Louth GAA club | Division One League round-up
Newtown Blues saw their late bid to avoid the drop come up short as defeat at home to Naomh Máirtín
Mattock Rangers 2-13 Dreadnots 0-14
Mattock Rangers maintained their hopes of playing Louth GAA John O’Neill Sand and Gravel Division One League football next season thanks to a five-point victory over Dreadnots in Collon on Wednesday night.
The home side took advantage of Newtown Blues’ defeat against Naomh Máirtín to leapfrog the Drogheda side and claim a place in the promotion/relegation play-offs.
A first half that was interrupted by a 50-minute delay due to an injury picked up by a visiting player saw little to choose between the teams. Goals from Oisin McKenna and Sean Flynn made the difference for the hosts as they went in with a 2-3 to 0-6 lead.
The Clogher men fought hard to bridge the gap in the second half on a night when Paraic Smith came off the bench to score three points, while Craig Shevlin and Donnacha Hodgins both had two-pointers.
However, Mattock maintained their advantage, and with Ben McKenna coming on to score five points and Liam Flynn and Rian Hickey adding important scores, they held out for victory.
Mattock Rangers: Stephen Smith; James Caraher, Ben Quaile, Cillian Hickey; Tom Grimes; Rian Hickey 0-1, Liam Flynn 0-3; Jason Condon, Adrian Reid; Jack Thompson, Rob Holmes 0-1, Terry Donegan; Sean Flynn 1-1, Oisín McKenna 1-1, Ben Watters.
Subs: Ben McKenna 0-5, Cathal Fleming 0-1.
Dreadnots: Dylan Cassidy; Padraig Rath, Dermot Campbell, Aaron Scullion; Donnacha Skinnader 0-1, Anthony Williams 0-2, Calum Skinnader; Gus Knystaustas, Cian McEvoy; Darragh Shevlin, Dean Hyland 0-1, Ciaran Cunningham; Calum Shevlin 0-1, Craig Shevlin 0-3 (2p), Donnacha Hodgins 0-2 (2p).
Subs: Paraic Smith 0-3 for D Hyland, Ciaran Finnegan for D Shevlin, Owen Murphy for C Skinnader, Conor Shevlin 0-1 for Calum Shevlin.
Naomh Máirtín 1-19 Newtown Blues 2-12
Newtown Blues saw their late bid to avoid the drop come up short as defeat at home to Naomh Máirtín on Tuesday night, combined with Mattock’s win over Dreadnots, saw the Drogheda men relegated to Division 2.
The Blues, who have been hampered by the loss of so many players to county duty, went into the game knowing that victory would see them avoid automatic relegation, and they began well with the teams level at five points each on 17 minutes.
However, the Jocks moved up the gears before the break and pointed through Tom Gray and John Clutterbuck before Gray scored the first goal of the game. Joe McGrane added the last point of the half to make it 1-9 to 0-8.
The third quarter was relatively even, but despite the Blues’ best efforts, they were unable to get closer than three points.
Wayne Campbell and Val Leddy were on target for the visitors as they ran out winners despite late goals from Ross Nally and Ryan Kelly, along with Euan Hoban bringing his tally to four points.
Naomh Máirtín: Craig Lynch; Finbar Johnson, Thomas O’Sullivan, Cian Sands; Eric Winters 0-2, Craig Callanan, Colm Egan; Joe McGrane 0-1, Adam Booth; Sean Healy 0-1, Wayne Campbell 0-3, Eoghan Winters; John Clutterbuck 0-1, Ben Callanan 0-1, Tom Gray 1-8.
Subs: Val Leddy 0-2 for Eoghan Winters, Dara McDonnell for C Egan, Charlie McDonnell for B Callanan, Conor Healy for Eric Winters.
Newtown Blues: Ronan Browne; Iollan Farrell, Ian Connor, Joey Nally; Jamie Kelly 0-2, Daire Nally, Liam Branigan; Conor MacCriosta, Alan Connor 0-1; Niall Devlin, Conor Branigan 0-1, Eoghan Branigan; Euan Hoban 0-4, Ross Nally 1-3, Ryan Nugent.
Sub: Ryan Kelly 1-1 for R Nugent.
Geraldines 3-10 St Patrick’s 1-14
Three goals inside three first half minutes helped Geraldines end the Division 1 campaign on a high with victory over St Patrick’s in Lordship on Wednesday night.
Although the hosts fought back well in the second half, it proved too big a mountain to climb as the Gers held out to win by two points in the end.
The Pats began well with points from Sean Fearon and Tommy Keenan either side of a Geraldines effort. However, between the 13th and 16th minutes, the visitors found the net three times through Josh Arrowsmith (2) and Cian Spaight, while also having time to add another point.
The shell-shocked hosts fought back in the closing stages of the half with a goal from Joe Connor to cut the gap to 3-8 to 1-5 at the break.
The Haggardstown side managed just two further points in the second half while Darren O’Hanon (2p), Martin McEneaney (2p), and Michael O’Shaughnessy were on target for a Pats side who were unable to rescue the game.
Geraldines: Cillian Byrne; James Tuite, Cian Farrell, Jack Greene; John McCrohan, Gareth Neacy 0-1, Aodhan McDonnell; Beanon Corrigan 0-1, Michael Rogers 0-3 (2p); James Craven 0-1, Cian Spaight 1-0, Darragh Burke; Josh Arrowsmith 2-0, Jim McEneaney 0-2, David O’Connell 0-2.
Subs: Jamie Callan for J McCrohan, Niall Brennan for J Arrowsmith, Eoin McDonnell for D Burke.
St Patrick's: Martin McEneaney 0-3 (2p); Jack Elvin, Kevin Toner, Sean Holland; Joe Holland, Conor Grogan, Ruairi Traynor; Leonard Grey 0-1, Michael O’Shaughnessy 0-1; Ciaran O’Hanlon, Joe Connor 1-0, Sean Fearon 0-1; Tommy Keenan 0-4, Tom McCann, Tadhg O’Connor 0-1.
Subs: Sam Elvin for S Holland, Darren O’Hanlon 0-2 (2p) for L Grey, Jack Murphy for C O’Hanlon, C Conlon for R Traynor, R Duffy for K Toner, Aidan McCann 0-1 for J Elvin.