney, C Byrne.

Roche Emmets: Jamie O’Hare; Dermot Carthy, Sean Connolly, Gerry Browne; Fionn Connolly 0-1, David Quigley, Jackie McKay; Liam Dawe, Glen Stewart; Sean Dawe 1-0, Shane Byrne 0-2, Cathal Corcoran 2-2; DD Reilly 0-1, Barry O’Hare 0-6 (2), Alex McArdle 0-1.

Subs: Ryan Martin 0-2 (2p), Matthew McArdle, Daire Reilly.

St Brides 5-14 Oliver Plunketts 1-8

St Brides needed a win to make the top six in the Division 2 split and with that focus, Oliver Plunketts were no match at home for them.

It was a night to remember for young Donal McArdle, who delivered a stellar performance, scoring an incredible four goals and two points in the one-sided affair. Ironically Nathan Kirk got the first as McArdle struck two in each half. 

Plunketts were no match and found themselves 3-7 to 0-4 adrift at halftime. It was more of the same after the interval with Eamon O’Neill’s side pushing on for that top half-dozen spot.

McArdle began and fittingly ended the half with two more goals. Kristian Nolan pulled one back in between but it would be too little too late.

St. Brides: Aaron Devin 0-1; Robert McCaughney, Cillian Kirk, Padraig Mackin; Michael Keane, Ronan Bailey, Daniel McArdle; Peter Carragher 0-1, James Costelloe 0-1; Morgan Tobin 0-1, Sean Marry, Ross Murnaghan; Nathan Kirk 1-1, Kevin Hearty 0-1, Donal McArdle 4-2.

Subs: Neil Thornton, Andrew Smyth 0-3, Evan Wynne, Mark Hoey, Kelvin Slewey 

Oliver Plunketts: Luke Haggans; Shane Lambe, David McTaggert, Ricky Bateson; Barry Reynolds, Jamie Byrne, David Lambe; Shanun Smith, Stephen Keeley 0-1; Adam Smith 0-2, Adam Lambe 0-1, Conor Haggans; Sean Callaghan 0-1, Ben Boyce 0-1, Kristian Nolan 1-2.

Mattock Rangers 2-17 Dundalk Young Ireland 1-16

In a lively affair in Dundalk, Mattock Rangers’ third-quarter burst was enough to see off home side Young Irelands.

Neither side was in a position to move ahead of the split, with Rangers in the top half while the Irelanders were not going to make it out from the bottom.

The hosts were in good form throughout with Jordan O’Donoghue excelling as Dean Maguire nudged Eamon Morgan’s side three ahead at the break, while things were about to get better.

James Prendergast slotted home the game's first penalty as the home side went eight ahead after halftime. Then cue the Mattock blitz. Cathal Fleming fired home a penalty and cornerback Alan Caraher found the net too.

Ben McKenna and Fleming topped up their tallies as Irelanders got pinged for two breaches and those infringements were big swings in the game. Mattock seized that momentum to go joint second in Division 2.

Mattock Rangers: Stephen Smith; Alan Caraher 1-0, Cillian Hickey, James Caraher; Tom Grimes, Daire Englishby, Ben Quaile; Ben McKenna 0-4, Rob Holmes; Terry Donegan, Adrian Reid, Jack Thompson; Calum Wogan, Cathal Fleming 1-7, Liam Flynn 0-6.

Subs: Eoin McCloskey.

Dundalk Young Irelands: Fergal Sheekey; Lee O’Donoghue, Conn O’Donoghue, Alan Hanks; Cian O Naraigh, Peter Nixon, Joe Mee; Ruairi Kelly 0-2, Michael O’Shea; Cian O’Donoghue, Dermot Mone, Jack McArdle; Jordan O’Donoghue 0-7, James Prendergast 1-1, Dean Maguire 0-4. Subs: Liam McStravick 0-2, Jack Watters, Mark Lee, Leon Duffy, Aidan Sheekey.

O’Raghallaigh’s 1-19 Clan Na Gael 3-11

Two sides, different towns, but the same bottom six standing regardless. The honours went the way of the away side O’Raghallaigh’s over Clan na Gael on the Ecco Road. 

The home side led in the opening half with Liam O’Hanlon and Aodhan Kirk finding the net to give Alan O’Neill’s men some optimism ahead of the second half. The Drogheda men’s only goal came from John Horan.

Kyle McElroy was leading the charge but the impact of Ruairi Moore off the bench swung the game. The duo bossed proceedings once Moore came into the fray.

That match-winning tilt brought welcome points to the visitors despite Farouq Ibrahim’s late goal.

O'Raghallaigh's: Bryan Smith; Adam Dooley, Alan Doyle, Ollie Clutterbuck; Emmet King, Stephen Murphy, Joe Clarke; Eoin Moore, Conor McGinty 0-1; Barry Finnegan, Kyle McElroy 0-9, Olan Walsh 0-1; Chris Smith, Ben Rogan 0-2, John Horan 1-0.

Subs: Ruairi Moore 0-6, Lucas Carton.

Clan Na Gael: Sean Smyth; Brian McDonnell, Craig Callan, Ellis O’Carroll; Craig Long 0-1, Paul Crewe 0-2, Tiernan Weldon; Gerard Curran, Shane Carroll; Jack Callan 0-1, Liam O’Hanlon 1-3, Aodhan Kirk 1-1; Billy Smith 0-1, Shane Carroll, Mark Newell 0-1.

Subs: Michael McDonnell for Tiernan Weldon, Farouq Ibrahim 1-0.

Dundalk Gaels 3-22 Glen Emmets 0-9

Dundalk Gaels cruised to another Division 2 victory at home to Glen Emmets on Saturday night.

An impressive first phase ended with the Dundalk men recording nine wins and two draws from their 11 games and this latest win sees them extend their lead at the top to four points.

It’s a different story for the Emmets who remain three points adrift at the bottom of the table having recorded just one win thus far.

Dylan McKeown was in splendid form for the winners as he finished with 11 points, while Cain Bromley, Tom O’Connell and Thomas Kavanagh found the net.

Dundalk Gaels: Adrian Rafferty; James Lynch, James O’Connell, Tom Murphy; Luke Murray 0-3, Oisin Murray, Alan Jumbo; Jordan Keating, Padraic Tinnelly; David McComish, Cain Bromley 1-3, Dylan McKeown 0-11; Eanna McArdle, Tom O’Connell 1-3, Tomas Kavanagh 1-2.