ST MARYS 2-14

O RAGHALLAIGHS 3-8
 
St Marys survived a late rally from the O Raghallaighs before holding out for a dramatic victory over the O Raghallaighs at Dunleer on Sunday evening.

The glorious weather was reflected in the action on the field of play as the teams produced a high-scoring end-to-end contest that went right down to the wire.

The Ardee side were quickly out of the blocks as they scored the first five points of the contest through Ronan Carroll (2), Kian Moran, Conor Gillespie and Darren Clarke and it was looking ominous for the O Raghallaighs at that stage.

The Drogheda side responded well with points from Barry Flanagan (2) and Alan Doyle to get back in the game but St Marys reasserted their authority when Conor Gillespie scored the first goal of the game to make it 1-5 to 0-3.

Back came the O Raghallaighs with a goal from Chris Smith but late points from Gillespie and Carroll had the Mid Louth side 1-8 to 1-3 ahead at the break.

The Ardee men looked to be pulling away when Gillespie added his second goal within a minute of the restart with a Darren Clarke point extending the gap to 2-9 to 1-3.

The Drogheda side weren’t about to give up and a goal from Olan Walshe helped them stay in contention but looked as if St Marys would hold out comfortably when they were 2-11 to 2-6 in front in the final quarter.

However, a goal from Ruairi Moore along with points from Flanagan and Moore raised hopes of a dramatic comeback but ultimately late points from Carroll and Clarke proved decisive as the Marys held out for an important win.

ST MARYS: Duane Crosbie; Brendan Matthews, Barry McCoy, Conor Keenan; Eimhin Keenan, Donal McKenny, Karl Faulkner; RJ Callaghan, Robert Leavy; Conor Gillespie 2-1, Darren Clarke 0-4, Kian Moran 0-1; Mark Fay 0-2, Ronan Carroll 0-5, Ciaran Keenan. Subs: Niall Eccles for B Matthews, Paudy Clarke for C Gillespie, Jamie Rooney for K Moran, Cian Commins for C Keenan.

O RAGHALLAIGHS: Joe Flanagan 0-1; Stephen Murphy, Ciaran Brassil, Emmet King; Alan Doyle 0-1, Dean Byrne, James Moonan; Bryan Smith, Eoin Moore 0-1; Barry Flanagan 0-5, Ben Rogan, Jack Carr 0-1; Chris Smith 1-0, Ruairi Moore 1-1, Olan Walshe 1-0. Subs: Daniel Morgan for E King, Scott Byrne for B Smith.

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