The Louth Division 1 season came to a conclusion on Sunday when Nh Mairtin were crowned Cardinal O’Donnell champions for the second time in three seasons with victory over St Marys, while St Mochtas booked their place in the top flight for next year by defeating Dundalk Gaels in the play-off.

NH MAIRTIN 2-19

ST MARYS 1-12

Two goals inside a minute early in the second half from Stephen Campbell helped Nh Mairtin reclaim the Cardinal O’Donnell Cup thanks to a ten-point victory over St Marys at The Grove on Sunday afternoon.

The Ardee men got off to a brilliant start and went into the break with a four-point advantage but once the Mairtins, and Sam Mulroy in particular, got into their stride they were unable to maintain that momentum in the second period.

The Marys got off to a flying start and inside two minutes Ciaran Keenan had the ball in the net followed by a point from Conor Gillespie.

Sam Mulroy got the Mairtins off the mark but when Ronan Carroll and Darren Clarke fired over at the other end, the Ardee men were in a strong position with a 1-4 to 0-1 lead.

However, the Mairtins began to stem the flow in the second quarter and with Wayne Campbell and Brian McQuillan on the mark they had reduced the deficit to 1-7 to 0-6 at half time.

The Jocks came flying out of the blocks in the second half and within two minutes they had wiped out the lead when a Mulroy point was followed by a goal from Stephen Campbell. A minute later the game was turned completely on its head when Campbell added a second goal to put his side in front.

Darren Clarke pulled back a point for a shell-shocked Marys but the Mairtins were in no mood to let the initiative slip and they tagged over the next five points to lead by 2-12 to 1-8 after 41 minutes.

The result was never in doubt from that stage and although battled for his side with some well taken scores, the Mairtins cruised home with Mulroy bringing his tally to ten points for the half, while Conor Whelan and Val Leddy also made scoring contributions.

NH MAIRTIN: Craig Lynch; Paul Berrill, Mick Fanning, Eoin Wright; Thomas Sullivan, Conor Morgan, John Clutterbuck; Wayne Campbell 0-1, Gavin Mooney; Stephen Campbell 2-1, Eoghan Callaghan, Conor Healy; JP Rooney 0-2, Sam Mulroy 0-12, Brian McQuillan 0-1. Subs: Mark Whelan for E Wright, Val Leddy 0-1 for W Campbell, Graeme McQuillan for T Sullivan, Shane Campbell for P Berrill, Conor Whelan 0-1 for B McQuillan, Francis McCullough for JP Rooney.

ST MARYS: Alan McGauley; Conor Keenan, Donal McKenny, Eimhin Keenan; Niall Eccles 0-1, Karl Faulkner, Kian Moran; Robert Leavy, RJ Callaghan; Ciaran Keenan 1-0, Darren Clarke 0-6, Liam Jackson; Conor Gillespie 0-2, Ronan Carroll 0-2, Tom Jackson. Subs: Mark Fay for E Keenan, Paudy Clarke for RJ Callaghan, Jonathan Cummins 0-1 for C Gillespie, Evan Malone for L Jackson.

**

ST MOCHTAS 0-22

DUNDALK GAELS 0-8

St Mochtas secured their place in Division 1 for the 2020 season after easing past Dundalk Gaels in the play-off final at Kilkerley on Sunday morning.

It proved to be a surprisingly comfortable victory for the Louth Village men as they put up another high score against a Gaels side who never really got going.

The Mochtas got on the front foot from the outset and with Ciaran McMahon and Declan Byrne leading the way, they were leading by 0-5 to 0-2 after ten minutes. In another excellent display of kicking, that included scores from Ciaran Byrne, Craig Callan and Eamonn O’Neill, their side went in with a lead of 0-13 to 0-4. Eanna McArdle and Sean Murray were on target for the Gaels.

The Dundalk men rallied briefly in the third quarter but a comeback never looked to be a realistic possibility and the Mochtas finished strongly to make sure they will be playing in the top flight in both league and championship next season.

ST MOCHTAS: Jason Callan; David Lennon, Philip Englishby, Liam Lawlor; Danny Kindlon 0-1, Barry Mulholland, Conor Garland; Eamonn O’Neill 0-1, Declan Byrne 0-6; Craig Lennon 0-3, Gerry Garland 0-2, Jamie Farrell; Ciaran McMahon 0-5, Ciaran Byrne 0-3, Darren McMahon. Subs: Brendan Duff for J Farrell, Cormac Smyth for C Lennon, Dylan Farrell for G Garland.

DUNDALK GAELS: Joe O’Donoghue; James Lynch, Oisin Murray, Jamie Faulkner; Sean Murray 0- 2, Adrian Rafferty, Mark Hanna; David Maloney, Derek Crilly; Paul McCrave, David McComish 0-1, Niall Hearty; Eanna McArdle 0-4, Errol Boyle 0-1, Gerard McSorley. Subs: Padraig Fallon for E Boyle, Jordan Keating for M Hanna, Eamon Kenny for J Lynch, Jason Clarke for G McSorley.

Tweet

Most Read Stories