Louth GAA club | Division One round-up

Division 1A

St Josephs 1-21 Hunterstown Rovers 2-8

For long periods of this game in Cluskey Park, it looked very likely that Hunterstown Rovers would prevail as they led from the first minute to almost the end of the third quarter.

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The final score of 1-21 to 2-8 is not a true reflection of the tightness of the contest, with the Joes qualifying for a second Louth GAA John O’Neill Sand and Gravel Division One league final in two years.

Hunterstown took the lead in the first minute when Tony McKenna’s two-point effort dropped invitingly into the goalmouth where Ryan Ward rose highest to deflect the ball to the Joes' net.

Conall McCaul got the Joes off the mark, but a second goal from Dean Burns had Rovers leading by 2-3 to 0-3 at the end of the first quarter. The hosts rallied, and a brace of scores apiece from Conall Smyth and Alan Quigley cut the gap to 2-4 to 0-7 at the break.

An Oisin McGuinness two-pointer helped the Joes get back on terms early in the second half, but a Donavan Sheridan ‘45’ saw Hunterstown back in front. The Joes took the lead for the first time when McGuinness crashed the ball to the net to make it 1-11 to 2-7.

McCaul followed up with a two-pointer, and that was the signal for the hosts to take control, and they eased to victory with the help of points from Ben McKeown and Jack Mulligan.

St Josephs: Aaron Gray; Cian Sheridan (0-1), Aidan Kieran, Rian Devlin; Ben McKeown (0-1), Cormac McKeown, Gabriel Bell; David Kieran (0-1), Killian Staunton; Ben Collier (0-1), Conall McCaul (0-7, 2p), Michael O’Brien; Oisin McGuinness (1-2), Conall Smyth (0-4), Alan Quigley (0-2).

Sub: Oisin Reidy (0-1), Jack Mulligan (0-1).

Hunterstown Rovers: Donavan Sheridan; Euan Woodlock, Patrick Taaffe, Daithi Carroll; James Rogers, Cillian Taaffe, Sam Scott; Tony McKenna, Michael Reid; Alan Matthews, Oran Martin, Glen Matthews; Cian Matthews, Ryan Ward, Dean Burns.

Sub: Jamie O’Callaghan.

Cooley Kickhams 1-13 Dundalk Gaels 0-16

Cooley Kickhams and Dundalk Gaels played out an entertaining draw in section A of the Division 1 League on Friday night at Fr McEvoy Park.

A late point from Michael Rafferty ensured that the hosts earned a share of the spoils just when it appeared that two points from Tom O’Connell had edged it for the visitors.

It was Cooley who had the better of the first half and went in at the break with a 0-8 to 0-6 lead. Gerard McSorley kept the Dundalk men in contention as he landed two two-pointers in a five-point haul.

A Tom O’Connell orange flag levelled the game just after the restart, and it remained tight for the remainder of the half of a game where Jack Long, Sean Hoey and Fearghal Malone were on target for the hosts.

After Cooley edged ahead late on with the help of a Rafferty goal, O’Connell hit back with two points, but his side couldn’t hold out as Rafferty struck to earn his side a point.

Cooley Kickhams: Niall Brady; Ronan McBride, Patrick Hanlon, Ian Arnold; Oran McAnerney 01, Fearghal Malone 0-3, Tiarnan Hanniffy; Jack Long 0-2, Niall Morgan 0-1; Emmet Duffy, Gerard Hanlon, Fionn O’Reilly; Joseph Hanlon, Michael Rafferty 1-2, Sean Hoey 0-2.

Subs: Michael Carron, Thomas McCarragher.

Dundalk Gaels: Adrian Rafferty; James Lynch, Alan Jumbo, Kyle Rafferty; Shaun Duffy, Luke Murray, Paddy O’Connell; James O’Connell, Jordan Keating; Cain Bromley, Gary Shevlin, Jack Mullen; Gerard McSorley 0-6 (2x2p), Thomas O’Connell 0-8 (2x2p), Dylan McKeown 0-1.

Sub: Chris Sweeney for P O’Connell, Michael Quinlivan 0-1 for J Mullen.

St Marys 6-14 St Mochtas 0-8

St Marys backed up their midweek win over Hunterstown with victory over a depleted St Mochtas to consolidate their position in second place in the Division 1 table.

St Mochtas came into the game on the back of a big win over Dundalk Gaels on Tuesday and looked in good form in the opening period, and after 20 minutes the teams were level at four points apiece.

However, the Ardee men blitzed their opponents in the closing minutes of the half as goals from Conor Gillespie and Daire McConnon helped send their team in with a 2-9 to 0-4 lead.

Goals from Keelin Martin and Carl Gillespie in quick succession just before the end of the third quarter saw the Ardee men stretch their lead before Cillian Keenan fired in two goals to seal a comfortable win.

Gerry Garland top-scored for the Mochtas with four points, while Cormac Smith chipped in with a brace.

St Marys: Tiernan Markey 0-2; Conor Keenan, Paraic McKenny 0-1, Fionn Coyle; Flynn Markey, Kian Moran 0-1, Keelin Martin 1-0; Eimhin Keenan, Robbie Leavy; Carl Gillespie 1-2, Conor Gillespie 1-2, Andy Murphy; Adam Gillespie, Daire McConnon 1-5, Josh Taaffe.

Subs: Evan Malone 0-1 for K Martin, Ronan Caroll for A Murphy, Lorcan Buckley for R Leavy, Cillian Keenan 2-0 for C Gillespie, Tiernan Corrigan for Conor Keenan.

St Mochtas: Rory O’Kane; Conor McKenna, Conall Kerins, Andy Lennon; Daniel Craven, Ben Goss-Kieran, Conor Garland 0-1; Liam O’Flaherty, Dillon Farrell 0-1; Jamie Farrell, Gerry Garland 0-4, Gavin Short; Cormac Smith 0-2, Sean Marron, Philip Englishby.

Subs: Liam Craven for P Englishby, Andrew Hoey for S Marron.

Division 1B

Newtown Blues 1-12 St Patricks 0-4

Newtown Blues boosted their hopes of avoiding relegation when they defeated St Patricks at home on Saturday evening.

Having displayed encouraging signs in a narrow defeat to Dreadnots in midweek, the Drogheda men turned in one of their best displays of the season to record their second victory against a Pats side that had drawn with Nh Mairtin in their previous outing.

It was the visitors who made the better start with points from Jack Murphy and Chris Conlon, but the Blues got back into the game when Iollan Farrell scored the only goal of the game.

Martin McEneaney hit back with a point for the Pats, but the Blues kicked the last six points of the half to lead by 1-7 to 0-3 at the break.

The visitors added their fourth point of the evening just after the restart, but a comeback never looked likely as the Blues continued to dominate and kicked the last four points of the game as they cruised to victory.

Conor Mac Criosta, Ross Nally and Conor Branigan all contributed three points for the winners.

Newtown Blues: Ronan Browne; Dan McCardle, Ian Connor, Joey Nally; Eoin Branigan, Iollan Farrell 1-1, Jamie Kelly; Emmet Carolan, Conor Mac Criosta 0-3; Niall Devlin, Conor Branigan 0-3, Eoin McCoy 0-1; Euan Hoban 0-1, Ross Nally 0-3, Ryan Nugent.

Sub: Ronan Levins for N Devlin.

St Patrick's: Martin McEneaney 0-1; Darren O’Hanlon, Rory Duffy, Sean Holland; Chris Conlon 0-1, Conor Grogan, Darren Connor; Leonard Grey, Tom McCann; Aidan McCann 0-1, Jack Murphy 0-1, Micheál O’Shaughnessy; Sean Fearon, Tommy Keenan, Joe Connor.

Subs: Eoin O’Connor for T Keenan, Joe Holland for R Duffy, Ciaran O’Hanlon for T McCann, Ruairi Traynor for D Connor, Jack Elvin for S Holland.

Naomh Mairtin 4-16 Mattock Rangers 1-6

Goals from John Clutterbuck (2), Cathal Dorian and Evan Whelan helped Naomh Mairtin to a comfortable win over Mattock Rangers on Saturday evening to add to the hosts’ relegation worries.

Both teams had picked up draws in their midweek games, but there was nothing close about this encounter as the visitors dominated from the outset.

Dorian set the tone inside a minute as he put the ball in the net to open the scoring before efforts from Jack Murphy, Sean Healy, Sam Mulroy and Jack Lynch had the Jocks 1-5 to 0-1 ahead at the end of the first quarter.

Mattock responded with a two-pointer, but a Ben Callanan effort helped the Mairtins lead by 1-7 to 0-3 at half-time, on a night when James Caraher and Liam Flynn scored a brace of points for the hosts.

Whelan and Clutterbuck added goals inside two minutes of the restart to put the result beyond any doubt.

The Collon men did respond with a goal of their own through Jason Condon, but the visitors continued to dominate and a Wayne Campbell two-pointer along with a second Clutterbuck goal sealed a very comfortable win.

Naomh Mairtin: Craig Lynch; Finbar Johnson, Thomas Sullivan, Cian Sands; Jack Murphy 0-2, Evan Whelan 1-2, Cathal Dorian 1-0; Joe McGrane, Wayne Campbell 0-2 (2p); Sean Healy 0-1, Sam Mulroy 0-6 (2p), Craig Callanan; John Clutterbuck 2-1, Ben Callanan 0-1, Jack Lynch 0-1.

Mattock Rangers: Stephen Smith; Ben Quaile, Shane Maguire, James Caraher 0-2; Tom Grimes; Rian Hickey, Terry Donegan, Liam Flynn 0-2; Jason Condon 1-0, Cathal Fleming; Jack Thompson, Sean Flynn 0-1, Oisín McKenna 0-1, Eoin McCloskey, Callum Wogan.

Geraldines 3-19 Dreadnots 0-10

Geraldines capped a productive week when they travelled to Clogherhead on Saturday evening and recorded a comprehensive win.

The Gers followed up on their midweek draw with Mattock Rangers to make it five points from the last three outings and in the process moved away from danger at the foot of the table.

It proved to be a difficult evening for the hosts who failed to build on their narrow win over Newtown Blues on Tuesday night.