ST MARYS 2-13

NH MAIRTIN 0-17

St Marys set up a meeting with Dreadnots in the semi-final of the Louth Senior Championship after coming through an entertaining contest with Nh Mairtin at Haggardstown on Saturday night.

There was little to choose between the teams for much of this replay but the outcome was effectively decided in a blistering spell near the end of the first quarter when the Ardee men struck 2-2 without reply.

That power-play helped their side lead by eight points at one stage and although the Mairtins had the better of the second period they were unable to claw back that deficit and the Marys held their nerve to go through.

A heavy shower of rain greeted the players at the start of the game and it proved testing for both sides. It was the Martins who adjusted quickest and points from Sam Mulroy and Stephen Campbell saw them lead inside four minutes.

Paudy Clarke and Alan Kirk hit back to level but it looked as if the Mairtins were determined to make up for letting the drawn game slip from their grasp as Mulroy and Brian Berrill struck to put them two clear.

However, the whole picture changed dramatically when Niall Eccles burst through to score the first goal in the 12th minute and straight from the restart Mark Fay had the ball in the net again.

The next two kickouts were won by the Marys and resulted in points for Darren Clarke and Conor Keenan to open up a lead of 2-4 to 0-4.

The gap was up to six after Clarke and Kirk sent over frees, but Sam Mulroy led the comeback for the Mairtins as he landed three points to help reduce the arrears to 2-8 to 0-9 at half time.

The Monasterboice men continued to battle in the second half and with JP Rooney and Michael Fanning on target they were very much in the game with the gap back to 2-11 to 0-14 with ten minutes to play.

Padraig McDonagh and Mulroy pointed to reduce the deficit to the minimum and heighten the tension entering the last four minutes.

However, it was the Marys who held their nerve and points from Dean Matthews and Darren Clarke saw them secure victory.

ST MARYS: Peter Duffy; Conor Keenan 0-1, Karl Faulkner, Niall Carroll; Eimhin Keenan, Niall Eccles 1-0, Brendan Matthews; John Bingham, Robert Leavy; Daire McConnon, Paudy Clarke 0-2, Mark Fay 1-0; Darren Clarke 0-3 (1f), Ronan Carroll, Alan Kirk 0-6 (3f). Subs: Barry McCoy for D McConnon, Dean Matthews 0-1 for M Fay, Barry Faulkner for N Eccles.

NH MAIRTIN: Jamie Mulholland; Patrick Sullivan, Thomas Sullivan, Paul Berrill; Padraig McDonagh 0-1, Brendan Reilly, Conor Healy 0-1; Michael Fanning 0-1, JP Rooney 0-2; John Clutterbuck 0-1, Stephen Campbell 0-1, Craig Lynch; Conor Whelan 0-1, Sam Mulroy 0-6 (4f), Brian Berrill 0-2. Subs: Luke Harrington for C Whelan, Francis McCullough 0-1 for C Lynch, Conor Whelan for C Healy.

REFEREE: Kevin Brady.

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