Louth GAA club | Junior Football Championship round-up

Naomh Malachi 1-14 Cuchulainn Gaels 1-6

Naomh Malachi goalkeeper Darrin Kearney produced a memorable display to fire his side into the quarter-finals of the Junior Championship.

Kearney kicked three two-pointers in a nine-point haul as the Courtbane men came from behind at the break to defeat Cuchulainn Gaels at Pairc de Roiste on Friday night.

There wasn’t much to choose between the teams in a first half that was noteworthy for an exchange of two-pointers between Andrew Begley and James Sharkey and it looked as if they would go in level at the break.

However, Cuchulainn Gaels had the final say of the half when Adam Sharkey found the net from a penalty to see his team lead by 1-6 to 0-6 at the interval.

That score was cancelled out shortly after the restart when Darren Clarke fired in from the spot and that was the signal for his side to take charge of proceedings. It was Kearney who led the charge for his side as his three two-pointers helped the Mals over the line.

Naomh Malachi: Darrin Kearney 0-9 ()3x2p); Sean McArdle, Daniel Mulligan, Lee McShane; Shea Burns, Jamie Kelly, Donal Begley; Kevin McShane, Jason Clarke; Darren Clarke 1-0, Irla McMahon 0-1, Matty Campbell; Conor Nicholson 0-1, Andrew Begley 0-3 (2p), Dean Murtagh.

Sub: Collie Rooney for D Murtagh.

Cuchulainn Gaels: Ciaran Connolly; Aaron Donnelly, Sean Brennan, James Keenan; Martin Hynes, Philip McGovern, Brendan O’Hagan; Larry Brennan 0-2, Rammie Phillips 0-1; David Reilly, James Sharkey 0-6, Seamus McCabe 0-1; Adam Sharkey 1-1, John-Paul Elmore, Eamonn Donnelly.

Subs: Stephen Óg McGuinness and Jamie Molloy.

Dundalk Young Irelands 2-25 Dowdallshill 0-3

Dundalk Young Irelands made it three wins from three as they cruised into the quarter finals of the Junior Championship with victory over Dowdallshill at Darver on Friday night.

The Group 3 encounter resulted in another heavy defeat for the St Brigid’s Park outfit who will be relieved to see the end of this Championship campaign.

In a game where the outcome was never in doubt, the Upper Marshes side had the result beyond doubt at the end of a first half in which they registered 2-14, while the Hill failed to get off the mark. Ruairi Kelly and Liam McStravick provided the goals for the winners.

The second half saw Dowdallshill prove to be more competitive as they registered three points through James Woods and Stephen Murray.

Young Irelands didn’t need to find top gear but were never in danger on a night when Jordan O’Donoghue, Mark Lee, Conn O’Donoghue and Evan McArdle were on the mark.

Dundalk Young Irelands: Fergal Sheeky; Lee O’Donoghue, Ciaran Murray, Conn O’Donoghue (0-1); Evan McArdle (0-3), Brendan Prendergast, Cian O’Donoghue; James Prendergast, Michael O’Shea; Jack Watters (0-1), Jordan O’Donoghue (0-5), Mark Lee (0-2); Derek Maguire (0-5), Ruairi Kelly (1-3), Liam McStravick (1-2).

Subs: Sean Hoey (0-2) for J Prendergast, Ryan Clarke for L McStravick, Rocco Cassidy for D Maguire, Cian O’Nairigh (0-1) for B Prendergast, Ryan Clarke for R Cassidy.

Dowdalshill: Chris Mullen; Stephen King, Paddy McKenna, Damo Kerr; James Woods (0-2), Stevie Murray (0-1), Eddie Lapins; Justin Halley, Paul Flynn; Eoin Maguire, Luke O’Brien, Thomas McKenney; Kevin McGonigle, Cathal Byrne, Chris Boyle.

O’Connells 2-21 Lannleire 2-13

O’Connells claimed runners-up spot in Group 3 thanks to victory over Lannleire at Stabannon on Saturday afternoon to book their place in the Junior Championship quarter-finals.

The winner-takes-all clash saw the men from The Grove hold the edge for most of the contest as they deservedly came out on top by eight points.

Bernard Osborne and Jackie Agnew saw O’Connells take the early lead but Lannleire struck the first major blow when Conor Dunne found the back of the net on five minutes.

However, the response was swift as Robert Quigley replied in kind to put his team 1-3 to 0-3 in front.

The Bellingham side always had the upper hand from that stage and points from Callum Woods, Harry Kierans and Adam Flynn helped them take a 1-14 to 1-9 advantage into the break.

Liam Callan had come out from goals to land two two-pointers along with efforts from Darragh Malone and Killian Gregory to keep Lannleire in the game.

Osborne and Quigley were among the points early in the second half to stretch the lead before Niall Conlon hit the net to open up a 2-17 to 1-11 gap after 38 minutes.

There was no way back for the Dunleer men, although they di respond with points from Malone and Gregory, it was the O’Connells who eased through as late scores from Quigley and Agnew sealed the win.

O’Connells: Jonathan Brennan; Sam Shearman, Jack McGeugh, Joshua Horwell; Emmet Byrne, Adam Flynn 0-1, Conall Clerkin; Cailum Woods 0-1 Conor Culligan 0-1; Jackie Agnew 0-4, Robert Quigley 1-9 (2p), Harry Kierans 0-1; Bernard Osborne 0-2, Niall Conlon 1-2, Evan Kearney

Subs: Nathan Carragher for C Clerkin, Cian Doyle for H Kierans, Cian Geeney for E Kearney.

Lannleire: Liam Callan 0-4 2x2p); Jason Torris, Paul Doyle, Aaron McArdle; Darragh Goodman, Jack O'Connor, Briain McGuinness; Bob Murphy , Larry McEntee 0-3 (2p); Darragh Malone 1-3, Killian Gregory 0-3, Paul McGeough; Conor Dunne 1-0, Ian Mulroy, Ryan McArdle.

Subs: Brendan Cassidy for D Goodman, Niall Lennon for C Dunne, Brendan McEvoy for B Cassidy, Thomas Doyle for A McArdle.

St Nicholas 2-8 Glyde Rangers 0-9

St Nicholas booked their place in the last eight of the Junior Championship when they came through this Group 2 showdown with Glyde Rangers at Mountrush on Saturday evening.

In a game where both sides were vying for the runners-up spot behind Westerns, it was the Drogheda men who got over the line thanks to goals from Alan McColdrick and Roy Kierans either side of the break.

The Nicks were first off the mark but a Tadhg Devaney two-pointer had his side in front before Olan Crosbie and Tadhg Kellett followed up with points.

However, the Drogheda men responded with a brace from Sam Reilly before Alan McColdrick raised a green flag to send his team in with a 1-3 to 0-4 lead.

It was the Nicks who continued that momentum in the second half as a well-taken goal from Roy Kierans was followed by points from Ross Brady and Shane Downey to push the gap out to 2-5 to 0-4.

The response from the Tallanstown men was impressive as orange flags from Shane Byrne and Kellett either side of a Tadhg Devaney score had the gap back to just two points at the start of the final quarter.

However, they proved to be the last scores for the Glyde men as the Nicks regained control and sealed victory with points from Paudi Downey (2) and Fionn Meagher.

St Nicholas: Shane Finegan; Aaron Flanagan, Alex Finnegan, Alex Jordan; Caebhan Housidari, Donal Carr, Dylan Brogan; Alan Dyas 1-0, Sam Reilly 0-2; Fionn Meagher 0-1, Roy Kierans 1-0, Shane Downey 0-2; Hayden Quinn, Phillip Kirwan, Con Sheehan.

Subs: Lee Kavanagh for H Quinn, Ross Brady 0-1 for C Sheehan, Ruairí Hanlon for A Flanagan, Paudi Downey 0-2 for Kirwan, Cian Flynn for Dyas.

Glyde Rangers: Oran Matthews; Mark McKeever, Gerard Bourton, Aaron Myles; Shane Byrne 0-2, Jack McKeever, Darren McKeever; Tadhg Devaney 0-3, Sean Devaney; Tadhg Kellett 0-3, Aaron Devlin, Olan Crosbie 0-1; Leigh Byrne, Jake Stuart, Cormac Lundon.

Subs: Oisín Reenan for A Myles, Oisín Lynch for C Lundon, Conor McCauley for A Devlin.

John Mitchels 1-17 Na Piarsaigh Blackrock 0-12

John Mitchels turned in a commanding second half display against Na Piarsaigh Blackrock at Louth Village on Sunday afternoon to book their place in the last eight of the Junior Championship.

Na Piarsaigh- Blackrock had four points on the scoreboard through Robbie Murphy (2p) and a Jamie Fealy brace before John Mitchels registered their first score after ten minutes with a two-point free from Aaron Keely.

The Ballybailie team went on to score four unanswered points to lead 0-6 to 0-4 mid way through the half.

The Blackrock Road team end the half strongly and a point from a 45 from Ciaran Murphy followed by a lovely two-point score from his twin brother Robbie, putting them into a 0-7 to 0-6 half time.

The Mitchels levelled the scores at 0-7 each immediately after the restart through a Arthur Sands point. A black card for Eoin Farrell of Na Piarsaigh-Blackrock after 33 minutes proved costly and the Mitchels ended the 10 minute period 0-15 to 0-7 ahead with two orange flags from John Gallagher amongst the eight-point turn around.

However Na Piarsaigh-Blackrock never gave up and a free from Robert Murphy, followed by a well taken two-pointer from play by Jamie Fealy, kept them in contention.

A two-point free from Ciaran Murphy following a breach infringement by Mitchels left just three points between the teams entering the final five minutes.

Na Piarsaigh-Blackrock did have an opportunity for a goal shortly afterwards but the John Mitchels defence smothered Robbie Murphy's shot but Sands scored the only goal of the game to give his side victory.

John Mitchels: Arthur Sands 1-4, John Gallagher 0-6, Trevor Matthews 0-4, John Bingham 0-1, Adam Keenan 0-1, Cole Leavy 0-1.

Na Piarsaigh: David Boyle; Eoin Farrell, Ronan McCartney, John Galligan; Stephen McGuinness, Joe Woods, Fionn Tipping ; Shane Roddy, Ciaran Murphy 0-3; James Mahoney, Tommy Muckian, Robert Murphy 0-5; Paul Mallon, Michael Woods, Jamie Fealy 0-4.

Subs: Gerry Rice for T Muckian, Chris Kellet for E Farrell.

Naomh Fionnbarra 2-17 Sean McDermotts 0-3

Nh Fionnbarra topped Group 4 of the Junior Championship with three wins from three after easing past Sean McDermotts at Darver on Sunday afternoon.

As expected, the Barrs proved too strong for the Mountrush side who finished bottom of the group after suffering a third successive defeat.

Some of the highlights for the winners included a brace of goals from Ciarán Murphy, while Ciarán Markey and Thomas McCreesh finished with five and four points respectively.

The Togher side didn’t have to find top gear at any stage in the game and at the interval were firmly in control as Murphy scored the opening goal to establish a 1-9 to no score advantage.

The McDermotts did get on the scoreboard in the second half with a Daniel Commins two-pointer and point from Kevin McMahon.

However, there was no stopping the Barrs who saw Murphy added a second goal while Niall McCreesh and Conor Osborne came off the bench to find the target.

Naomh Fionnbarra: Fionn McQuillan; Máirtín Murphy, Adam Hanratty, Adam Kirwan; Stephen Doyle, Colin McGrane 0-1, Chris McGlynn; Matthew O’Reilly, Jack Butterly 0-2; Thomas McCreesh 0-4, Ciarán Markey 0-5, Pádraig Butterly; Jack Murtagh 0-1, Stephen O’Reilly 0-1, Ciarán Murphy 2-0.

Subs: Conor Osborne 0-1 for P Butterly, Josh Crosbie for C McGrane, Niall McCreesh 0-2 for S O’Reilly, Ronan Callaghan for M Murphy, James Markey for C McGlynn.

Sean McDermotts: Daniel Commins 0-2 (2p), Kevin McMahon 0-1.