Battling Cille’s take a big step towards safety
DIVISION 1
ST COLMCILLE’S 2-14 GAEIL COLMCILLE 3-8
ST COLMCILLE’S rose to the challenge and gave themselves an excellent chance of avoiding relegation following this win at Grangegodden on Sunday.
The Cille’s went into the match knowing that nothing less than a win would be sufficient, while they also needed Navan O’Mahony’s to defeat Skryne to avoid automatic relegation.
Both results went their way and they now face a play-off with Blackhall Gaels, who finished third in Division 2, to determine who operates out of the top tier in 2017.
The match was played in extremely blustery conditions and it proved a real battle, with the Kells men making the much better start with two early goals.
Mid-way through the half the hosts led by seven points, but the Cille’s battled back and by halftime had built up a 2-9 to 2-4 lead. Graham Reilly and Ben Brennan were both in excellent form in the Cille’s attack throughout the half. Reilly bagged one of the goals, while the other came courtesy of Jack Reynolds.
The scoring rate dropped somewhat in the second half, and with Gaeil Colmcille upping their performance the Cille’s lead came under pressure entering the closing stages.
Five points separated the teams before the home side grabbed a goal to reduce the deficit to just two. A Jack Reynolds point eased the pressure somewhat, but the Cille’s had to endure a long seven minutes of added time before securing the win.
ST COLMCILLE’S: J Brown; A Lynch, J McDonnell, C Ward; J McKenna, I Mullan, D McMahon; G Reilly 1-6, R McCloskey; D O’Byrne, B Brennan 0-6, C O’Byrne; J Conlon 0-1, N Ronan, J Reynolds 1-1. Subs: B Mullan for McDonnell, D Brodigan for McKenna, D Sheeran for McMahon, S Collier for D O’Byrne, M Whearty for Reilly.
ST PATRICK’S 2-13 DONAGHMORE/ASH 1-9
ST PATRICK’S rubber stamped their ‘A’ League semi-final spot when inflicting a first defeat on understrength Donaghmore/Ashbourne at Stamullen on Sunday.
The Ashbourne men had already secured their final place and they now await the winners of St Patrick’s and Summerhill to see who their final opponents will be.
The opening half was closely contested, with the crucial score - a goal from Donal Landy - arriving close to half-time, leaving the sides level at 1-4 to 0-7 at the break.
First-half substitute Finian Everard, on for the injured Shane Dowling, made a big impact in the second period for the home side, scoring two points, as his side edged the exchanges.
Donal Landy added four points to his opening-half goal, while Shane Landy also chipped in with two points. St Patrick’s second goal came close to the finish from Neil O’Flaherty.
ST PATRICK’S: Robert Cluskey; Adam Byrne, Kieran Lynch, Michael McNulty; Alan Vickers, Barry Mooney, Raymond Russell; Shane Dowling 0-2, Diarmuid Quinn 0-1; Niall Mooney, Donal Landy 1-4, David Stafford; Shane Landy 0-2, Niall Whearty, Neil O’Flaherty 1-1. Sub: Finian Everard 0-2 for Dowling, John Curtis for Stafford, Daithi Whyte for N Whearty, Ciaran O’Sullivan for S Landy.
NA FIANNA 1-15 SENESCHALSTOWN 0-11
A LEAGUE campaign that promised plenty at one stage petered out to a disappointing conclusion for Seneschalstown as they suffered their third defeat on the spin at windy Baconstown.
Right from the off the home side set the pace and had a healthy lead built up by the interval, having played with the elements in the opening half-hour.
With Seneschalstown struggling to make any sort of impact, Na Fianna never looked in danger of being caught throughout the second half.
Three points was all Seneschalstown could muster in the opening half, and two of those came from Brian Sheridan frees. Adam Carey accounted for the other after being set up by Joe Sheridan.
Even with the wind in their backs in the second half, Seneschalstown struggled for scores and had trouble breaking down Na Fianna’s strong defensive unit.
Indeed, for much of the half the home side seemed to be the more comfortable and got their scores with a bit more ease, but substitutes Bryan Clarke and Adam Gleeson did make a difference when introduced for Seneschalstown as they kicked five points between them.
NA FIANNA: Shane Geraghty; John Baldwin, Christy Cosgrave, James Geagan; Michael Collins, Anthony Neary, Dean Hendrick; Daniel Queeney 0-2, Ethan Devine; Damien Downey 0-1, Jamie Queeney 0-7 (2f), Conor Downey 0-3; Barry Clancy 1-1, Dalton McDonagh 0-1, Michael Farley. Subs: Andy Glynn, Colin Ryan, Brian Queeney, Harry Silke, Dean Barrett.
SENESCHALSTOWN: David Lyons; Paul Carey, Cormac Noonan, Colin Gleeson; Teean Cummins, John Smith, Mark Fox; Joe Sheridan, Damien Sheridan; Niall Hickey, Brian Sheridan 0-5 (3f), Adam Carey 0-1; Jonathan Gilsenan, Niall Groome, James Meade. Subs: Bryan Clarke 0-3 (2f) for Fox, Adam Gleeson 0-2 for Meade, Stephen Finnegan for Gilsenan, Niall McCabe for Carey.