Louth GAA club | Moninne open defence of their Colm Geary Cup title with victory
Naomh Moninne 1-12 St. Fechins 1-10
Holders Moninne opened the defence of their Louth GAA club Colm Geary League title with a good victory over St Fechins under lights in Roche on Thursday night.
A terrific last-minute save by keeper Conor Whyte to deny Rory Morrissey from a penalty also denied the Fechins a share of the spoils.
The first half was a closely fought affair with the sides on level terms no fewer that six occasions before the Fechins netted a late goal to lead at the break.
Points from Eoin Murphy (2), Ultan McEnaney and a long-range free from Brian Carter had the sides tied at four a piece on 24 minutes.
Among the scorers for the Fechins were Cathal Moynagh, Sean Kerrisk and Rory Morrissey. Murphy added his third point of the half from a free in-between point from Kerrisk and Morrissey again as the visitors led by one.
Fionn Cumiskey pointed from play to tie up matters again before a late goal from Darragh Stone had the Fechins leading by 1-6 to 0-6 at the turnaround.
The south Louth outfit extended their lead on the resumption before a fortuitous goal from Cumiskey reduced arrears to one.
A long-range point from midfielder Kyle Rafferty tied up matters on 40 minutes. The Dundalk side added further points from James Murphy, Eoin Murphy (free) and Ultan McEnaney to lead by 1-10 to 1-7 with a quarter-hour remaining.
St Fechins midfielder Donal Ryan responded with a point but the host opened up a four points lead by 49 minutes with good efforts from Tom O Dwyer and McEnaney again.
Vincent Hynes pointed for the Fechins before they were awarded a late penalty which Conor Whyte deflected over the bar as Moninne held out for the deserving victory.
NAOMH MONINNE: Conor Whyte; Cathal Azzopardi, Gavin Baxter, Chris Lennon; James Murphy (0-1), Brian Carter (0-1 f), Tadhg Dowdall; Fionn Cumiskey (1-1), Kyle Rafferty (0-1); David Yore, Darren O Hanrahan, James; Tom O Dwyer (0-1), Eoin Murphy (0-4), Ultan McEnaney (0-3).
Subs: Aaron Heaney for D O Hanrahan, Dylan Carey for David Yore.
ST. FECHINS: John Stephenson; Paddy Reddy, Cormac McAuley, Sean McLear; Cathal Moynagh (0-1), Paddy McCarthy, Barry Devlin; Eoghan Ryan, Donal Ryan (0-1); Vincent (0-1), Ciaran Brennan, Sean Kerrisk (0-2); Darragh Stone (1-1), Rory Morrissey (0-3), Daragh O Gorman (0-1). Subs: Rory Dunne, Zac Lennon and Ray Delaney.
REFEREE: Kevin Brady.