Louth GAA club | Division Two League round-up

St Fechins 2-10 Sean O’Mahonys 0-5

In difficult wet and blustery conditions at Point Road, St Fechins produced a strong and controlled performance to comfortably overcome Sean O’Mahony’s in the opening round of the Louth GAA Division 2 league.

READ NEXT: Louth GAA club | Division One League round-up

Fechins adapted best to the challenging conditions early on, taking control of the scoreboard with five points in the opening quarter.

Ciaran McGinty led the charge with two points from play, while Paddy Keane added another. Aaron McGlew contributed two further points, including one from a free, to give the visitors early momentum.

The second quarter saw Ryan Walsh open his account with a pointed free before the game’s pivotal moment arrived when John

O’Connell found the back of the net. Walsh added two more points from placed balls before the break to lead by 1-8 to no score. The visitors resumed brightly in the second half, with McGinty again getting on the scoresheet from play.

Although Sean O’Mahony’s goalkeeper produced a fine save to deny a goal, Walsh converted the resulting ’45 and soon after raised a green flag himself with a well-taken goal.

The home side eventually opened their account with a pointed free from Kayden Fisher, but their challenge was further hindered when they were reduced to 14 players following a second yellow card.

They added a handful of scores through Fisher from placed balls, including a ’45, but were unable to break down the Fechins defence from play.

St Fechins: Kyle Meegan; Robert McCarthy, Garbhan O’Reilly, Paddy Keane 0-1; Aaron McGlew 0-4, Ciaran McGinty (0-3), Danny Burnell; Harry Haughney, Jake Flynn; John O’Connell 1-0, Ryan Walsh 1-2, Colm O’Neill; Matthew Flanagan, James McGlew, Tom Meegan.

Subs: Matthew Burnell for P Keane, Harry Dowd for C McGinty, Sean Keane for M Flanagan, Evan Clarke for G O’Reilly, Caelum Dolan for T Meegan.

Sean O’Mahonys: Conor Martin; Ciaran Redmond, Barry O’Brien, Oisin Breen; Kian McEvoy, Aaron Boyle, Sean Cassidy; Daniel Crawley, Gareth Hall; Aaron Mackin, Thomas Rice, Tiarnan Cassidy; Kayden Fisher 0-5, Mark Agnew, Conor Finnegan.

Subs: Conor McGailey for C Finnegan, Gary Cawley for M Agnew, Junior Shotayo for D Crawley, Cillian Lavery for A Mackin, Thomas McCahill for C Redmond.

Roche Emmets 1-14 St Brides 0-8

Roche Emmets got their Division 2 league campaign off to the perfect start away to a St Brides side that failed to reproduce their Paddy Sheelan Cup form.

Having clinched a place in the early-season final a week earlier, the Knockbridge side began the game in a confident mood, and the signs were encouraging when they tapped over the first point of the game through Sennan Hoey.

However, that was as good as it got for the Brides, as Roche quickly took control of the game. With Daire Reilly, Shane Byrne and Alex McAdle enjoying themselves in front of the posts, the visitors struck eight successive points inside 20 minutes.

The Brides added two further points before halftime; however, these were cancelled out when James McDonnell collected a breaking ball from a kick-out in the middle of the field, drove at the Brides’ defence, and found Shane Byrne, who crashed the ball to the net on the stroke of halftime to make it 1-10 to 0-3.

The second half was a more evenly matched affair. Roche started the half strongly with points from Glen Stewart and Shane Byrne.

However, despite this early dominance, St Brides managed to gain a foothold in the game and went on to score the last five consecutive points. It proved too little, too late, though, as Roche Emmets ran out deserved winners in the end.

Roche Emmets: Senon Connolly; Dermot Carthy, Jack McKay, Gerard Browne; Fionn Connolly, Sean Dawe, James McDonnell; Glen Stewart 0-1, Liam Dawe; James McArdle, Shane Byrne 1-3, Conor Carthy 0-1; Daire Reilly 0-4, Mark Byrne, Alex McArdle 0-4.

St Brides: Aaron Devin (0-3); Ronan Bailey, Cillian Kirk, Robert McCaughey; Ross Murnaghan, Andrew Smyth, Ruairi Carpenter; Bernard Laverty, Jake McNamara; Sean Marry, Donal McArdle, Morgan Tobin; Oisin McBride, Patrick Reilly, Sennan Hoey (0-5).

Subs: Kelvin Slowey, Jack Smyth, Cathal McElroy.

Stabannon Parnells 0-17 Oliver Plunketts 1-8

Patrick Reynolds led the way for Stabannon Parnells as they started the new season with a six-point win at home to Oliver Plunketts in Division 2.

The half forward landed seven points on the night as the hosts held off a second-half rally from the Drogheda side.

Stabannon made full use of the wind advantage in the first half to establish a match-winning lead, with Reynolds, Padraig Reynolds, Charlie McBride and Darragh Murray all among the scorers as they went in with a 0-14 to 0-2 advantage.

It was always going to be difficult for the Plunketts to reel in that lead in the second half, but they gave themselves hope with a goal from Cian Matthews.

Kristian Nolan chipped in with six points, including a two-pointer, to edge the Drogheda men even closer. However, the Parnells did just enough in the end to secure victory.

Stabannon Parnells: Ryan Halpenny; Daniel Clinton, Mark Byrne, Ciaran Titley; Richie Rogers 0-1, Bobby Butterly, Jake Corrigan; Colm Giggins, Harry Butterly 0-1; Darragh Murray 0-2, Conor Clinton 0-1, Patrick Reynolds 0-7; Padraig Reynolds 0-3, Barry McCoy, Charlie McBride 0-2.

Subs: Aaron Dunne for D Murray, Robert Callaghan for Padraig Reynolds, Shane Brady for Patrick Reynolds, Cillian Lynch for H Butterly.

Oliver Plunketts: Conor Haggans; Rickey Bateson, David McTaggart, Cillian Smith; Barry Reynolds, Shaun Smith, Kristian Nolan 0-6 (2p); Adam Lambe, Jack Taaffe; Killian Nolan, Ben Boyce, Adam Smith 0-1; Kenny Hurley, Stephen Keeley 0-1, Cian Matthews 1-0.

Subs: Tiarnan O’Donovan, Luke Carley, Sean Callaghan, Shane Lambe.

St Kevins 0-9 Young Ireland's 0-7

St Kevins came from behind to edge a tight Division 2 contest in Philipstown on Saturday evening.

Two points in injury time from TJ Doheny proved enough for the home side to hold off the determined challenge of Young Irelands as they made sure their season started on a positive note.

The conditions made it difficult for both teams, and it was no surprise that the first half proved to be a low-scoring affair.

Points from James Prendergast, Brendan Prendergast and Liam McStravick had the visitors leading by 0-3 to 0-2 at the break, with Doheny and Dylan Maher replying for the Kevins.

It was looking good for the Young Irelands in the third quarter as they landed points from Jordan O’Donoghue (2) and Cian O'Naraigh, who edged them further ahead, but Darren McMullen (2p) and Dylan Maher helped level the contest entering injury time.

With the game in the balance, it was the Kevins who found the extra gear and snatched victory thanks to Doheny’s brace.

St Kevins: Danny Crosbie; Caoimhin Prout, Donnacha Boylan, Niall Gregory; Darren McMullen 0-2, Cameron Maher 0-1, Dylan Maher 0-1; Brian Callaghan, Jacob Finlay; Robbie Matthews, Tom Matthews, Cormac Callan; Keelan Maher, Cian Callan 0-1, TJ Doheny 0-4.

Sub: Ciaran King for J Finlay.

Young Irelands: Fergal Sheekey; Peter McCourt, Ciaran Murray, Conn O’Donoghue; Tadhg Hoey, Brendan Prendergast 0-2, Cian O’Donoghue; James Prendergast, Peter Nixon; Jack Watters, Jordan O’Donoghue 0-2, Mark Lee; Sean Murphy, Dean Maguire, Liam McStravick 0-1.

Subs: Cian O Naraigh 0-1 for D Maguire, Caolan McCabe for S Murray, Derek Maguire for J Watters.

O'Raghallaighs 2-15 Kilkerley Emmets 1-14

O'Raghallaighs came out on top in a keenly contested Division 2 clash at home to Kilkerley Emmets on Saturday evening.

Goals after the break from John Horan and Daniel Reilly helped the hosts hold off the challenge of the Emmets to get their season off to the best possible start.

The Raghs got off to a bright start with the opening three points, only for the Emmets to grab the initiative with a Tadhg Fitzgerald goal and points from Ultan McElroy and Tadhg McEneaney.

However, the Drogheda men finished the half on top, and a brace of two-pointers from Ruairi Moore saw his side take a 0-8 to 1-3 lead into the break.

With Kyle McElroy among the scorers, the O Raghs scored four of the five points of the second half, but Kilkerley hit back with two-pointers from Cormac Mallon and Cathal Bellew.

John Horan pounced for an O Raghallaighs goal, but the momentum swung back in Kilkerley’s favour when Ultan McElroy, Mallon and McEneaney were all on target to open up a 1-14 to 1-12 lead.

However, the home side found an extra gear in the closing minutes and kicked the last 1-3, including Reilly’s goal, to claim victory.

O'Raghallaighs: Conor Brown; Daragh Smith, Emmet King, Conor Higgins; Daniel Reilly 1-4 (2p), Danny Morgan 0-1, Ewan Sweeney; Olan Walsh, Ruairi Moore 0-4 (2x2p); Senan McGinty, Kyle McElroy 0-3, Harry Devit; Ben Rogan 0-1, John Horan 1-1, Joshua Moore 0-1.

Sub: Jason Reynolds for H Devitt.

Kilkerley Emmets: Callum Mulholland; Oran McMahon, Paddy Murtagh, Kian Lennon; Ewan McEnteggart, Cathal Bellew 0-2, Ronan Deery; Cormac Mallon 0-3, Ciaran Bellew 0-1; Conain Fox 0-1, Rian Hand, Tadhg Fitzgerald 1-0; Tadhg McEneaney 0-4, Ultan McEneaney 0-3, Finnan Crawley.

Subs: Darragh Conlon for R Hand; Conall McEneaney for  F Crawley.

John Mitchels 1-5 Glen Emmetts 0-11

Glen Emmets made a winning start to their Division 2 campaign with a narrow success over John Mitchels in testing conditions in Ballybailie.

It was a tough first half with the conditions dictating the play, but the Mitchels marked their return to second-tier football when they registered the first score of the game through a well-worked John Bingham goal.

The hosts defended well, but Glen Emmets made use of their wind advantage and kicked the next eight points to lead by 0-8 to 1-0 at halftime with Robbie Byrne, James Butler and Kealan O’Neill on target.

Despite the wind advantage in the second half, some wasteful shooting ensued, and the Mitchels could not take full advantage of the conditions. A Gareth Kane point and a John Gallagher free in between two Glen Emmets frees kept things tight.

A John Gallagher two-pointer closed the gap before another Glen Emmets free opened their lead to four points. A Gallagher free cut the deficit to three, but it was to prove to be the last score of the game as the Tullyallen men held out for the win.

Glen Emmets: Eoghan McKeown; Shane Curtis, Keith Boylan, Brien Maguire; Cian Talbot, Callum Wogan 0-1, Robbie Byrne 0-2 (2p); Andrew Mooney, Darragh Russell; Diarmuid Cullen, Keefer Carolan, Conor Wogan 0-1; Eoghan Maguire 0-1, James Butler 0-4, Kealan O’Neill 0-2.

Subs: Paddy McHugh for E Maguire, James Breen for K Carolan.

John Mitchels: David Anderson; Aaron Kane, Joe Mulholland, Adam Finegan; Mikey Nulty, John Bingham (1-0), James Sands; Ruairi McCann, Aaron Keely; Arthur Sands, John Gallagher (0-4), Keith Durnin; Eoghan McEneaney, Tristan Knowles, Gareth Kane (0-1).

Subs: Alan Mackin for A Keely, Robbie Coyle for E McEneaney, Stephen Bingham for K Durnin.