Louth GAA club | Division One League round-up

Hunterstown Rovers 1-15 St. Patrick's 0-14

Hunterstown Rovers clinched their second win of the Louth GAA John O'Neill Sand and Gravel Division One League campaign thanks to another impressive display at home to St. Patrick's on Saturday evening.

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The hosts got off to a great start when Dean Burns’ opening point was followed by a goal from Tony McKenna as they eased into a 1-3 to 0-1 lead, with the Pats' reply coming from Sean Fearon.

The visitors enjoyed a revival in the second quarter, and two-pointers from Fearon and Conor McGuinness saw them cut the gap to 1-8 to 0-9 at halftime.

Once again, Rovers were brightest after the restart and kicked the opening two points of the second half before landing a two-pointer from Donovan Sheridan to open up a six-point gap, on a night when Oran Martin, Ciaran Russell and James Rogers were all among the scores.

Despite the visitors replying through Jack Murphy, Rovers were always in control, and strong defending prevented Pats from threatening the goal they needed.

The Lordship men battled to the end and landed the last three scores through Murphy, McGuinness and Aidan McCann, but it was too late to prevent their first defeat of the campaign. 

Hunterstown Rovers: Donovan Sheridan 0-5; Adam O’Reilly, Patrick Taaffe, Daithi Carroll; Colm Murphy, Shane Halpenny, David Finn; Jason Monaghan, Marc Ward; Tony McKenna 1-0, Aaron Levins, Ciaran Russell 0-2; James Rogers 0-2, Jamie O’Callaghan 0-2, Dean Burns 0-1.

Subs: Oran Martin 0-3 for D Burns, James Russell for C Russell.

St. Patrick's: Martin McEneaney; Sean Holland, Daniel Tumulty, Jack Elvin; Conor Grogan, Barry Dunne, Brian Commons; Padraig Duffy, Ciaran O’Hanlon; James Savage, Aidan McCann 0-1, Jack Murphy 0-5 (2p); Conor McGuinness 0-5 (2p), Joe Connor, Sean Fearon 0-3 (2p).

Subs: Rory Duffy for C O’Hanlon, Darren O’Hanlon for B Commons, Darren Connor for J Elvin.

Cooley Kickhams 3-13 Nh Mairtin 2-9

Cooley Kickhams picked up their first win of the season thanks to a storming finish to this Division 1 clash at Fr McEvoy Park on Saturday evening.

The game was in the balance when the Mairtins clawed back a six-point deficit to draw level after Sean Healy found the net with four minutes remaining.

However, the home side grabbed the initiative and fired in 1-4 without reply, including a goal from Joseph Hanlon to claim victory.

The peninsula side was on top throughout the first half, and Hanlon’s first goal of the evening helped them establish a 1-8 to 0-3 lead in injury time. The Jocks gave themselves hope when Daire O’Donnell found the net to cut the gap to five points.

Cooley regained control in the third quarter and added a second goal from Cian Connor to move 2-9 to 1-6 clear, but the Mairtins responded in impressive fashion with a Jack Lynch free and a two-pointer from Healy before the latter levelled the game with a well-taken goal.

The visitors looked to have the momentum at that stage, but they were unable to complete the comeback as Kickhams finished the stronger to claim a victory sealed by Hanlon’s second goal.

Cooley Kickhams: Niall Brady; Ian Arnold, Darren Marks, Dylan Clarke; Oran McAnerney, Niall Morgan, Tiernan Hanniffy 0-1; Jack Long, Dean McGreehan; Thomas McCarragher, Enda O’Neill 0-1, Sean Hoey; Cian Connor 1-4, Michael Rafferty 0-4, Josep Hanlon 2-0.

Subs: Ronan McBride, Gerry Malone, Emmet Duffy, Fearghal Malone. 

Nh Mairtin: Darren Morgan; Mark Whelan, Shane Morgan, Cian Sands 0-1; Cathal Dorian, Conor Healy, Jake Neilon; Evan Whelan, Joe McGrane; Enda McDonnell, Sean Healy 1-2 (2p), Eric Winters; Thomas McKiernan, Daire O’Donnell 1-0, Jack Lynch 0-6 (2x2p).

Sub: Joey O’Brien for D Morgan.

Dreadnots 0-16 Newtown Blues 0-12

Dreadnots bounced back from their opening day defeat against Hunterstown as they got off the mark for the season with a victory over Newtown Blues on Thursday night.

The game in Newfoundwell saw the hosts looking to begin their season with victory, but in what proved to be an entertaining contest, they fell just short against a Dreadnots side who were in fine form in front of the posts.

Jay Hughes was instrumental in the victory as he finished the night with nine points to his credit, including a two-pointer.

Pepe Smith also made a valuable contribution off the bench as he kicked three points, while Dean Hyland added a brace after being introduced. James Califf and Sam Reilly were also on target for the winners.

At the other end, Ross Nally led the line for the Blues, but despite kicking seven points, it wasn’t enough to prevent defeat on a night when Liam Branigan, Johnny McDonnell, Jamie Kelly and Alan Connor were also on target.

Dreadnots: Dylan Cassidy; Enrique Devlin, Alex Aspell, Aaron Scullion; Barry Faulkner, Conor Faulkner, Calum Skinnader; Cian McEvoy, James Califf 0-1; Ciaran Finnegan, Conor Clarke, Ciaran Caffrey; Sam Reilly 0-1, Jay Hughes 0-9 (2p), Darragh Shevlin.

Subs: Donnacha Hodgins for C Skinnader, Pepe Smith 0-3 for C Faulkner, Dean Hyland 0-2 for C Finnegan, Conor Shevlin for J Hughes.

Newtown Blues: Ronan Browne; Dan McArdle, Paul Moore, Joey Nally; Liam Branigan 0-1, Ian Connor 0-1, Niall Devlin; Johnny McDonnell 0-1, Yemi Taylor; Sean Cummins, Jamie Kelly 0-1, Iollan Farrell; Ryan Nugent, Ross Nally 0-7, Alan Connor 0-1.

Subs: Ryan Gilchrist for P Moore, Andy McDonnell for Y Taylor, Flynn Richardson for S Cummins, Eoin Branigan for I Farrell, Ewan Hoban for R Nugent.

St Mary's 0-16 Mattock Rangers 0-9

St Mary's chalked up their first win of the season at their second attempt when they eased past Mattock Rangers in Collon on Saturday night.

The Ardee men showed good accuracy over the course of the hour and saw Carl Gillespie and Ronan Carroll lead the way as they finished with five points apiece, while Jonathan Commins chipped in with three.

Having lost out to St Mochtas on the opening day, the Marys raised their game in the first half of this fixture and were rewarded with a 0-10 to 0-5 lead.

The second half was a closer affair, but a Mattock side searching for a second successive win was unable to bridge the gap. In the end, the Ardee men ran out seven-point winners, on a night when Cillian Keenan, Robbie Leavy and Conor Gillespie were also on target.

St Mary's: Gavin Douglas; Luke Woods, Pauric McKenny, Conor Keenan; Eimhin Keenan, Fionn Coyle, Tadhg Caffrey; Cillian Keenan 0-1, Robbie Leavy 0-1; Calum Caffrey, Jonathan Commins 0-3, Carl Gillespie 0-5; Ronan Carroll 0-5, Conor Gillespie 0-1, Luke Keenan.

Subs: Flynn Markey for C Caffrey, Evan Malone for E Keenan, David Rooney for T Caffrey, Karl Faulkner for R Leavy, Bobby Carroll for C Keenan.

St Joseph's 2-8 St Mochtas 0-11

In round two of the Division 1 League, the Joes held on in the final minutes to edge out the Mochtas in the Sunday evening throw-in.

The Joes had the better of the early exchanges, twice hitting the post in the opening five minutes with Ben Collier on target from a free.

In eight minutes, Collier and Oisin Reidy combined down the right for Conall Smyth to flick onto Jack Mulligan, who crashed the ball to the net for a Joes opening goal.

Two points from Jamie Farrell got the scoreboard moving for the Mochtas, with Oisin Reidy and Jack Mulligan responding for the Joes, to leave their side leading 1-3 to 0-2 at the end of the first quarter.

A Gerry Garland free left a goal between the sides after 17 minutes, but six minutes later Joes had a second goal from Gabriel Bell.

The Mochtas closed out the half with two fine points from Oisin Callan from wide right and a second from Liam O’Flaherty, to cut the gap to 2-3 to 0-5 at the break.

The third quarter yielded just two scores with Ben Collier and Gerry Garland pointing frees before Oisin Reidy stretched the Joes' lead with excellent points on 49 and 51 minutes.

The Mochtas pulled one back with Jamie Farrell’s third point of the match before Aaron Gray made an excellent save in the Joes goal.

In the last five minutes, the momentum swung firmly in favour of the home side. Gerry Garland hit two two-pointers to cut the margin to a single point with three minutes on the clock.

As the game entered added time, it was a two-pointer free from Alan Quigley that pushed out the Joes lead to three points. The home side came close to snatching a draw, but the Joes held out for victory.

St Josephs: Aaron Gray; Cian Sheridan, Aidan Kieran, Rian Devlin; Conor Neary, Gabriel Bell (1-0), David Kieran; Oisin McGuinness, Oisin Reidy (0-3); Ben Collier (0-2), Craig Doherty, Alan Quigley (0-2); Conall Smyth, Jack Mulligan (1-1), Cormac Marmion.

Sub: Alan Lynch.

St Mochtas: Rory O’Kane; Liam Lawlor, Conor McKenna, Andrew Lennon; Ben Goss, Kieran, Oisin Callan, Conor Garland; Dylan Farrell, Sam Marron; Danny Kindlon 0-1, Gerry Garland 0-6 (2x2p), Jamie Farrell 0-3; Cormac Smyth, Liam O’Flaherty, 0-1 Gavyn Short.

Subs: Phily Englisby for Liam Lawlor, Sean McLoughlin for G Short, Liam Craven for S Marron, Sean Flynn for C Smyth.

Dundalk Gaels 0-14 Geraldines 1-8

Dundalk Gaels prevailed by three points in a well-contested Division 1 encounter at The Ramparts on Sunday afternoon.

After suffering narrow defeats on the opening day, both sides were determined to get off the mark and in the end, it was the Dundalk men who did just enough, with seven points from Thomas O’Connell providing the platform for victory.

After Beanon Corrigan opened the scoring for the Gers, it was the Gaels who took charge with the next three scores. However, the visitors hit back through Corrigan and Danny Nordon to go in level at the break at four points apiece.

A Michael Rogers two-pointer gave the visitors an early advantage after the restart, but they were unable to build on that score as the Gaels began to get on top.

Scores from O’Connell, Jack Mullen and Cain Bromley helped them lead by five entering injury time when a Cian Spaight goal gave the visitors hope. However, the Dundalk men finished with the final point to complete a deserved win.

Dundalk Gaels: Aaron Culligan; James Lynch, Oisin Murray, Liam Coleman; Luke Murray 0-2, James O’Connell, Shaun Duffy; James Stewart, Sean Murray; Jordan Keating, Michael Quinlivan 0-1, Jack Mullen 0-2; Chris Sweeney 0-1, Thomas O’Connell 0-7, John O’Hare.

Subs: Cain Bromley 0-1, Conor McDonnell, Tom Murphy, Gerard McSorley, Paddy O’Connell.

Geraldines: Cian O’Donoghue; Tiernan Hand, Daragh O'Gradaigh, Jamie Callan; John McCrohan, Gareth Neacy, Thomas McNamara; Beanon Corrigan 0-3, Brian Caffery; Danny Nordon 0-2, Jim McEneaney, Cian Spaight 1-0; Aodhan Gibbons, Sean McKenna, David O’Connell.

Subs: Michael Rogers 0-3 for S McKenna, Noah Luaki for A Gibbons, Darragh Burke for D O’Connell.