Louth GAA club | Kevin Mullen Shield round-up

Nh Malachi 6-10 Dowdallshill 0-3

Nh Malachi bounced back from their defeat to Wolfe Tones on the opening day as they picked up a first win of the Louth GAA Kevin Mullen Shield campaign over Dowdallshill in St Brigid’s Park.

It was a very comfortable outing for the Mals against an inexperienced Dundalk side who fielded a number of new faces in their starting line-up.

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The Courtbane men took a grip of the game from the outset, and by the end of the first half, they were well on their way to victory with a 3-7 to 0-1 lead. The visitors added a further three goals in the second half to seal victory.

Dean Murtagh top scored for the winners with 2-4, while Shea Burns, Joey Hearty, Andrew Begley and Collie Rooney also found the net. Cathal Byrne kicked two points for Dowdallshill, while Paddy McKenna was also on target.

Nh Malachi: Conor Nicholson 0-1; Shayne Kirk, Jamie Kelly, Sean McArdle; Shea Burns 1-0, Darren Clarke, Matty Campbell; Kevin McShane, Emmet Mullen; Irla McMahon, Joey Hearty 1-2, Harry Kirk; Andrew Begley 1-1, Collie Rooney 1-2, Dean Murtagh 2-4.

Subs: Jack Fagan for E Mullen, Oisin McArdle for C Rooney, James McShane for H Kirk, Paul Burke for J Hearty.

Dowdallshill: Chris Mullen; Paudie Murray, Kenneth Edu, Eddie Lapinskas; Paddy McKenna 0-1, Paul Flynn, Kevin McGonagle; Cathal Byrne 0-2, Justin Halley; Tommy Craig, James Woods, Stephen Traynor; Thomas McKenny, Finian Kelly, Yusuf Balogan.

Sub: Emmet O’Brien.

St Nicholas 0-15 Sean McDermotts 0-9

St Nicholas made it two wins from two as they got the better of Sean McDermotts in Drogheda on Sunday morning.

A strong first-half display set the Nicks up for a deserved victory in this Kevin Mullen Shield Group 3 encounter.

On a day when Hayden Quinn, Con Seehan and Fionn Meagher all finished with three points, the home side settled into their rhythm from the opening whistle and by the interval had opened up a 0-9 to 0-3 lead.

The second half was a more even affair, but despite the McDermotts hitting back with scores from Taylor Adams, Cormac Walsh and David McArdle, the Nicks were never in any danger of surrendering their advantage and held out for a six-point win.

St Nicholas: Alex Finnegan; Stephen Finegan, Brian Carter, Senan Meagher (0-1); Aaron Flanagan, Ruairi Hanlon, Dylan Brogan; Philip Kirwan, Cian Flynn (0-3); Leo Quinn, Hayden Quinn (0-3), Con Sheehan (0-3); Josh Byrne, Fionn Meagher (0-3), Ross Brady.

Subs: Barry Woods for D Brogan, Sean Lynch for J Byrne, Lee Kavanagh for L Quinn, Dylan Maguire for P Kirwan.

Sean McDermotts: Sean Martin; Ronan Kerley, Donnacha McCourt, Patrick Svender; Ian McDonnell, Emmet Duffy, Matthew Little; Cormac Walsh 0-3, Sean McMahon; Luke Hoey, Ian Corbally 0-2, Taylor Adams 0-3; Ronny Ruikis, Cian Martin, Lorcan Donegan.

Sub: David McArdle for R Ruikis.

Westerns 4-11 Annaghminnon Rovers 2-17

Westerns struck late to earn a share of the spoils in this lively Kevin Mullen Shield Group 3 encounter on Sunday morning in Reaghstown.

It was nip and tuck throughout this entertaining affair, and in the end, a share of the spoils was probably the fairest outcome in a high-scoring affair.

Conor Russell struck an early goal for Rovers, but the hosts hit a quick-fire double to go in at the break level at 2-5 to 1-8.

It was more of the same in the second period as the teams traded scores. James O’Connor raised a green flag for the visitors, but again Westerns twice found the net to ensure the game ended all square.

There were some notable performances on the day, with Dwayne Markey landing ten points for Annaghminnon while O’Connor struck 1-4. Westerns saw Oisin Drumgoole score 2-3 while Killian Crosbie contributed six points. Emmet Smith and Ryan Duffy also found the net.

Westerns: Anthony Durnin; Adam Duffy, Darragh Osborn, Conor Smith; Mick Martin, Cathal Kearney, Killian Daly; Finn Duffy, Matthew Kane; Emmet Smith 1-1, Joe Murphy, Ryan Duffy 1-0; Killian Crosbie 0-6, Conor Kerr, Oisin Drumgoole 2-3.

Sub: Colin Maher 0-1

Annaghminnon Rovers: Ronan O'Reilly; Chris Connolly, Diarmuid Murray, Ryan Cash; Padraig Russell, Tiernan O'Brien, James O’Connor 1-4; Colin Campbell, Conor Russell 1-0; Tony Brennan, Fergal Markey, Kyle Martin 0-1; Dwayne Markey 0-10, Shane Grimes, Aidan Lee Martin 0-1.

Sub: Rory Phelan 0-1, Liam Egan, Ciaran O’Reilly, Cailin Smith, Richie Ashfield.

Naomh Fionnbarra 4-12 Na Piarsaigh Blackrock 1-14 

Nh Fionnbarra got their 2026 season underway with a victory over Na Piarsaigh Blackrock on a crisp Friday night on the Astro in Darver.

Under the New Management team of Brendan Grant, Stephen O’Hare and Martin Crosbie, the Barrs came fast out of the traps and established an early 0-3 to 0-0 lead thanks to points from Thomas McCreesh, Ciaran Murphy (free) and Jack Reade.

However, the Dundalk side hit back with points either side of a goal from Conall Shields. The Barrs came to life again, and following a mix-up in the Naps' defence, Conor Boyle coolly slotted home the Finbarrs first goal of the night, followed up by a lovely Niall McCreesh point before the same player added a second goal.

Na Piarsaigh battled hard to get back in the game as Ciaran Murphy ended the hour with ten points, but goals in quick succession from Matthew O’Reilly and Ciaran Murphy gave Na Piarsaigh a 4-7 to 1-7 at the break.

Na Piarsaigh started the second half the brighter, scoring the first 0-3 with Paul Mallon coming off the bench to score twice, but there could have been more damage if it wasn’t for a fantastic save by Finbarr's goalkeeper, Fionn McQuillan.

With the Dundalk men unable to find the goals they needed, the Barrs held on for victory with the help of points from Murphy and Thomas McCreesh.

Naomh Fionnbarra: Fionn McQuillan; Máirtín Murphy, Adam Hanratty, Adam Kirwan; Jake Young, Colin McGrane, Sean Boyle; Matthew O’Reilly (1-0), Chris McGlynn; Padraig Butterly, Thomas McCreesh 0-4 (2p), Niall McCreesh 1-4  (2p)); Jack Reade (0-1), Conor Boyle (1-1), Ciarán Murphy 1-2.

Subs: Callum Breen for P Butterly.

Na Piarsaigh Blackrock: David Boyle; Tommy Muckian, Darren McElhinney, Joe Woods; Tiernan Rogers, Michael Woods, Calum Smith; Shane Roddy, Conall Shields 1-0; Jamie Fealy 0-2, Conall Myles, Ciaran Murphy 0-10; Gerry Rice, Oisin Woods, Fionn Tipping.

Subs: Stephen McGuinness, Paul Mallon 0-2, Robert Murphy, John Galligan, Eoin Farrell, James McCartney.