Louth GAA club | Mattock book place in IFC semi-final

Mattock Rangers booked their place in the semi finals of the Louth IFC, after seeing off the O’Raghallaighs in Hunterstown on Sunday evening last.

Rangers led by ten at half-time, and despite a second half O’Raghallaighs fightback, they deservedly sealed their place in the semi-finals.

Collon dominated, and Ben McKenna who finished with 31 possessions, landed an early two pointer, setting the tone for his side, who scored 2-10 from turnovers over the hour, as they punished the O’Raghallaighs’ error margin, and wasteful shooting, particularly in the first half.

Collon’s defence also impressed, particularly Rian Hickey who continues to flourish at the back, coming out with a number of turnovers and interceptions out in front of his marker on several occasions over the hour.

The first half saw O’Raghallaighs amass 0-3 from 12 shots, with eight shots kicked short, including efforts which were blocked.

Following McKenna’s two-pointer, Oisin McKenna collected a clever Sean Flynn foot pass over the top of the O’Raghallaighs’ defence, to finish to the bottom corner for Mattock’s opening goal in the 9th minute.

The O’Raghallaighs will also rue the early loss of Daniel O’Reilly to injury, but his replacement, Joshua Moore, can be happy with his contribution, having got his side off the mark from play, after Ruairi Moore collected a long kickout from his keeper, Conor Browne.

Cathal Fleming (f) and Ben McKenna gave Mattock Rangers a 1-4 to 0-1 lead at the start of the second quarter.

The O’Raghallaigh did put some nice moves together in the first half, but poor finishing continued to hamper them, with a missed goal chance from Conor McGinty, an example of this.

Mattock punished them in fine style after 20 minutes, when a neat one two between Sean Flynn and Tom Grimes saw Flynn find the back of the net at the second attempt.

Harry Devitt kicked over from play for the O’Raghallaighs, trading points with the lively Oisin McKenna for Collon, leaving Rangers 2-5 to 0-2 ahead by the 25th minute.

Ruairi Moore then found the range himself soon after, to close that gap to eight.

Rob Holmes, who saw plenty of the ball for Mattock with 24 possessions, pointed, in a move involving Tom Grimes, before Jack Thompson landed his side’s final score of the half to leave Mattock Rangers firmly in charge, with a 2-7 to 0-3 half time advantage.

Second Half:

Three minutes into the second half, you could be forgiven for thinking that Mattock Rangers already had one foot in the IFC semi-finals, as their lead was increased to thirteen points.

Sean Flynn kicked over on the loop with via his left boot, before Rob Holmes’ pass over the top found Cathal Fleming on the burst, and he slotted home his side’s third goal of the evening, and the 2019 Intermediate winners ahead by 3-8 to 0-3 by the 33rd minute.

In that second half, we saw a bit more of the O’Raghallaighs side we have come to know and love, that exciting front foot football, throwing off the shackles and running straight at the opposition.

Moments after Fleming’s goal, Eoin and Ruiari Moore combined for Kyle McElroy to take the ball on the burst, before drilling the ball to the top corner for a fine goal.

Sean Flynn raised another white flag in response, but the O’Raghallaighs were going for broke, and it paid off, when a Conor McGinty kick pass found Eoin Moore, who teed up Ben Rogan for a classy finish to the Collon net for their second goal in as many minutes, leaving six between the sides.

Mattock Rangers did respond with four points in a row through Jason Condon, Oisin McKenna, Jack Thompson and Brendan Leacy to restore that ten-point buffer.

The O’Raghallaighs continued to run at the Collon defence whenever possible, with Ben Rogan taking a Danny Morgan pass off the shoulder, before crashing the ball to the roof of the net for his second and the Drogheda side’s third goal.

Frees from Ruiari Moore and Kyle McElroy left eight between the sides, at 3-13 to 3-5 either side of that third quarter.

Cathal Fleming (f) and the impressive Jack Thompson from play restored some order for Mattock Rangers in a somewhat chaotic, basketball-like second half.

Points from Ruairi Moore and Ben Rogan following a delightful dummy bounce with the ball, closed the gap to eight again with 10 minutes left.

Cathal Fleming set up Oisin McKenna for another point from play for Mattock.

The O’Raghallaighs kept plugging away, and Conor McGinty fisted over the bar after a Kyle McElroy free outside the arc fell short. McGinty and Eoin Moore continued to carry the fight to Mattock Rangers, along with Harry Devitt and Danny Morgan.

McElroy converted a close-range free moments later to leave the O’Raghs seven in arrears after 53 minutes.

Cathal Fleming pointed again, before the O’Raghallaighs were handed a lifeline when referee Stephen Johnson awarded them a penalty following a foul on Kyle McElroy.

McElroy’s spot-kick was kept out by Rangers’ keeper Stephen Smith, and with that went the O’Raghs’ last chance of getting back into the game.

Mattock saw the game out, with sub Eoin McCloskey concluding the scoring from play, in a move involving another sub, the returning Aaron O’Brien, as Rangers assured their place in the last four of the Louth IFC for the third year running.

Mattock Rangers Scorers: Oisin McKenna (1-3), Cathal Fleming (1-3) (2f), Sean Flynn (1-2), Ben McKenna (0-3) (1 tp), Jack Thompson (0-3), Rob Holmes, Jason Condon, Brendan Leacy & Eoin McCloskey (0-1 each).

O’Raghallaighs Scorers: Ben Rogan (2-1), Kyle McElroy (1-2) (2f), Ruairi Moore (0-3) (1f), Joshua Moore, Conor McGinty, & Harry Devitt (0-1 each).

Mattock Rangers: Stephen Smith; Rian Hickey, Ben Quaile, Shane Maguire; Brendan Leacy, Terry Donegan, Tom Grimes; Jason Condon, Rob Holmes; Ben Watters, Ben McKenna, Jack Thompson; Cathal Fleming, Sean Flynn, Oisin McKenna.

Subs: Daire Englishby for Leacy (44), Adrian Reid for Watters (44), Aaron O’Brien for Condon (52), Eoin McCloskey for Thompson (59).

O’Raghallaighs: Conor Browne; Pearse Branigan, Stephen Murphy, Conor Higgins; Olan Walsh, Harry Devitt, Danny Morgan; Conor McGinty, Eoin Moore; Barry Finegan, Daniel Reilly, Ruairi Moore; John Horan, Kyle McElroy, Ben Rogan.

Subs: Joshua Moore for O’Reilly (5), Senan McGinty for Finegan (44), Ben Smyth for Horan (54).

Referee: Stephen Johnson (Glen Emmets).