Classy Mairtins finish strongly
NH MAIRTIN ST MOCHTAS
NH Mairtin showed few ill-effects from their Senior Championship victory celebrations as they came out on top against St Mochtas at Monasterboice on Saturday night.
Not surprisingly the Jocks were slow out of the blocks but, in what proved to be an entertaining encounter they came strong in the second half and showed their class by earning a four-point victory.
The Mochtas once again underlined the talent within their ranks and matched their opponents but in the end just fell short in a game where Sam Mulroy and JP Rooney illustrated their class in front of the posts once again.
With Declan Byrne and Jamie Farrell among the scores, the Louth Village side raced into a 0-5 to 0-1 lead inside ten minutes.
The Mairtins hit back with points from Mulroy only for Conor Garland to score the only goal of the game and put his side 1-7 to 0-4 in front. However, before the break the Jocks began to find their rhythm and with Thomas Sullivan and Stephen Campbell contributing scores they cut the gap to 1-8 to 0-9 at half time.
The champions continued to dominate at the start of the second half and with John Clutterbuck and Conor Whelan raising white flags their side had edged ahead by the 40th minute.
The Mochtas remained in the game entering the closing stages but the Mairtins finished on top and scores from Tom Gray, Mark Whelan and Sean Healy saw them come out on top.
Craig Lynch; Eoin Wright, Thomas Sullivan 0-1, Mark Whelan 0-1; John Clutterbuck 0-1, Conor Smyth, Conor Morgan; Sam Mulroy 0-6, Evan Whelan; Sean Healy 0-2, Stephen Campbell 0-3, Paul Berrill; Brian McQuillan, JP Rooney 0-4, Conor Whelan 0-2. Subs: Jamie Mulholland for C Lynch, Conor Healy for J Clutterbuck, Tom Gray 0-1 for B McQuillan, Adam Winters for E Wright, Mark McCullough for JP Rooney.
Darren McMahon; David Lennon, Liam Lawlor, Andrew Lennon; Stephen McCooey, Ben Goss, Conor Garland 1-0; Gerry Garland 0-1, Ciaran McMahon 0-1; Jamie Farrell, Philip Englishby, Craig Lennon 0-2; Cormac Smyth 0-1, Declan Byrne 0-7, Ciaran Byrne 0-2. Subs: Andrew English for P Englishby, Barry Mulholland for B Goss, Eamonn O’Neill for J Farrell, Brendan Duff for C Smyth, Paddy Duffy for L Lawlor.