Louth GAA Division 1: Joes stage comeback as Mochta's climb to second

St Josephs 1-16

Dundalk Gaels 1-13

St Josephs started the second phase of the League with a very hard-earned win over the Gaels in The Ramparts on Friday evening with Alan Quigley scoring 1-6 in the final 11 minutes to secure victory.

Playing with a stiff wind at their backs, it was the Gaels, led by Dylan McKeown, who had the better of the early scoring. Conall McCaul and Ben Collier replied for the visitors but further scores from Thomas O’Connell and McKeown had the hosts 0-6 to 0-2 in front at the end of the first quarter.

The Joes steadied the ship before the break with scores from Oisin McGuinness and McCaul to cut the gap to 0-8 to 0-5, with Padraic Tinnelly adding a point for the Gaels.

The Joes started the second half with a Craig Doherty two-pointer before a Tony McDonnell point and O’Connell goal had the Dundalk men 1-11 to 0-8 in front.

Once again the Joes finished the half on top with the Gaels hampered by the loss of Paddy O’Connell to a red card. Alan Quigley landed a two-pointer to keep the pressure on and just when it looked as if the Gaels would hold out, the same player found the net on 62 minutes to give his side the lead.

O’Connell levelled for the Gaels but a late point and two-pointer from Quigley gave his side a dramatic win.

​St. Josephs: Aaron Gray, Cian Sheridan, Aidan Kieran, Rian Devlin, Ben McKeown, Cormac McKeown, Gabriel Bell, David Kieran, Killian Staunton, Oisin McGuinness (0-1), Ben Collier (0-1), Craig Doherty (0-3), Jack Mulligan, Conall Smyth, Conall McCaul (0-4), Michael O’Brien (0-1), Alan Quigley (1-6), Ciaran Johnston, Conor Neary, Cormac Marmion.

Dundalk Gaels: Aaron Culligan, James Lynch, Alan Jumbo, Kyle Rafferty, Luke Murray 0-2, Padraic Tinnelly 0-1, Shaun Duffy 0-1, James O’Connell, James Stewart, Jordan Keating, Seam Murray, Jack Mullen, Tony McDonnell 0-2, Thomas O’Connell 1-3, Dylan McKeown 0-4. Subs: Chris Sweeney for S Murray, Gary Shevlin for D McKeown, Paddy O’Connell for K Rafferty.

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St Mochtas 3-14

Hunterstown Rovers 1-13

St Mochtas moved into second place in the Division 1 table thanks to this seven-point win away to Hunterstown Rovers on Friday night.

Declan Byrne led the line for the visitors as he finished on seven points on a night when the Mochtas always had the edge against a Hunterstown side who missed the opportunity to strengthen their position in second place.

Alongside Byrne’s accuracy, the Louth Village side had goals from Liam O’Flaherty, Jamie Farrell and Oisin Callan in a game where they led by 2-7 to 0-8 at the break.

Rovers battled in the second half to get back into the game and had a goal from Cian Matthews to show for their efforts. However, despite seeing Ryan Ward, Colm Murphy and Donovan Sheridan among the points, they were unable to rescue the game.

St Mochtas: Rory O’Kane; Liam Lawlor, Daniel Craven, Oisin Callan 1-0; Andy Lennon, Conall Kearns, Ben Goss Kieran 0-2; Darren McMahon, Sean Marron; Jamie Farrell 1-2, Danny Kindlon, Gerry Garland; Cormac Smyth 0-2, Decky Byrne 0-7, Liam O’Flaherty 1-1. Subs: Conor McKenna for C Kearns, Gavin Short for C Smyth, Liam Craven for D Kindlon, Andrew Hoey for G Garland.

Hunterstown Rovers: Donovan Sheridan 0-2 (2p); Euan Woodlock, Patrick Taaffe, Daithi Carroll; James Russell, Michaeal Reid, Cillian Taaffe; Jason Monaghan, Tony McKenna 0-1; Colm Murphy 0-3, Aaron Levins, James Rogers; Cian Matthews 1-3, Ryan Ward 0-4 (2p), Dean Burns. Subs: Glen Mathews for A Levins, Marc Ward for J Monaghan, Oran Martin for C Taaffe, Oisin O’Brien for E Woodlock.

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Section B

Mattock Rangers 3-16

Newtown Blues 1-18

Mattock Rangers gave themselves a huge boost in the battle for survival when they defeated fellow strugglers Newtown Blues in Newfoundwell on Thursday night where a late Ben Watters goals settled the issue.

Defeat represents a significant blow for the hosts who are now three points adrift of the Collon men at the foot of Division 1 after the first game of phase 2.

As expected, it was a tight affair throughout, but the visitors just about shaded the opening half with goals from Adrian Reid and Sean Flynn giving them the advantage. However, a Niall Devlin green flag at the other end kept the Blues in contention as they trailed by just 2-8 to 1-8 at the break.

It was more of the same in the second half and with Ciaran Downey bringing his tally to six points, the Blues were right in the game in the closing stages. Emmet Carolan and Ross Nally were also on target for the hosts, but Watters’ late goal ended their hopes on a night when Cathal Fleming and Liam Flynn contributed important scores for Mattock.

Mattock Rangers: Stephen Smith; Ben Quaile, Killian Hickey, Tom Grimes; Rian Hickey, Shane Maguire, Liam Flynn 0-2; Adrian Reid 1-6, Cathal Fleming 0-3; Jack Thompson, Rob Holmes 0-1, Terry Donegan; Sean Flynn 1-3, Oisin McKenna 0-1, Ben Watters 1-0. Sub: Eoin McCloskey.

Newtown Blues: Ronan Brown; Dan McCardle, Emmet Carolan 0-3, Joey Nally; Iollan Farrell, Ciaran Downey 0-6, Liam Branigan 0-1; Johnny McDonnell 0-1, Daire Nally 0-2; Niall Devlin 1-0, Conor Mac Criosta 0-1, Eoin McCoy; Jamie Kelly, Ross Nally 0-2, Ryan Nugent. Subs: Ian Connor for N Devlin, Joe Harte for I Farrell.

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Dreadnots 3-12

St Patricks 0-18

Dreadnots struck a late goal and point to snatch victory over St Patricks in Lordship on Thursday night.

The hosts looked to have secured the win when Martin McEneaney landed a two-pointer in the 56th minute to put his side ahead, but the Clogher men levelled soon after before Owen Murphy found the net to send his side home with victory.

The Pats opened the scoring through Darren Connor only for the Dreadnots to hit back with their first goal of the night from Jay Hughes. Scores from Sean Fearon, Micheal O’Shaughnessy and Eoin O’Connor kept the hosts in the game but a second Dreadnots goal on 22 minutes through Pepe Smith, after a brilliant defensive intervention from Aaron Scullion, helped their side go in at the break with a 2-6 to 0-11 advantage.

It remained tight throughout the second period with Jack Murphy among the points for the hosts. However, it was the Dreadnots who finished stronger and snatched victory at the death thanks to Murphy’s goal.

St Patricks: Martin McEneaney 0-4 (2x2p); Daniel Tumulty, Rory Duffy, Conor Grogan; Sean Holland, Darren O’Hanlon, Darren Connor 0-1; Tom McCann 0-1, Leonard Grey; Micheal O’Shaughnessy 0-4 (2p), Eoin O’Connor 0-1, Jack Murphy 0-4 (2p); Aidan McCann 0-1, Joe Connor, Sean Fearon 0-2. Subs: Subs: Ciaran O’Hanlon for D Tumulty.

Dreadnots: Craig Shevlin 0-3; Padraig Rath, Aaron Scullion, Ciaran Caffrey; Jay Hughes 1-2, Alex Aspell, Donnacha Skinnader 0-1; James Califf 0-1, Gus Knystalitas; Cathal Finnegan, Sam Reilly, Ciaran Cunningham; Paraic Smith 1-1, Darragh Shevlin 0-2, Donnacha Hodgins. Subs: Anthony Williams for D Hodgins, Cian McEvoy for A Aspell, Barry Faulkner for C Caffrey, Owne Murphy 1-0 for D Shevlin, Dean Hyland for S Reilly.

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Nh Mairtin 3-21

Geraldines 2-7

Nh Mairtin continued their recent revival into phase two of the Division 1 League as they comfortably defeated Geraldines at Monasterboice on Friday night.

Goals from Tom Gray, Jack Lynch and John Clutterbuck helped the Jocks on their way to a victory that sees them move further away from trouble at the foot of the table.

The hosts got off to a fast start and had points on the board from Tom Gray and Jack Murphy before Lynch got the first goal of the game. Sam Mulroy and Adam Booth were also on the mark before the Gers got off the mark on 15 minutes. The visitors then struck the last three points of the half to cut the gap to 1-6 to 0-4 at the break.

However, the Gers were unable to maintain that momentum in a second half dominated by the hosts. Inside eight minutes of the restart they had a two-pointer from Murphy followed by goals from Gray and Clutterbuck to open up a 3-8 to 0-4 lead. There was no way back after that as the Jocks cruised home despite the Gers scoring two goals in the final quarter.

​Nh Mairtin: Craig Lynch; Finbarr Johnson, Thomas Sullivan, Cian Sands; Jack Murphy 0-5, Evan Whelan, Colm Egan; Joe McGrane 0-1, Adam Booth 0-1; John Clutterbuck 1-0, Sam Mulroy 0-4, Craig Callanan; Tom Gray 1-3, Val Leddy 0-2, Jack Lynch 1-2. Subs: Wayne Campbell 0-3 for S Mulroy, Eoghan Winters for J McGrane, Oisin Gray for J Lynch, Dan Harmon for T Gray.

Geraldines: Cian O’Donoghue; Cian Farrell, Finn Malone, Jack McGailey; Noah Lauka, Jack Traynor, Thomas McNamara; Darragh Burke, Michael Rogers; Josh Arrowsmith, Cian Spaight, David O’Connell; Eoin McDonnell, Danny Nordone, Niall Brennan.