Louth GAA club | Senior, intermediate, and junior championship round-up

Glyde Rangers 1-10 Naomh Fionnbarra 0-12

Glyde Rangers booked their place in the Louth Junior Championship Final after coming through a tense battle with Naomh Fionnbarra at Hunterstown on Saturday afternoon.

Tadhg Kellett was the hero for the winners as he held his nerve to send over the winning score from a free four minutes into injury-time.

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While there was drama at the fi, there were also fireworks in the opening moments as the only goal of the game came inside the first minute when Sean Devaney stole in to find the back of the net, and it proved to be the decisive score.

It was the perfect start for the Tallanstown side, and although Conor Osborne pulled a point back for the Barrs, Adam Sweeney followed up to restore the three-point lead after just three minutes.

The Togher side began to settle after that early setback and responded with a Jack Murtagh close-range free before Jack Butterly landed a two-pointer to level the game in the eighth minute.

The Barrs continued to turn the screw and took the lead for the first time after ten minutes when Stephen O’Reilly fired over, and shortly after it was Conor Osborne who added another to make it 0-6 to 1-1.

Having conceded five in a row, Glyde were in need of some inspiration, and it came from the experienced Ciarain Sheridan, who pointed from a free just before the end of an entertaining first quarter.

Stephen O’Reilly and Sean Devaney traded points before Niall Sharkey got in on the act with his first score of the game to tie things up at 0-7 to 1-4 with 20 minutes played.

Although Tadhg Kellett edged Rangers ahead once again, the Finbarrs had time to hit back as Brendan Simms landed a point to send the teams in level at 1-5 to 0-8.

It remained cagey at the start of the second half as Niall Sharkey and Ciaran Swapped scores before Glyde made what proved to be the match-winning power play.

Two quick-fire scores from Brian Duffy and Kellett before the 40th minute were followed by a third in succession from Ciaran Sheridan to see his team lead by 1-9 to 0-9 at the start of the final quarter.

Ciaran Markey stopped the rot for the Barrs from a free, and then Murtagh kicked over a close-range free on 58 minutes to set up a tense finale, and the Finbarrs looked to have rescued the game when William Woods came off the bench to send over a fine score under pressure.

However, that wasn’t the end of the drama as Glyde drove forward and earned a free that saw Kellett hold his nerve to send over the winning score four minutes into injury time.

Glyde Rangers: David Brennan; Darren McKeever, Liam Gallagher, Conor McCullagh; Ged Bourton, Jack McKeever, Sean Devaney 1-1; Ciarain Sheridan 0-2, Adam Sweeney 0-1; Lee Finnegan, Niall Sharkey 0-2, Leigh Byrne; Brian Duffy 0-1, Tadhg Kellett 0-3, Cormac Lundun.

Subs: Aaron Devlin, Olin Crosbie, Killian Scott.

Naomh Fionnbarra: Daithi Woods; Stephen Doyle, Ronan Callaghan, Mairtin Murphy; Josh Crosbie, Collie McGrane, Chris McGlynn; Jack Butterly 0-2, Brendan Simms 0-1; Cormac McArdle, Stephen O’Reilly 0-2, Conor Osborne 0-2; Jack Murtagh 0-2, Ciaran Markey 0-1, Ciaran Murphy 0-1.

Subs: Adam Hanratty for S Doyle, Thomas McCrack for C Murphy, William Woods 0-1 for J Murtagh, Matthew O'Reilly for D Woods.

Oliver Plunketts 1-15 O’Connells 1-14

Oliver Plunketts edged a thrilling encounter with O’Connells to book their place in the Louth Junior Championship at Stabannon on Sunday afternoon.

Stephen Keeley was the toast of the Mell club as he landed the winning point just after the O’Connells looked to have rescued the game with Evan Kearney’s two-pointer.

The reward for the winners is a meeting with Glyde Rangers in the decider with and the chance to get their hands back on the Christy Bellew Cup.

After a cagey start, the opening score came for Oliver Plunketts in the fifth minute with a two-point free kick from Luke Haggans.

However, the game burst into life. O’Connell’s answered straight back with a goal through Emmet Byrne before Niall Conlon got his first score of the game to extend the lead to two.

Oliver Plunketts would answer back through Ben Boyce before a Robert Quigley two-pointer, followed by a single, put the Castlebellingham side four ahead with 16 minutes on the clock.

The Drogheda men needed to find a response, and it came in the form of a Stephen Keeley point and a Kristian Nolan goal in the 20th minute to bring their side level at 1-4 apiece.

When Sean Cairns added a point to push O’Connell’s back into the lead, it looked as if the Bellingham side would go into the break with their noses in front, but the Drogheda men had other ideas as they produced a storming finish to the half.

After Adam Smith levelled the game on 26 minutes, Keeley edged his team in front again before Nolan and Adam Lambe again had their side 1-8 to 1-5 in front at the short whistle.

The Mid Louth side showed their determination after the restart as Bernard Osborne and Quigley pointed either side of a Smith white flag, before Quigley found the target with a two-pointer to level the game at 1-9 apiece.

The Plunketts responded once again with Cian Brady and Jamie Byrne on target, but the advantage didn’t last too long as the O’Connells saw an Andrew Sharkey score followed by an Evan Kearney double to put his team 1-12 to 1-11 in front on 47 minutes.

The momentum swung back in favour of the Drogheda men when Conor Haggans and Lambe restored the two-point advantage.

The Mell outfit defended that lead in determined fashion but were undone by Kearney’s long-range double that levelled the game once more.

Both sides then probed for the winner in a tense finale, but it was Keeley who stood up to the pressure and sent over what proved to be the winning score.

Oliver Plunketts: Luke Haggans 0-2 (2p); Gary Keogh, David McTeggart, Barry Reynolds; Adam Lambe 0-2, Jamie Byrne 0-1; Robert Brodigan, Shaun Smith; Adam Smith 0-3, Kristian Nolan 1-2 Cian Brady 0-1; Dean Carolan, Stephen Keeley 0-3, Ben Boyce.

Subs: Conor Haggans 0-1 for G Keogh, Cian Matthew for B Boyce.

O’Connells: Johnathan Brennan; Adam Flynn, Jack McGeough, Sam Shearman; James Walsh, Stuart Osborne, Emmet Byrne 1-0; Seán Cairns 0-1, Cailum Woods; Jackie Agnew, Niall Conlon 0-1, Justin Cooney; Bernard Osborne 0-1; Robert Quigley 0-6 (2p) Evan Kearney 0-4 (2).

Subs: Tadhg Kearney for J Walsh, Andrew Sharkey 0-1 for A Flynn, Harry Kierans for C Woods, Conor Culligan for B Osborne.

Stabannon Parnells 0-11 Sean O’Mahonys 0-7

Stabannon Parnells turned in an impressive performance to book their place in the semi-final of the Louth Intermediate Championship at the expense of Sean O’Mahonys on Monday last.

The mid-Louth side showed all their qualities of determination, desire and skill to see off the Dundalk men in a tense battle under the lights at Darver.

Parnells were forced to dig deep in the final quarter to hold off a Seans revival and book a meeting with Clan na Gael in the last four.

Harry Butterly once again provided the inspiration in terms of scoring for the winners, and it was his two-point free that opened the scoring to give his side an early boost.

Although Sean Cassidy pulled one back for the Seans, Butterly responded with another two-pointer to open up a three-point gap.

The O’Mahonys were doing their best to keep in touch and saw Thomas Rice fire over, but scores from the impressive Sean Reynolds and Butterly saw their team move 0-6 to 0-2 ahead entering the closing moments of the half.

It got even better for the Parnells when Ryan Shevlin landed their third two-pointer just before the break to send his side in with a 0-8 to 0-2 lead.

The Point Road side made a bright start to the second half and had the first point through a Terry Kelly free, but the game looked to be slipping away from them when Butterly landed yet another double to increase the lead to seven.

However, just before the end of the third quarter, the Seans raised their hopes when Terry Kelly found the range with a two-pointer and followed up with a converted free.

With seven minutes remaining, Kelly had his team right back in contention with his fifth of the half to cut the gap to 0-10 to 0-7.

It was all to play for at that stage, but as the O’Mahonys gave everything in search of the win, Stabannon showed great character to stand up to the pressure.

As the tension mounted in the closing moments, fittingly, it was Harry Butterly who kicked the insurance point eight minutes into injury time to seal the win.

Stabannon Parnells: Michael Lynch; Johnny McGee, Alan Reynolds, Daniel Clinton; Richard Rogers, Bobby Butterly, Jake Corrigan; Colm Giggins, Sean Reynolds 0-1; Ryan Shevlin 0-2, Dylan Shevlin, Conor Clinton; Padraig Reynolds, Ryan Halpenny, Harry Butterly 0-8 (3 x 2p).

Subs: Robert Callaghan for R Halpenny, Mark Byrne for B Butterly.

Sean O’Mahonys: Conor Finnegan; Stephen Kettle, Chris O’Neill, Oisin Breen; Gary Cawley, Aaron Boyle, Sean Cassidy 0-1; Brian McGuirk, Gareth Hall; Tiarnan Cassidy, Thomas Rice 0-1, Junior Shotayo; Terry Kelly 0-5 (2p), Kyle Carroll, Aaron Mackin.

Subs: Luke Kelly for G Hall, Stephen Kilcoyne for S Kettle, Stephen Kettle for B McGuirk, Gareth Hall for S Cassidy.

Roche Emmets 2-17 Geraldines 0-13

Roche Emmets turned in an excellent second-half performance to secure their Senior Championship status for another year with a ten-point win over Geraldines in Darver on Sunday afternoon.

The Faughart side were trailing by two points after a tight first half, but blew the Gers away in a second half that saw Sean Dawe and DD Reilly score two quick-fire goals in the final ten minutes.

The Blackrock/Haggardstown side have the consolation of a second chance to avoid the drop, but will have to pick themselves up for a battle with neighbours St Josephs if they are to rescue their season.

It was Roche who made their intentions clear from the outset as they delivered the opening two points of the game. However, the Gers found their rhythm and Shane O’Hanlon grabbed a two-pointer to level things up after eight minutes.

The Emmets then enjoyed a good spell and made it count with three unanswered points, but once again the Gers found the perfect response with O’Hanlon pointing either side of a Ben Garlan effort to leave the teams all square at five points apiece on 20 minutes.

Michael Rogers put his side ahead for the first time when he landed a two-pointer, and although Roche pulled one back, it was Jim McEneaney who had the final say of the half to send his team in with a 0-8 to 0-6 lead.

It was looking promising for the McGeough Park side at the break, but it was Roche who came out in the second half with renewed determination, and within four minutes they had wiped out the deficit.

Although Jim McEneaney restored the Gers' advantage, it proved only to be a very brief respite as Roche began to flex their muscle, and with DD Reilly and Shane Reilly in fine scoring form, they secured the next seven points to lead by 0-15 to 0-9 at the start of the final quarter.

The Geraldines weren’t about to give up, and back-to-back points from Shane O’Hanlon raised their hopes once again.

However, that joy was short-lived as Sean Dawe found the back of the net after 53 minutes to open up a seven-point gap, and straight from the restart, it was game over as DD Reilly followed up with the second goal.

The teams traded late points, but it was the Roche men who were celebrating at the final whistle as they look forward to another year in the top grade.

Roche Emmets: Evin Quigley; Dermot Carthy, Sean Connolly, Gerry Browne; Fionn Connolly, Peter Lynch, James McDonnell 0-1; Glen Stewart, Liam Dawe 0-2; Sean Dawe 1-1, Shane Byrne 0-4 (2p), Conor Carthy 0-2; DD Reilly 1-5, Mark Byrne 0-1, Barry O’Hare 0-1.

Sub: David Quigley for B O’Hare.

Geraldines: Cian O’Donoghue; John McGrohan, Darragh O'Gradaigh, Jack McGailey; Neil Gartlan, Dan Corcoran, Gareth Neacy; Michael Rogers 0-3, Thomas McNamara; Matt Corcoran, Jim McEneaney 0-2, Ben Gartlan 0-2; Beanon Corrigan, Shane O’Hanlon 0-6, Jack Traynor.

Subs: Neil Gartlan for C Farrell, David O’Connell for B Corrigan, Danny Nordone for J McEneaney.