Ring-rusty O’Connell’s
by Sam Mulroy and in the very next attack, Whelan netted the second.
O’Connell’s had fallen 10 behind by the time Robbie Quigley opened their account, but the blue tide continued to crash forward and two goals in just over 60 seconds from Whelan, his second, and Bryan McQuillan made it 4-5 to 0-1 with just over 23 minutes on the clock.
Quigley and McQuillan traded points to leave 16 between the sides at the break, 4-6 to 0-2.
With the game well beyond them, O’Connell’s started the second-half brightly, outscoring their opponents by 1-3 to 0-3 in the third quarter, but a simple ‘soccer-style’ finish by Stephen Campbell to register goal number five, wiped out all that early endeavour.
The game duly petered out in the final quarter as the sides traded scores at a leisurely pace.
Had you offered O’Connell’s senior football in 2019 at the start of this campaign they’d have taken your hand off, but they’d also have liked a crack at Naomh Mairtin within a reasonable timeframe after topping their group.
The same can be said for St Joseph’s and Dundalk Gaels, both of whom also lost heavily against teams who spent the last few weeks in O’Donnell Cup action.
Whoever eventually wins the senior championship - and only ONE team can - will only have a three-week break to their Leinster clash with the Carlow.
That’s great news for the champins elect, but it won’t come as much consolation to the rest.
O’CONNELL’S: Stuart Reynolds; Jason Carroll 1-0, Conor Byrne, James Clerkin; Jackie Agnew, Salem Rifaie, Conor McGill; Seán Cairns 0-1, Conor Kiernan; Paul McKeever, Emmet Byrne, Stuart Osborne; Robert Quigley 0-5 (2f), Dean Stanfield, Niall Conlon 0-3f. Subs: Stefan O’Hanrahan for C McGill (BC, 27), John Flanagan for C Kiernan (ht), John McLaughlin for P McKeever (50).
NAOMH MÁIRTÍN: Craig Lynch; Shane Campbell, Mick Fanning, Paul Berrill; Pádraig McDonagh 0-2, Thomas Sullivan 0-1, Adam Winters; Gavan Mooney, Conor Morgan; Stephen Campbell 1-0, Eoghan Callaghan 0-3, Conor Healy; Conor Whelan 2-3 (1f), Sam Mulroy 1-3 (1f), Bryan McQuillan 1-1. Subs: Alan Downey for B McQuillan (36), Eoin Wright 0-1 for A Winters (41), JP Rooney for S Campbell (46), Fra McCullough 0-1f for C Healy (46), Jack McCarville for T Sullivan (48), Jack Murphy 0-1 for E Callaghan (53).
REFEREE: Paul Kneel.