Louth GAA club | Paddy Sheelan Cup round-up

Dreadnots 1-12 St. Kevins 2-13

St Kevins made it a winning start to the season when they claimed victory over Dreadnots in Group 1 of the Louth GAA Paddy Sheelan Cup on Sunday morning.

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It proved to be a closely contested encounter in Clogherhead, but in the end the visitors did just enough to secure a four-point success.

There wasn’t a lot to separate the teams in the opening period, but it was the Phillipstown men who had a slight edge and at the half-time whistle had established a 0-8 to 0-6 lead.

The second period saw the teams continue to battle for supremacy, and it was goals from Keelan Maher and substitute Cormac Rogers that helped the Kevins keep their noses in front, on a day when Danny Crosbie kicked five points, while TJ Doheny landed three.

The Dreadnots did respond with a goal of their own but were unable to claw back the deficit as the visitors came out on top.

Another highlight for the Kevins was seeing Cormac Callan, Conor Doheny, Oisin Prout and PJ O'Connor make their senior debuts.

St Kevins: Danny Crosbie 0-5; Naill Gregory, Dylan Maher, Sean Powderly; Darren McMullan, Seanie Crosbie, Donnacha Boylan; Cameron Maher, Brian Callaghan 0-1; Jacob Finlay, Robbie Matthews, Cian Martin; Cormac Rogers, Keelan Maher 1-4, TJ Doheny 0-3.

Subs: Caoimhin Prout for S Crosbie, Cormac Rogers 1-0 for C Callan, Finn Carter for B Callaghan, Oisin Prout for N Gregory, PJ O'Connor for C Martin and Conor Doheny for J Finlay.

Geraldines 1-11 St Fechins 1-21

The astro pitch in Darver was the venue for this Paddy Sheelan Cup Group 2 opener, where St Fechins came out on top by a comfortable margin.

Playing with a strong wind at their backs, Fechins made full use of the conditions in the opening half, raising no fewer than eight orange flags.

Aaron McGlew opened the scoring with three points from frees (including one two-pointer), followed by a two-pointer from James McGlew.

Geraldines registered their first score in the 11th minute with a point from play, added another three minutes later, and struck for a goal in the 18th minute through Michael Rogers.

However, Fechins were firmly in control of the scoreboard, adding a further 14 points along with a palmed goal from Ronan Holcroft after excellent build-up play involving senior debutants Tom Meegan and Michael McGlew.

As a result, the Termonfeckin side went in at the break with a commanding 1-17 to 1-2 lead.

With the wind advantage in the second half, Geraldines opened brightly with three points from play before Aaron McGlew responded from a placed ball. A Geraldines two-point free brought the game into the final quarter.

St Fechins’ midfield and forwards continued to battle against a strong Geraldines defence, adding three more points through Aaron McGlew (2) and James McGlew (1).

Geraldines had the final say with a point in the 30th minute, but the damage had been done in the first half as Fechins secured a comfortable 11-point victory.

With unlimited substitutions permitted, both teams took the opportunity to utilise their panels. Fechins handed senior debuts to seven players: Michael McGlew, Micheál McGinty, Tom Meegan, Evan Clarke, Ben Marron, Jake Flynn and Harry Dowd.

St Fechins: Kyle Meegan; Robert McCarthy, Mark Holahan, Micheal McGinty; Aaron McGlew 0-8 (6f, 2p), Ciaran McGinty, Garbhan O’Reilly; Matthew Flanagan, Daniel Reilly; Tom Meegan, Michael McGlew, John O’Connell 0-4, (2-2ptrs); Mikey McMahon, James McGlew 0-9, (4 x 2p), Ronan Holcroft 1-0.

Subs: Shane Reilly for M Flanagan, Matthew Burnell for M McMahon, Jake Flynn for R Holcroft, Colm O’Neill for T Meegan, Harry Dowd for D Reilly, Evan Clarke for M McGinty, Adam Moran for C McGinty, Ben Marron for M McGlew.

Geraldines: Sean McEneaney; Jack McGailey, Darragh O'Gradaigh, Jamie Callan; Tom Cunniffe, Jack Traynor, Gareth Neacy; Micheal Rogers 1-4, Beanon Corrigan 0-1; Niall Brennan 0-1, David O’Connell, Noak Lukai; Sean McKenna 0-1, Jim McEneaney 0-2, Cian Farrell.

Subs: John McCohan 0-1 for J McGailey, Thomas McNamara for N Brennan, Cian O’Donoghue for S McEneaney, Paddy Hoey for J Traynor, Jamie Soraghan for D O’Connell, Kevin Pepper for D O'Gradaigh, Mal Madine for G Neacy.

St Mary's 1-21 Roche Emmets 2-20

Roche Emmets made a very encouraging start to the 2026 season when they recorded a two-point victory over St. Mary's on Sunday morning in Pairc de Roiste.

Despite it being the first outing of the year for both sides, the players looked sharp in front of the posts and landed some impressive scores in what proved to be an entertaining encounter in Group 4 of the Paddy Sheelan Cup.

The opening half featured some good attacking play at both ends, and with little to choose between the teams, it was a goal from Daire Reilly that proved decisive as Roche went in at the break with a 1-11 to 0-10 lead.

The Ardee men worked hard to get back into the game in the second half, led by Jonathan Commins, who finished with 11 points to his name, while Fionn Coyle found the back of the net.

However, Roche were in no mood to miss the opportunity to put one over on the visitors, and a Liam Dawe goal went a long way towards securing the victory.

Shane Byrne’s tally of six points, along with a telling contribution of five points from subs Conor Carthy (3) and Senon Connolly (2p), were also vital.

Roche Emmets: Evin Quigley; Dermot Carthy, Aidan Grant, Marc Murphy; Fionn Connolly 0-2 (2p), Callum Grant, Jack McKay; Glen Stewart 0-1, Liam Dawe 1-1; Sean Dawe, Cathal Corcoran, James McArdle; Daire Reilly 1-4, Shane Byrne 0-6 (2p), Mark Byrne 0-1.

Sub: Conor Carthy 0-3, Senon Connolly 0-2 (2p).

St Mary's: James McGillick; Bobby Carroll, Paraic McKenny, Tadhg Caffrey; Tom Jackson 0-2, Eimhin Keenan, Fionn Coyle 1-0; Evan Malone, Cillian Keenan 0-3; Carl Gillespie 0-3, Jonathan Commins 0-11, Kian Moran; Luke Keenan, Conor Gillespie, Josh Taaffe.

Subs: David Rooney, Luke Woods 0-1, Andy Murphy 0-1, Calum Caffrey, Brooklyn Gorman.

St Mochtas 0-10 Cooley Kickhams 2-13

Cooley Kickhams are up and running in Group 7 of the Paddy Sheelan Cup after coming through this opening day test at home to St Mochtas.

The Louth Village outfit made the trip with an inexperienced squad, and while they did return home with some positives, they were unable to deny Cooley a deserved victory.

The damage was done in the opening period when Kickhams scored the only two goals of the game through Joseph Hanlon and Fionn O’Reilly to take a 2-5 to 0-3 lead into the second half.

Gerry Garland led the charge for the Mochtas as he ended the day with five points, while Cormac Smyth chipped in with a further three.

However, it was never going to be enough to deny the hosts who saw Niall Morgan land two two-pointers, while Cian Connor and Emmet Duffy were also on target.

Cooley Kickhams: Niall Brady; Dylan Clarke, Patrick Hanlon, Ronan McBride; Fionn O’Reilly 1-1, Niall Morgan 0-4 (2x2p), Sean Hoey; Dean McGreehan, Jack Long; Emmet Duffy 0-2, Enda O’Neill 0-2, Gerry Malone; Cian Connor 0-3, Mickey Rafferty, Joseph Hanlon 1-0.

Subs: Cian McGuinness, Calum O’Hanlon, Shea Connolly, Peter Thornton, Thomas McCarragher 0-1, Fearghal Malone, Cormac McGuigan, James O’Reilly.

St Mochtas: Barry O’Kane; Sean McLoughlin, Andrew Lennon, Andrew Hoey; Conor Garland 0-2, Danny Kindlon, Oisin Callan; Dylan Farrell, Sean Marron; Max Carroll, Gerry Garland 0-5, Gavyn Short; Cormac Smyth 0-3, Liam O’Flaherty, Liam Craven.

Stabannon Parnells 1-24 Newtown Blues 2-8

Stannon Parnells turned in an impressive second-half display as they blew away the challenge of Newtown Blues in the Paddy Sheelan Cup opener on Sunday morning.

The Group 8 game in Stabannon saw the hosts chalk up an impressive total of 1-20 after the break to ensure they got off to a winning start.

There wasn’t much to choose between the sides in a low-scoring first half that saw the Drogheda men go on to win with a slender 0-6 to 0-4 advantage.

However, the Parnells burst into life after the restart and took charge of the game. Full-forward Charlie McBride marked his senior debut with a goal, while Harry Butterly chipped in with ten points over the hour.

The Blues battled to stay in the game with the help of two goals from substitute Ewan Hoban and four points from Ryan Nugent, but they were unable to prevent Stabannon from claiming victory.

One of the most encouraging aspects of the morning for Stabannon was the introduction of several senior debutants, with Darragh Murray, Patrick Reynolds, Sean Culligan, Tadgh Gorman and Charlie McBride all making their first appearances at senior level.

Stabannon Parnells: Ryan Halpenny; Daniel Clinton (0-1), Mark Byrne, Sean Culligan; Darragh Murray, Johnnie McGee (0-1), Jake Corrigan; Colm Giggins, Alan Reynolds (0-2); Patrick Reynolds, Conor Clinton (0-3), Tadgh Gorman (0-2); Padraig Reynolds (0-1), Charlie McBride (1-2), Harry Butterly (0-10).

Subs: Aaron Dunne for S Culligan, Shane Brady for Patrick Reynolds, Cillian Lynch (0-2) for Padraig Reynolds, Andrew McCormack for C McBride, Mick Lynch for M Byrne.

Newtown Blues: Dean O’Neill; Dan McArdle, Paul Moore, Joe Harte; Joey Nally, Ian Connor, Jamie Kelly 0-1; Finn Nugent, Johnny McDonnell 0-2; Sean Cummins, Niall Devlin 0-1, Eoin Brannigan; John McEneaney, Ryan Nugent 0-4, Markus Kalnins.

Subs: Coinneach Farrell for J Harte, Ewan Hoban 2-0 for F Nugent, Ryan Gil for N Devlin, Oisin Donnelly for M Kalnins.