Steady Stabannon sink 14-man Nicks

STABANNON Parnells crusied to a comfortable win over 14-man St Nicholas at the Gaelic Grounds on Friday evening.

The sides exchanged early scores in a bright opening spell, but Stabannon goals either side of a straight red card for Keith Arnold left the Nicks with a mountain to climb.

Fintan Martin netted the first Stabannon goal, but after converting an early free Arnold received his marching orders and when veteran sharshooter Aidan Shevlin struck a second goal, Stabannon were well on their way to victory.

Trailing 2-6 to 0-3 at the break, the Nicks never gave up.

A flurry of goals saw John Breen and Keith Brannigan net either side of a Dean Lynch goal for Parnells.

But, ultimately the Nicks were left to rue Arnold’s first-half dismissal as playing with 14 men ruled an prospect of a comeback. STABANNON PARNELLS: Anthony Byrne; Alan Lynch, Sean Halpenny, Eanna McCartney; Conor Fanning, Niall Cluskey, Cathal Halpenny; Aonghus Giggins 0-1f, Shane Sweeney; Daniel Bannon 0-2 (1f), Barry Lynch, Thomas McBride 0-3; Dean Lynch 1-1, Aidan Shevlin 1-4 (2f), Fintan Martin 1-0. Subs used: Niall Fanning for Fanning, Thomas Campbell for Shevlin, Liam Giggins for Martin. ST NICHOLAS: Jason Kierans; Damian Fagan, Darren Thornton, Jack Downey; Conor Branigan, Declan Heeney 0-1, Ciaran O’Brien 0-1; Keith Cluskey, Jason Maguire; Barry Woods, Keith Arnold 0-1f, John Breen 1-0; Sean Donnelly, Eddie Carr, John Heeney 0-1. Subs: Jamie Branigan for Downey, Shane Downey for Fagan, Paul Hackett for Breen, Keith Branigan 1-0 for Woods.