Louth GAA club | Mattock see off O’Mahony’s in IFC clash
Sean O’Mahony’s 1-14 Mattock Rangers 2-14
Mattock Rangers made it two wins from two in the Louth GAA Intermediate Football Championship after a strong second-half showing saw them defeat Sean O’Mahony’s by three points at St Brigid’s Park, Dowdallshill on Sunday evening.
The Collon men trailed by four points at half-time but turned the game around after the restart, with captain Ben McKenna playing a leading role in the victory.
Having already beaten St Kevin’s in their opening Group Four fixture, the result leaves Mattock top of the table and through to the quarter-finals.
This was O’Mahony’s first championship outing, and they will now turn their attention to a crucial meeting with St Kevin’s.
A crossfield wind made conditions difficult in Dundalk, and Mattock registered two early wides before Jack Thompson opened the scoring with a curling right-footed effort.
Kayden Fisher levelled from a free and added another shortly afterwards before Oisin McKenna brought Mattock level. Junior Shotayo and Rob Holmes exchanged scores before Brian McGuirk edged the Dundalk men ahead again.
The first breakthrough arrived when Mattock captain McKenna found himself through on goal; he sidestepped O’Mahony’s goalkeeper Eddie Maguire and finished from close range to put his side 1-3 to 0-4 ahead.
O’Mahony’s responded well as Thomas Rice reduced the deficit before Stephen Kilcoyne levelled from a free.
McGuirk then produced a brilliant finish to beat Stephen Smith for O’Mahony’s goal with five minutes of the first half remaining. Kilcoyne followed with another point as O’Mahony’s finished the half with four unanswered scores to take a four point lead into the break.
Half time: Sean O’Mahony’s 1-7 Mattock Rangers 1-3
McGuirk stretched that advantage to five immediately after the restart, but Mattock soon began to take control. McKenna converted a free before Sean Flynn and Cathal Fleming reduced the gap to two.
Mattock then struck for their second goal in the 39th minute when Holmes created the opening and McKenna finished from close range for his second goal of the evening.
Substitute Adrian Reid followed with a fine point to put Mattock two ahead before Aaron Mackin replied for O’Mahony’s, then Flynn restored Mattock’s advantage.
O’Mahony’s goalkeeper Maguire then made an excellent save to deny Fleming a third Mattock goal before making an impact at the other end. Maguire came forward to land a two-point free with little over 10 minutes left on the clock to bring the sides level.
However, Mattock responded immediately as Fleming converted a free before McKenna landed a two-point free from the ground to open up a three-point advantage.
Substitute Brendan Leacy added another before Fisher kept O’Mahony’s in touch. Fleming made it a four-point game in the last minute, but the Dundalk men were not finished.
Conor Finnegan landed a two-pointer in the 61st minute to leave just two between them before Mattock had the final say when Flynn converted a free to seal the victory.
It was a hard-earned win for the Collon side, who recovered well from their half-time deficit to make it two victories in succession and secure their quarter-final place.
O’Mahony’s showed plenty in their first championship outing, particularly during their strong finish to the opening half, but Mattock’s second-half response proved decisive.
Full time: O’Mahony’s 1-14 Mattock Rangers 2-14
Sean O’Mahony’s scorers: Brian McGuirk 1-2, Kayden Fisher 0-3 (2f), Stephen Kilcoyne 0-2 (1f), Eddie Maguire 0-2 (tpf), Conor Finnegan 0-2 (tp), Junior Shotayo 0-1, Thomas Rice 0-1, Aaron Mackin 0-1.
Mattock Rangers scorers: Ben McKenna 2-3 (0-1f, 0-2tpf), Cathal Fleming 0-3 (1f), Sean Flynn 0-3 (1f), Jack Thompson 0-1, Oisin McKenna 0-1, Rob Holmes 0-1, Adrian Reid 0-1, Brendan Leacy 0-1.
Sean O’Mahony’s: Eddie Maguire; Ciaran Redmond, Kian McEvoy, Oisin Breen; Tiernan Cassidy, Robert Galligan, Mark Agnew; Sean Cassidy (jc), Gareth Hall; Aaron Mackin, Thomas Rice, Brian McGuirk; Kayden Fisher, Stephen Kilcoyne, Duada Jr Shotayo.
Subs: Conor Finnegan on for Mark Agnew (39’), Daniel Crawley on for Stephen Kilcoyne (55’).
Mattock Rangers: Stephen Smith; Terry Donegan, Cillian Hickey, Ben Quaile; Rian Hickey, Shane Maguire, Tom Grimes; Jason Condon, Cathal Fleming; Ben McKenna, Sean Flynn, Jack Thompson, Ben Watters, Adrian Reid, Oisin McKenna.
Subs: Adrian Reid on for Daire Englishby (35’), Brendan Leacy on for Tom Grimes (55’).
Referee: Stephen Johnson (Glen Emmets).