Louth GAA club | IFC round-up

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Stabannon Parnells 2-22 O Raghallaighs 3-11

Stabannon Parnells booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Louth Intermediate Championship after claiming a deserved victory over O'Raghallaighs at Darver on Friday night.

The mid-Louth side put up another big score to top Group Two and leave O'Raghallaighs facing a relegation play-off to secure their Intermediate status for next year.

The result also means that St Brides will advance to the knockout stages as group runners-up.

The game got off to the perfect start for Stabannon when Conor Clinton struck early with a goal that immediately put his side in control. However, Kyle McElroy was in form at the other end as he bagged his side’s opening 1-3 to keep them in contention.

Parnells regained the momentum and were relentless in attack with Harry Butterly and Dylan Shevlin in particularly fine scoring form.

At the break, the Parnells held a commanding 2-14 to 2-4 lead. Bobby Butterly found the net for Stabannon’s second goal, while John Horan replied with a three-pointer for the Drogheda men.

O Raghallaighs raised hopes of a comeback when Conor McGinty found the net while McElroy fired over a fine two-pointer just after the restart.

However, there was no panic in the Stabannon ranks, and their accuracy in front of goal ensured there would be no late drama.

With points coming from all areas of the pitch, including Colm Giggins, Bobby Butterly, Ryan Shevlin, Sean Reynolds, Jake Corrigan, and Patrick Reynolds, the team showed both depth and balance, while substitutes also made their mark, with Robert Callaghan chipping in with a point to seal the eight-point win.

Stabannon Parnells: Michael Lynch; Johnny McGee, Colm Giggins 0-1, Ryan Halpenny; Richard Rogers, Bobby Butterly 1-0, Alan Reynolds; Harry Butterly 0-8, Ryan Shevlin 0-1 Sean Reynolds, Jake Corrigan 0-1, Conor Clinton 1-0; Dylan Shevlin 0-7, Patrick Reynolds 0-1, Daniel Clinton.

Subs: Robert Callaghan 0-1 for P Reynolds, Barry McCoy for R Rogers, Shane Brady for R Shelvin, Cillian Lynch for C Clinton.

O Raghallaighs: Joe Finnegan; Emmett King, Alan Doyle, Eseosa Omoregbe; Eoin Moore 0-1, Danny Morgan, Olan Walsh; Conor McGinty 1-0, Danny Reilly 0-2; Joe Meehan, Barry Finnegan, Jason Reynolds 0-1; Ben Rogan 0-1, John Horan 1-0, Kyle McElroy 1-6.

Subs: Olan Walsh for C Griffin, Lucas Carton for J Horan, Chris Smith for J Meehan.

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Mattock Rangers 1-19 Kilkerley Emmets 0-12

Mattock Rangers brushed aside the challenge of Kilkerley Emmets at Haggardstown on Sunday night to ease into the quarter-finals of the Intermediate Championship.

The Collon side were in charge for much of this Group Three encounter and in the end had ten points to spare to ensure they would go into the knock-out stages as group winners. The result was also good news for Clan na Gael, who will join Mattock in the quarter-finals.

For Kilkerley, the focus will now be on the dreaded relegation play-offs as they look to ensure they will be playing in the Intermediate grade next season.

Although Mattock went into the game as the favourites, there was little to choose between the teams in the early exchanges.

An early Cathal Fleming point was cancelled out by Micheal Begley, and it was the Emmets who had the better of things as points from Tadhg McEneaney and Fintan Brady, either side of a Sean Flynn free, had their side 0-3 to 0-2 in front on 15 minutes.

That was as good as it got for Kilkerley as Mattock stepped up the pace with a Fleming two-pointer, giving them a lead they would not relinquish for the remainder of the game.

With Oisin McKenna, Jack Thompson and Liam Flynn also on target, the Collon outfit had opened up a 0-8 to 0-4 advantage at the break, with Tadhg McEneaney providing the only response for Kilkerley.

Ben Watters and Fleming extended the lead at the start of the second half, but the Emmets showed great fighting spirit to hit back through Begley (3) and McEneaney and cut the gap to 0-10 on 41 minutes.

Kilkerley were growing in confidence at that stage, but Mattock rose to the challenge in style to quash that hope inside a devastating five minutes as points from Sean Flynn, Fleming and Alan Caraher were followed by a Tom Grimes goal to make it 1-13 to 0-8.

Kilkerley Emmets: Callum Mulholland; Cormac Bellew, Fintan Brady, Cillian Mulligan; Kieran Murtagh, Patrick Murtagh, Ronan Deery; Cathal Bellew, Daragh Conlon; Michael Kirby, Cormac Mallon, Brian Brady 0-1; Tadhg McEneaney 0-6 (2p), Michael Begley 0-4, Ewan McEnteggart.

Subs: Ciaran Bellew for M Kirby; Fionn Cumiskey for C Mulligan; Ultan McEneanrey 0-1 for D Conlon; Darren Geoghegan for Brian Brady.

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Hunterstown Rovers 3-12 Wolfe Tones 0-4

Hunterstown Rovers secured top spot in Group Four of the Intermediate Championship thanks to a comfortable win over Wolfe Tones at Clogherhead on Sunday afternoon.

Goals from Patrick Taaffe, Colm Murphy and Shane Halpenny propelled Rovers to victory over the reigning Junior Champions and ensured that Sean O’Mahonys would join them in the quarter-finals as group runners-up.

For the Tones, it has been a difficult step up in standard, but attention will now turn to the relegation play-offs, where they will be hoping to retain their Intermediate status for another season.

The Drogheda side went into the game hoping to cause an upset, but from the early stages, it was Hunterstown who took a grip on the game.

Early points from Marc Ward and James Rogers were followed by a goal from Patrick Taaffe on ten minutes to put their side in the driving seat.

The Tones did get off the mark before the end of the first quarter through Darren Weldon, but Rovers were rarely troubled as they landed further points from David Finn (2), Ciaran Russell and Colm Murphy to lead by 1-6 to 0-1 at the break.

The gulf in standard was underlined at the start of the second half as Hunterstown opened with a Colm Murphy goal and a Finn point, while a third goal from Halpenny had his side leading by 3-7 to 0-1 after 34 minutes.

The Tones battled to the end and added points through Niall Smith (2) and Liam Gaffney, but there was no denying Rovers as they closed out the win with points from Marc Ward, Ryan Ward and Oran Martin.

Hunterstown Rovers: Donovan Sheridan; Adam O'Reilly, James Russell, Cillian Taaffe; Colm Murphy 1-1, Patrick Taaffe 1-1, Daithi Carroll; Marc Ward 0-3, Jason Monaghan; James Rogers 0-1, Shane Halpenny 1-0, Glen Mathews; David Finn 0-3, Ryan Ward 0-1, Ciaran Russell 0-1.

Subs: Jamie O’Callaghan for C Murphy, Oran Martin 0-1 for J Monaghan, Aaron Levins for D Finn, Alan Matthews for P Taaffe, Alan Landy for C Russell.

Wolfe Tones: Stephen Murray Kierans; Danny Byrne, Seán Flanagan 0-2, Davy Bolger; Rhys McGovern, Alan Fanning, Seán McQuail; Paddy Fanning, Mark Healy; Eoghan Clinton, Taidgh Rock, Sam Kelly; Dwayne Leavy, Alan Wilton, Darren Weldon 0-1.

Subs: Garrett Cooney for A Wilton, Eoghan Brennan for E Clinton, Liam Gaffney 0-1 for D Weldon, Kevin Brady for P Fanning, Ciarán Elis for D Leavy.