Louth GAA club | Division One League round-up

Dundalk Gaels 2-15 St Mary's 0-13

Goals from Sean Murray and Thomas O’Connell helped Dundalk Gaels to an impressive win over St. Mary's in Ardee on Saturday night.

The Dundalk men continued their bright start to the Louth GAA John O'Neill Sand and Gravel Division 1 League season when they made it back-to-back wins against a Marys side that has yet to hit top form.

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It proved to be a lively encounter from the outset, with the hosts taking an early 0-4 to 0-1 before O’Connell (3) and Murray pointed to settle their side.

St Mary's hit back with three successive scores, and it looked as if they would have an advantage going into the break, only for O’Connell to find the net to give Gaels a 1-7 to 0-9 lead.

The opening four points of the second half were shared before Murray extended the gap with a goal, followed by a brace from Gerard McSorely. It got even worse for the Mid Louth side when they were reduced to 14 men, allowing the visitors to ease home.

O’Connell also kicked seven points for the winners on the night, while Michael Quinlivan added three, with Kyle Rafferty and Gerard McSorley also on the mark. Carl Gillespie and Jonathan Commins led the fight for the Ardee men with four points apiece.

Dundalk Gaels: Aaron Culligan; James Lynch, Oisin Murray, Liam Coleman; Luke Murray, James O’Connell, Jordan Keating; James Stewart, Sean Murray 1-1; Cain Bromley, Michael Quinlivan 0-3, Jack Mullen; Chris Sweeney, Thomas O’Connell 1-7, John O’Hare.

Subs: Kyle Rafferty 0-1, Gerard McSorley 0-3, Conor McDonnell, James Haughey, Emmet Lindsay.

St Mary's: Gavin Douglas; Luke Woods, Paraic McKenny, Conor Keenan; Flynn Markey 0-1, Eimhin Keenan, Tadhg Cafferty; Cillian Keenan, Evan Malone; Kian Moran 0-1, Daire McConnon, Carl Gillespie 0-4; Jonathan Commins 0-4, Conor Gillespie, Ronan Carroll 0-1.

Subs: A Murphy for F Markey, Robbie Leavy for E Malone, Luke Keenan for T Caffrey, Fionn Coyle for K Moran.

Hunterstown Rovers 2-16 Geraldines 1-11

Hunterstown Rovers turned in a strong second half as they overcame Geraldines to make it three wins from three in Division 1.

The results see Rovers continue to lead the way at the top of the table alongside St Joseph's, while the Gers are propping up the table as they seek a first win of the season.

The game in Haggardstown saw the home side get off to an excellent start when Niall Brennan got in for the opening goal of the game.

Rovers hit back to level at 1-1 to 0-4, and the teams continued to trade points for much of the remainder of the half, but it was the hosts who claimed the final two points of the half to lead by 1-7 to 0-8 at the short whistle.

The Gers remained in front after the early exchanges of the second half, but Hunterstown soon grabbed the initiative when they landed five successive points and a goal from a Jamie O’Callaghan penalty saw his side lead by 1-14 to 1-9 with ten minutes remaining.

Rovers pressed home their advantage by following up with a second goal from Jason Monaghan to ensure there was no way back for the Gers.

Hunterstown Rovers: Donovan Sheridan 0-2 (2p); Adam O’Reilly, Paddy Taaffe, Daithi Carroll; Cillian Taaffe, Orin Martin 0-1, Colm Murphy; Marc Ward 0-1, Jason Monaghan 1-1; James Rogers 0-1, Aaron Levins, David Finn 0-2 (2p); Tony McKenna 0-1, Jamie O’Callaghan 1-1, Ryan Ward 0-4 (2p).

Geraldines: Sean McEneaney; Tiernan Hand, Darragh O'Gradaigh, Jamie Callan; John McCrohan 0-1, Jack Traynor, Thomas McNamara; Beanon Corrigan 0-2, Michael Rogers; Cian Spaight 0-1, Brian Cafferty 0-1, Noah Lauaki; Niall Brennan 1-0, Jim McEneaney 0-2, David O’Connell.

St. Patrick's 1-18 Newtown Blues 0-13

St. Patrick's continued their encouraging start to Division 1 with an eight-point win at home to Newtown Blues on Saturday.

Newtown Blues went into the game hoping to secure a first win of the season and were given an early boost when Eoin McCoy opened the scoring with a two-pointer.

Martin McEneaney (2p), Joe Connor and Michael O’Shaughnessy pointed to put the hosts in front, and a James Savage goal saw them gain control.

However, the Blues rallied and landed the last five points of the half, including efforts from Niall Devlin and Jamie Kelly, to go in level at 1-8 to 0-11 at the break.

However, they were unable to build on that momentum as the Pats came storming out of the blocks in the second half.

Martin McEneaney (2p), Jack Murphy and Sean Fearon scored two points each to open up a six-point gap before the Blues pulled one back.

The hosts made sure there would be no comeback this time as they remained on top and completed victory with a late Aidan McCann point.

St Patricks: Martin McEneaney 0-4; Conor Grogan, Daniel Tumulty, Sean Holland; Darren O’Hanlon, Barry Dunne, Darren Connor 0-2; Rory Duffy, Michael O’Shaughnessy 0-1; Aidan McCann 0-1, Joe Connor 0-1, Jack Murphy 0-5; James Savage 1-2, Padraig Duffy, Sean Fearon 0-2.

Subs: Tadhg O’Connor for R Duffy, Ruairi Traynor for A McCann, Ciaran O’Hanlon for J Savage, Brian Commons for P Duffy, Jack Elvin for D Tumulty.

Newtown Blues: Ronan Brown; Iolann Farrell, Dan McArdle, Joey Nally; Liam Brannigan 0-1, Ian Connor 0-1, Ryan Kelly; Ross Nally 0-1, Yemi Taylor; Niall Devlin 0-2, Jamie Kelly 0-2 (2p), Eoin Brannigan; Ryan Nugent, Alan Connor, Eoin McCoy 0-6 (2x2p).

Subs: Ewan Hoban for Y Taylor, Johnny McDonnell for R Nally, Ryan Gilchrist for E McCoy, Flynn Richardson for I Farrell.

St. Joseph's 4-15 Mattock Rangers 0-7

The Joes made it three wins from three with a convincing win over Mattock Rangers on Saturday night at Cluskey Park.

The opening score came in the first minute when Oisin McGuinness hit the net, followed by points from the goalscorer, Craig Doherty and a two-pointer free from Alan Quigley.

It got even better when Neary added a second goal before Oisin McKenna opened Mattock’s account on 14 minutes.

The second quarter was evenly balanced with the sides registering three points each, as scores from Ben Collier and Alan Quigley for the Joes were cancelled out by a fine two-pointer from Karl Grimes on 24 minutes.

The sides exchanged points in the final minutes of the half, from Oisin Reidy from a narrow angle and a Cathal Fleming free to leave the Joes leading 2-8 to 0-4 at the break.

Cathal Fleming opened the second half scoring with another pointed free, with the Joes scoring three in a row from Oisin McGuinness (2) and Alan Quigley.

The visitors got one back before a fine run from Gabriel Bell sent Oisin McGuinness through, to drive a low shot to the net on 44 minutes, making it 3-11 to 0-6 at the end of the third quarter. With the result beyond doubt, the hosts cruised home and added a fourth goal through Jack Mulligan.

St. Josephs: Aaron Gray; Cian Sheridan 0-1, Ben McKeown, Rian Devlin; Conor Neary 1-0, Gabriel Bell, David Kieran; Oisin McGuinness 2-3, Oisin Reidy 0-1; Ben Collier 0-1, Craig Doherty 0-1, Alan Quigley 0-8; Conall Smyth, Jack Mulligan 1-0, Cormac Marmion.

Subs: Adam Dullaghan, Alan Lynch, Ciaran Johnston.

Dreadnots 3-10 Naomh Mairtin 1-15

Craig Shevlin scored a dramatic injury-time goal to see Dreadnots snatch victory over Nh Mairtin at Clogherhead on Saturday.

The Jocks looked to be on course for their first win of the season, but were unable to hold out as the hosts picked up their second victory in what proved to be an entertaining encounter.

The Clogher men also made a dramatic start when Cian McEvoy scored a goal inside five minutes in reply to Daire O’Donnell’s opener for the Mairtins.

However, the visitors settled, and after a Sean Healy goal, they pointed through Eric Winters, Evan Whelan, Jack Lynch and Thomas McKiernan to open up a four-point gap. However, just before the half-time whistle, Craig Shevlin landed a two-pointer to cut the gap to 1-6 to 1-5 at the break.

Joe McGrane, Tom Gray and Lynch pointed early in the second half to open up a four-point lead for the Jocks, but a Darragh Shevlin goal kept his side in touch.

It was nip-and-tuck until the end, and late scores from Shane Morgan and McGrane looked to have won it for their side. However, Shevlin had other ideas and found the net to give the Dreadnots victory.

Dreadnots: Dylan Cassidy; Enrique Devlin, Alex Aspell 0-1, Padraig Rath; Conor Shevlin, Conor Faulkner, Calum Skinnader; James Califf, Cian McEvoy 1-0; Donnacha Hodgins, Conor Clarke, Ciaran Caffrey; Craig Shevlin 1-6 (2x2p), Jay Hughes 0-3, Darragh Shevlin 1-0.

Nh Mairtin: Joey O’Brien; Mark Whelan, Shane Morgan, Conor Healy; Cathal Dorian, Evan Whelan, Cian Sands; Joe McGrane, Eoghan Winters; Enda McDonnell, Sean Healy, Eric Winrers; Thomas McKiernan, Daire O’Donnell, Jack Lynch.

Subs: Ben Callanan, Craig Callanan, Tom Gray, Adam Booth.