Na Piarsaigh open account with derby win

NA PIARSAIGH DOWDALLSHILL 1-13 0-7

THE new season began for both these town sides, with an early morning clash the Rock Road in cold but bright conditions and it was the hosts who prevailed, thanks to a strong first half performance which saw them build up a sizeable lead 1-7 to 0-3 by half time.

THE ‘Hill, who had new joint managers Andrew Collier and David Kirwan manning the sideline for the first time, suffered an early blow when Paul Gill got his marching orders in the opening minutes. And it got progressively worse for the visitors when they lost Eamonn Dufy to a black card, and then Gerry McShane to two yellows, all before half time.

NA Piarsaigh took full advantage of their opponents difficulties as a goal from Michael Woods helped them to lead by seven at the break, while Robbie Murphy, Tommy Muckian and Marc O’Hare were among the point scorers.

IN spite of turning around with twomen short, Dowdallshill performed with more purpose on the re-start, however they never looked like getting enough scores on the board to trouble the home side, and so it proved.

NA PIARSAIGH: Damien McCrink; Fearghal Mulholland, Ronan McCartney, Shane Roddy; Ciaran Murphy 0-1, Joe Woods, Conall Shields; Jarlath Lyons 0-1, Michael Woods 1-1; Mark Larkin 0-2, Marc O’Hare 0-2, Robbie Murphy 0-3; Alan McCartney 0-1, Gavin McGee 0-1, Tommy Muckian 0-1. Subs: Stephen Arrowsmith for R McCartney, Peter Gallagher for C Shields, Francie Gaffey for G McGee.

DOWDALLSHILL: Robbie Arthur (0-2); Sean Duffy, Ciaran O’Callaghan, Paul Flynn; Justin Halley, Eamonn Duffy, Luke O’Brien; Peter Hughes (0-1), Paul Gill; Rob Traynor, Gerry McShane, Noel Finnegan (0-2); Dylan McDonnell, Kevin Kirk (0-2), Martin Og O’Brien. Subs: Ciaran Thornton for E Duffy (BC), Tommy Craig for R Traynor.

CUCHULAINN GAELS ST NICHOLAS 0-9 0-8

CUCHULAINN Gaels got their 2018 games off to a flying start under new manger Cormac Malone on Sunday morning in Drogheda against St Nicholas in the Kevin Mullen Shield. Gaels started well but a more experienced Nicks team responded well in a physical battle and it was the hosts who were one point to the good at half time.

The Gaels gathered themselves at half time and came out a more clam and sharper team in the second half, holding the Nicks scoreless in the second half until the final 10 minutes. The Omeath came away with a well-deserved one point win in their first competitive match of the year with Cian McDonald contributing four points and Rammie Phillips adding three to help secure the win despite an impressive fight-back from the Nicks.

The only down side was Brendan McKeown coming off after going over on his ankle but with a strong bench the subs contributed to the victory. CUCHULAINN GAELS: Gavin Mullen; Peter Morgan, Brian Elmore, Brendan McKeown; John Morgan, Alan O’Reilly, Jack Carville; Francis O’Hagan, Martin Hynes; Eoin McDonald, Micheal McCabe, Jordan Loye 0-1; Jody Keenan 0-1, Raymond Phillips 0-3, Cian McDonald 0-4. Subs: Seamus McCabe for B McKeown, Peter McCabe for J Keenan, Martin Ward for C McDonald

ST NICHOLAS: Daryl Smith; Kieran Floyd, Darren Thornton, Ciaran Branigan; Nuel Onianwa, Declan Heeney, Andrew Starrs; John Carter, Brian Carter; Barry Woods, Philip Kieran (0-3, 2f), Keith Cluskey (0-1); Nathan Murphy (0-1), Jason O’Boyle (0-2), Alan Gregory 0-1. Subs: Adrian Gates for Woods, Lorcan Downey for Branigan.

DUNDALK YOUNG IRELANDS JOHN MITCHELS 3-10 3-4

YOUNG Irelands made a positive start to the new season when they recorded a six-point victory over John Mitchels in the Kevin Mullen Shield on Sunday morning.

THE Ballybailie men fought hard throughout the game and hit the net through Stephen Coyle (2) and Robbie Coyle but they couldn’t match the Irelanders in terms of points as the Dundalk side claimed the win.

JOHN MITCHELS: David Anderson; Anthony Coyle, Rory Durnin, Connell Keenan; Ryan Carroll, Aaron Kane, Gareth Finnegan; Steven Coyle 2-1, Emmet Farrell; Kevin Gallagher, Sean Sweeney 0-1, Brian Coyle; Diarmuid Durnin, Robbie Coyle 1-1, Barry Kirk 0-1. Subs: Mitchel Keenan, Gary Aylward, Donal Rahill, Robert Woods.