MIGHTY MONINNE
NAOMH Monnine claimed the Louth Senior Championship title for the first time in seven years when they edged out St Fechins in a very tight encounter at The Grove on Sunday afternoon.
The Termonfeckin side went into the decider bidding for a three-in-a-row but with the game in the balance throughout it was Moninne who always had the slight edge and their greater desire saw them across the line in a tense finish.
In a game that saw both sides adopt a cautious approach, there was very little free flowing hurling and from the early stages it was clear that that this was developing into a battle between the free-takers, Ronan Geoghegan and Paddy Lynch.
Although both finished the game with eight points, it was Geoghegan’s return that proved decisive as his 100 per cent strike rate not only earned him the Man of the Match award, but proved critical in the Dundalk men getting their hands on the Paddy Kelly Cup.
Geoghegan’s points helped keep Moninne ahead for much of the game but in the dying moments St Fechins fought back to level at 14 points apiece. With the tension rising it was veteran Diarmuid Murphy who showed a cool head to slot over a fine point from 40m before Feidhelm Joyce sealed with win with an equally good point in injury time.
It was an exciting end to a game that never really got going until the closing minutes as both teams were rather cagey in their outlook and unwilling to take any risks. In addition both appeared to be affected by nerves in the early exchanges and this contributed to a rather scrappy encounter.
In the end Naomh Moninne deserved to claim the title but will concede that they were made to work all the way by a Fechins side who fought gallantly to retain their crown, but just couldn’t reach the levels they would have hoped for.
Moninne made their intentions clear from the start with early points from John Martin and David Yorke and that advantage was maintained when John Crosbie and Andrew Mackin swapped points.
St Fechins were back on terms thanks to two quick-fire points from Lynch and Michael Ryan and it looked as if the village side were settling into their game.
However, it was at that stage that Ronan Geoghegan began to take centre-stage and he gave an indication of what was to come when he popped over two points from frees to see his side lead by 0-5 to 0-3 on the quarter hour.
St Fechins dug deep and were back on terms once again through Niall Devlin and another Lynch free but crucially their side couldn’t get their noses in front, as Moninne always managed to conjure up a response.
Once again Geoghegan edged the Dundalk men back in front before Niall Cafferkey pointed within seconds of coming as sub. Not surprisingly it was Lynch who led the charge as St Fechins got back on terms at eight points apiece but
Geoghegan had the final say of the half with another free in injury time to send his team in leading by 0-9 to 0-8.
The second half followed a similar pattern with Naomh Moninne putting themselves in front only to be pegged back by the Fechins. Michael Ryan and Seaghan Conneely joined in the scoring for the Fechins, while Diarmuid Murphy and John Martin with a brilliant score were on target for the Dundalk side.
When Geoghegan landed his eighth point on 49 minutes the gap was out to 0-14 to 0-11 and it appeared that the St Fechins resistence had been broken.
However, they showed the true mark of champions and saw Lynch fire over three point to level the game. The holders looked the more likely at that stage but as they missed chances in the closing moments Moninne held their nerve and points from Murphy and Joyce.
There was one final moment of panic as Lynch drove a free low and hard into the square but as they did for most of the game, the strong Moninne defence, snuffed out the danger to secure a memorable victory.
NAOMH MONINNE: Paul Delaney; Paul Challoner, Chris Lennon, Andrew McArdle; Matthew Fee, Oisin Drumm, Diarmuid Murphy 0-2; Darren O’Hanrahan, Feidhelm Joyce 0-1; Ronan Geoghegan 0-8 (8f), John Martin 0-2, Philip Englishby; David Yore -1, Andrew Mackin 0-1, Tadhg Noone. Subs: Niall Cafferkey 0-1 for C Lennon (23), Collins Connolly for T Moore (54), John Carter for J Martin (57), Stephen Rafferty for A McArdle (57), Donal Connolly for D Yore (59).
ST FECHINS: Stephen Hackett; Barry Devlin, Darren McDonnell, Wayne Tracey; Robert Moynagh, Cathal Ryan, Oisin Byrne; Paddy Lynch 0-8 (6f 1 ‘45’), Ian Connor; Donal Ryan, Niall Devlin 0-2, Seaghan Conneely 0-1; David Stephenson, John Crosbie 0-1, Michael Ryan 0-2. Subs: Paul Matthews for J Crosbie (44), Cormac McAuley for W Tracey (44), Paddy McCormack for for D Stephenson (47), Liam Ryan for R Moynagh (60).
REFEREE: Jason McAndrew