Louth GAA club | Division Three round-up

John Mitchels 3-10 St Nicholas 0-9

John Mitchels made it 11 Louth Division Three League wins in a row on the road on Friday night in a sunny Drogheda with a 10-point victory over St Nicholas.

A cagey first half, with goals from John Gallagher, Gareth Kane and a Mikey Nulty penalty, saw the Ballybailie side ahead at the break on a scoreline of 3-2 to 0-5.

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A more controlled second-half performance saw the visitors add some further well-worked scores against a well-organised St Nicholas team while at the back they defended resolutely to keep the Nicks attack limited to four second-half scores.

Paudie Downey was again in good scoring form for the winners as he hit six points, while Cian Flynn and Lee Kavanagh were also on target.

John Mitchels: Stephen Campbell; Barry Kirk, Shane Crosson, Aaron Kane; Mikey Nulty (1-0), John Bingham (0-1), Jake Gillespie (0-1); Trevor Matthews (0-1), James Clarke; Adam Keenan, John Gallagher (1-2), Jamie Durnin; Andrew Bingham (0-3), Gareth Kane (1-1), Tristan Knowles (0-1).

Subs: Aaron Keely for J Clarke, Conor Reilly for Adam Keenan, Robbie Coyle for Jake Gillespie, Stephen Bingham for Andrew Bingham, and Alan Mackin for A Kane.

St Nicholas: Paudi Downey (0-6, 2x2p) Cian Flynn (0-2, 2p), Lee Kavanagh (0-1).

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

Wolfe Tones 4-9 Cuchulainn Gaels 3-11

A topsy-turvy affair in Omeath saw the winners Wolfe Tones stay in the playoff hunt at Cuchulainn Gaels’ expense. Youngster Eoghan Clinton was the hero back down the road for the Drogheda men as he landed the winning point.

The reigning Junior champions were in utmost control at times with Sam Kelly purring and Alan Wilton finding the net. The winners led by four at one stage and comfortably at that.

Despite Liam Gaffney and Darren Weldon hitting the target, disaster struck for John Garvey’s side when they picked up a black card.

The hosts through Seamus McCabe, Rammie Phillips and Adam Sharkey found the net for the host side. Fighting back into the game Gaels went up by five but ran out of steam. With the hosts flagging, Clinton stood up to land the winning point.

Wolfe Tones scorers: Sam Kelly 1-1, Alan Wilton 1-0, Liam Gaffney 1-0, Darren Weldon 1-0, Rory Taaffe 0-2, Garrett Cooney 0-1, Sean Flanagan 0-1 Alan Fanning 0-1, Eoghan Clinton 0-1, Taidhg Rock 0-1, Sean McQuail 0-1.

Lannleire 6-12 O’Connells 2-14

Lannleire came out on top in a high-scoring affair at Dunleer on Friday night when they played host to O’Connells in Division 3.

The game started off perfectly for the visitors when Niall Conlon slotted over the game’s first score with a minute on the clock, followed by a Sean Geeney goal to give O’Connell’s 1-2 to no score lead.

The home side would rally over the next ten minutes, firing over 1-4 without reply, including a Darragh Malone goal, to put themselves back into the lead.

Niall Conlon stopped the run with a goal and point to leave the scores at 2-2 to 1-4.

Dunleer added on two more points to their tally to retake the lead of the game by the minimum, before a beautiful two-point free-kick from Evan Kearney put the men from Castlebellingham back in front.

It would all fall apart however in the moments that followed, with the home side finding the back of the net twice in one minute through Malone and Bob Murphy to extend their lead to 3-6 to 2-4.

Two more Niall Conlon free kicks put a dent in the score before another Dunleer goal right on half-time from Ian Mulroy ensured the hosts entered the break with a six-point lead, 4-6 to 2-6.

Early in the second half, the hosts hit 2-3 without reply to push themselves out of reach of the visitors. Malone completed his hat-trick while Mulroy added his second goal of the game.

Two more Niall Conlon free kicks did little to spark a comeback, with both scores coming either side of a brace of scores for the home side.

Two two-pointers from Evan Kearney and two points from substitute Leo Walsh put a little shine on the score before the final whistle went.

Lannleire: Conor Dunne; Jason Torris, Paul McGeough, Laurence McEntee; Matthew Malone, Darragh Goodman, Alex Carroll 0-1; Pierce Hawkins, Caoimhin Maher; Mark Grogan, Bob Murphy 1-2, Darragh Malone 3-1; Colin Murphy 0-5, Ian Mulroy 2-2, Killian Gregory 0-1.

O’Connell’s: Bernard Osborne; Alan McGovern, Jack McGeough, Nathan Carragher; James Walsh, Liam Kiernan, Adam Flynn;  Stuart Osbourne, Ciaran Kearney; T.J Conlon, Evan Kearney 0-7 (3 x 2p), Conall Clerkin; Emmet Byrne, Niall Conlon (1-6), Sean Geeney (1-0).

Subs: Leo Walsh (0-2) for S. Geeney, Darragh McDonnell for N. Conlon, Dalton O’Brien for A. McGovern.

Glyde Rangers 2-22 Annaghminnon Rovers 0-11

Glyde Rangers hosted Annaghminnon Rovers in Tallanstown on Friday night where they recorded a comfortable win in Division 3. Victory keeps the home side third in the table but they remain six points behind leaders John Mitchels.

Sean Devaney and Leigh Byrne accounted for the goals in a dominant performance, while Olan Crosbie top-scored with five points.

On a night when Glyde had 12 different scorers, there were also important contributions from Ciaran Sheridan, Adam Sweeney, Killian Scott and Shane Mullaney.

Glyde Rangers: David Brennan; Darren McKeever, Cein Sheridan, Shane Byrne 0-1; Tadhg Kellett 0-1, Jack McKeever 0-1, Sean Devaney 1-1; Adam Sweeney 0-2, Ciarain Sheridan 0-4; Killian Scott 0-2, Aaron Devlin, Olan Crosbie 0-5; Cormac Lundon 0-2, Lee Finnegan 0-1, Leigh Byrne 1-1.

Subs: Shane Mullaney 0-1.

Na Piarsaigh 1-13 Sean McDermotts 0-9

Na Piarsaigh Blackrock consolidated their mid-table position in Division 3 thanks to this seven-point win over Sean McDermotts on Friday night.

The game in Mountrush was close throughout the first half but the visitors continued to have the edge in the second period as they returned home with a deserved win.

Daniel Commins and Lorcan Myles were among the points for the Seans in the opening half as their side battled gamely.However, Na Piarsaigh had Ciaran Murphy and Tommy Muckian among those to reply at the other end as their side took a 0-9 to 0-6 lead into the interval.

Points were harder to come by for both sides in the second half but it was David Boyle who grabbed the only goal of the game to ensure that the Dundalk men picked up maximum points.

Na Piarsaigh Blackrock: Ronan McCartney; Fionn Tipping 0-1, Shane Roddy, Stephen McGuinness; John Galligan, Michael Woods, Calum Smith; Darren McElhinney, Conall Myles; James Mahoney 0-1, Ciaran Murphy 0-3, Jamie Fealy 0-2; Tommy Muckian 0-2, David Boyle 1-4, Joe Woods.

Subs: Tony McNally, Chris Kellet, Paul Mallon.  

Sean McDermotts: Finbar Moran; Ronan Kerley, Nathan Commins, Tomas Devlin; Conor Walsh 0-1, Sean McMahon, Ian McDonald; Sean Martin, Emmet Duffy; Noel Tuite 0-1, Lorcan Myles 0-2, Peter Tuite 0-1; Kevin McMahon 0-1, Daniel Commins 0-3, David McArdle.

Subs: Matthew Little for N Commins, Ian Corbally for D McArdle, Pat Osborne for S Martin.

Nh Fionnbarra 4-21 Dowdallshill 0-6

Naomh Fionnbarra enjoyed a routine win over Dowdallshill in St Brigid’s Park on Friday evening to stay within two points of Division 3 leaders John Mitchels.

The hosts offered little in terms of resistance as the 'Barrs powered to victory with the goals coming from Andy McCann (2), Jack Butterly and Jack Murtagh.

The 'Barrs will be hoping to keep the pressure on league leaders John Mitchels who are top of the league with an unblemished league campaign.

Nh Fionnbarra: F. McQuillan; S. Doyle, R. Callaghan, A. Hanratty; J. Crosbie, C. McGrane, C. McGlynn 0-1; J. Butterly 1-1, J. Regan 0-3; C. Osbourne 0-2, T. McCreesh 0-3, J. Murtagh 1-2; C. Murphy 0-3, A. McCann 2-3, C. Boyle 0-2.

Subs: M. McArdle 0-2, R. Smith, C. Smith, K. Lenihan.

Naomh Malachi 2-12 Westerns 1-10

Nh Malachi recorded a hard-earned win over Westerns in this Division 3 clash at Courtbane on Friday night.

The home side’s fifth win of the campaign sees them move above the Nicks and Sean McDermotts in the table as they move further away from the foot of the league.

Irla McMahon and Malachy Mackin were the men to find the net to help keep a determined Westerns at bay, while Darren Kearney, Conor Nicholson and Paudie Moley also contributed points that were vital to the win.

Nh Malachi: Darrin Kearney 0-3 (2p); Stephen Burns, Daniel Mulligan, Conor Begley; Irla McMahon 1-1, Andrew Begley, David Begley; Paudie Moley 0-1, Kevin McShane: Matty Campbell, Conor Nicholson 0-2 (2p), Darren Clarke; Michael McLoughlin, Malachy Mackin 1-2, Stephen Kelly 0-1.

Subs: Ronan McElroy for M McLoughlin, Paul Burke for David Begley.