Naps cruise into last four

NA PIARSAIGH CUCHULAINN GAELS 2-18 0-1

NA Piarsaigh encountered little difficulty as they cruised into the semi-final of the Kevin Mullen Shield at the expense of Cuchulainn Gaels on Saturday evening.

The Dundalk men have been in fine form in the early weeks of the season and once again they turned in a good team performance as they blew away the challenge of the Omeath men.

Despite the best efforts of the Gaels it really was one-way traffic from the outset and the result was beyond doubt well before the half time whistle blew.

With Na Piarsaigh’s attack enjoying a steady flow of possession they took some good scores while goals from Niall Franklin and Eamonn McAuley had them leading by 2-9 to 0-0 at the interval.

The pattern didn’t change in the second half as Na Piarsaigh added nine points to their tally with Robbie Murphy finishing with six and Mark Larkin also added a half dozen. Cuchulainn Gaels will be pleased by the fact that they didn’t concede any further goals while at the other end Cian McDonald kicked their only score of the game.

NA PIARSAIGH: Peter Gallagher; Fearghal Mulholland, Ronan McCartney, Stevie McGuinness; Ciaran Murphy 0-1, Joe Woods, Darragh Jackson; Conall Shields 0-2, Michael Woods; Niall Franklin 1-0, Mark Larkin 0-6, Robbie Murphy 0-1; Eamonn McAuley 1-2, Alan McCartney 0-2, Tommy Muckian. Subs: Stevie Arrowsmith, Mark O’Hare and Shane Roddy.

CUCHULAINN GAELS: Brendan O’Hagan; Peter Morgan, Brian Elmore, Brendan McKeown; John Morgan, Alan O’Reilly, Jody Keenan; Gavin Mullen, Michael McCabe; Seamus McCabe, Eoin McDonald 0-1, Martin Hynes; Cian McDonald, Jordan Loye, Ray Phillips.