Louth GAA club | Relegation/Promotion finals

Sean O'Mahonys 1-8 Mattock Rangers 1-14

Mattock Rangers will be dining at the Louth GAA Division 1 table next season after seeing off Sean O’Mahony’s in a tense relegation/promotion decider at John Mitchels on Saturday evening.

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For much of the contest, there was little to separate the sides. Mattock carried a narrow 1-5 to 1-2 lead into half-time, but O’Mahony’s clawed their way back to level at 1-7 apiece by the 41st minute.

At that stage, the Dundalk men appeared to have wrestled control of the midfield exchanges, with towering presence Conor Martin causing serious disruption to Mattock’s restarts.

However, in what proved to be a turning point, Martin was withdrawn to the bemusement of the crowd.

By the time Martin returned just two minutes later, the Rangers had tacked on three unanswered points to lead 1-10 to 1-7, a cushion they would not relinquish.

O’Mahony’s had begun the evening brightly, with goalkeeper Kevin Brennan opening the scoring from a ’45 after Stephen Smith denied John O’Brien at point-blank range.

A slick breakaway moments later saw Junior Shotayo finish a fine move to the net, cancelling out early points from Jack Thompson, Sean Flynn, and Oisin McKenna for Mattock.

Mattock’s breakthrough came midway through the half when Cathal Fleming calmly dispatched a penalty after a hand-on-the-ground infringement inside the square.

Thomas Rice and Brian Mackin followed with scores to bring the sides level, but their momentum was soon stalled by missed frees and dropped shots.

With the O’Mahony defence tiring, Mattock picked their moments, adding late scores through Fleming, Ben, Oisin McKenna, and Sean Flynn’s frees to see out the win. For Sean O’Mahony’s, it means a return to Division 2 after a bruising campaign.

For Mattock, it’s the reward for a composed performance under pressure, and a statement that they intend to compete, not just survive, back among the county’s elite next year.

Mattock Rangers: Stephen Smith, Shane Maguire, Cillian Hickey, Ben Quaile, Tom Grimes, Terry Donegan, Rob Holmes, Ben McKenna 0-4 (1 2pt), Jason Condon, Dari Englishby, Cathal Fleming 1-3 (1pen, 2f), Jack Thompson 0-1, Oisin McKenna 0-2, Seán Flynn 0-3 (3f), Liam Flynn 0-1.

Subs: Alan Carragher on for Condon (HT), Callum Wogan on for Holmes (38'), Ben Watters on for Holmes (44'), Jamie O’Halloran on for Englishby (60').

Sean O’Mahonys: Kevin Brennan 0-1, Oisin Breen, Stephen Kettle, Conor Mackin, Conor Finnegan, Chris O’Neill, Seán Cassidy, Gareth Hall, Conor Martin, Tiernan Cassidy 0-1, Thomas Rice 0-3 (1f, 1 2pt), Aaron Mackin (0-1), Aaron Boyle, Junior Shotayo 1-0, John O’Brien.

Subs: Luke Kelly 0-2 (1 2pt) on for O’Brien (HT), Aidan Fisher on for Mackin (55'), Terry Kelly on for Hall (47').

O'Raghallaighs 4-14 Wolfe Tones 2-15

O Raghallaighs came out on top in this tense Drogheda derby to secure Division 2 football for another season with a victory over Wolfe Tones at Jimmy Pentony Park on Saturday afternoon.

The Wolfe Tones went into the game hoping to add league promotion to their Junior Championship title, but despite another spirited display, they fell just short as the North Road men did just enough.

To make matters worse for the Tones, it was former player, John Horan, who proved the difference between the teams as he fired in a hat-trick to ensure his side secured a five-point win.

In an impressive display, the full-forward landed 3-3 in total, with the first goal coming in the opening half, along with a Kyle McElroy three-pointer to send his team in with a 2-6 to 0-7 advantage.

McElroy also made a telling contribution as he chalked up a total of 1-8. The Tones battled throughout the second half to stay in the game, and goals from Eoghan Brennan, who finished with 1-6, and Chris Cudden kept them in touch.

However, at the other end, Horan wasn’t to be denied as he completed his hat-trick to prevent relegation to Division 3.

Sean McQuail, Liam Gaffney and Sean Flanagan were also on target for the Tones, but they fell just short of securing a historic promotion.

O Raghallaighs: Joe Finnegan; Emmett King, Alan Doyle, James Morgan; Olan Walsh, Stephen Murphy, Danny Morgan; Conor McGinty, Barry Finnegan; Jason Reynolds, Ruairi Moore 0-2, Eoin Moore 0-1; Kyle McElroy 1-8, Ben Rogan, John Horan 3-3.

Subs: Lucas Carton for R Moore, Euan Sweeney for S Murphy, Joe Meehan for J Morgan, Cameron Griffin for J Reynolds.

Wolfe Tones: Stephen Murray Kierans; Danny Byrne, Davy Bolger, Alan Fanning; Seán Flanagan 0-1, Rhys McGovern, Seán McQuail 0-2 (2p); Mark Healy, Sam Kelly; Liam Gaffney 0-2, Dwayne Leavy 0-1, Taidgh Rock; Garrett Cooney 0-1, Eoghan Brennan 1-6 (2 x 2p), Chris Cudden 1-1.

Subs: Dean Haggans for A Fanning, Alan Wilton for G Cooney, Patrick Fanning 0-1 for S Flanagan.

Naomh Malachi 1-10 Cuchulainn Gaels 0-11

Nh Malachi ended the league campaign on a high as they clinched the Division 3B title with a victory over Cucuhlainn Gaels on Saturday night.

The game at Pairc Eamoin proved to be a closely contested affair throughout, but in the end, it was the Courtbane side who did just enough to get their hands on the silverware.

The Mals had to do it the hard way as they trailed at the interval, but managed to turn the tide as corner forward Andrew Begley scored the only goal of the game to come out on top.

Two-pointers also played an important part in the win as Darrin Kearney landed two, along with one from Paudie Moley to help dash Gaels' hopes that had been raised by a strong first half showing.

With Aodhan O’Hanlon leading the charge in attack, the Omeath men went into the break with a 0-6 to 0-4 advantage and were looking good to claim a historic title.

However, on a night when Adam Sharkey, Dylan Lynch and David O’Reilly all contributed points, they were unable to sustain their efforts in an entertaining second half as the Mals came strong in the end to clinch victory.

Nh Malachi: Darrin Kearney 0-6 (2 x 2p); Daniel Mulligan, Sean Watters, Conor Begley; Darren Clarke, Stephen Burns, Sean McArdle; Malachy Mackin 0-1, Kevin McShane; Matty Campbell 0-1, Paudie Moley 0-2 (2p), Donal Begley; Stephen Kelly, Conor Nicholson, Andrew Begley 1-0.

Subs: Paudie McLoughlin for S Kelly, Paul Burke, Ronan McElroy, James McShane, Michael McLoughlin, Gary McShane.

Cuchulainn Gaels: Shea Quigley; Luke McGovern, Sean Brennan, Ciaran McCann; Jamie Molloy, Martin Hynes, John Morgan; Micheal McCabe 0-1, Dylan Lynch 0-2; Rammie Phillips, Cian McDonald, Larry Brennan; Adam Sharkey 0-3, Aodhan O’Hanlon 0-4 (2p), David Reilly 0-1.

Subs: Callum Fearon for C McCann, James Sharkey for J Morgan, James Walker for A O’Hanlon.