MFL3: Oldcastle finish strongly to overcome Na Fianna
June 30, 2015
Na Fianna's Ronan Byrne with Jason Scully Oldcastle during the Meath MFL Division 2 final at Pairc Tailteann.
Oldcastle 3-12
Na Fianna 1-13
An Oldcastle celebration was justifiably deserved at the final whistle as they claimed their first ever minor title.
Oldcastle started well with Conor Delaney first on the scoresheet as a result of excellent defence from Matthew Taggart. Na Fianna replied with a point of their own but a pointed free from Cj Healy and another from Scully ensured Oldcastle had the advantage. Na Fianna began to dominate in the second quarter adding three points to take the lead for the first time after 17minutes. This was however, short lived as a Scully free landed in the hands of Healy and he made no mistake as he netted for Oldcastle. Na Fianna hit two more to keep the minimal between the sides. A converted free from Scully before the break left the sides level going into the second half.
Oldcastle had all to play for and this was evident from their excellent performance in the second half. Oldcastle added three points from play with Shane Quinn, Cj Healy and Stephen Lawless hitting the target. Cian McKenna did well to break a Na Fianna kickout and good work from Robbie smith ended up with Scully beating the Na Fianna keeper for Oldcastle's second goal. Na Fianna were slow to start the second half, however a strong period after 10 minutes brought the game to a draw again. The Oldcastle defence stepped up to the mark after this and dominated as they aided in Scully and Healy adding another 3 points to Na Fianna's one point to leave just 2 between the sides after 20 minutes. Oldcastle were forced to finish the game with 14 men but their work ethic and desire to win prevailed as they battled on. Shane Quinn took Oldcastle's third goal after Scully made a good run following Mossy Flood dominating at corner back. The sides traded scores in the final stage of the game with two converted frees from Scully. A fantastic save from Oldcastle keeper Karl Gibney in the concluding minutes denied Na Fianna the comeback they were hoping for and allowed a delighted Oldcastle team claim the win.
An overall great display from Oldcastle with best performances from Mossy Flood, Dylan Garrigan, Jason Scully, Oran O'Reilly and Cj Healy.
Oldcastle Team: K.Gibney, M.Food, M.Taggart, K.Connell, C.McKenna, O.O'Reilly, D.Garrigan, R.Taggart, J.Scully (1-06), J.Disney, R.Smith, S.Lawless(0-1), Cj.Healy (1-03), S.Quinn(1-01), C.Delaney(0-1).
Subs: C.Maguire for J.Disney (52Minutes) K.Kavanagh for R.Smith (55Minutes) J. Caffrey, S.Milmoe, D.Murray, M.McGowan.
Na Fianna 1-13
Oldcastle 3-12
Na Fianna suffered defeat to Oldcastle in this well contested MFL Div 3 final in Pairc Tailteann on Friday night.
Na Fianna were in fine form in the opening half, with Ethan Devine leading by example from midfield. Devine caught some wonderful kickouts as well as kicking some great scores, one an outstanding effort from under the stand 45 yards out. Oldcastle got through for a goal but Na Fianna held firm and did not panic. At half time the scores were level 0-7 to 1-04.
Oldcastle had a good spell after the break and went five points up before Na Fianna hauled back the lead to draw level. Ciaran Holton, outstanding all night helped to spearhead this revival and soon Mark Slevin was on hand to smash the ball to the net to bring Na Fianna right back into the game. Jack McNally converted a free while Shane Walsh added a fine effort from play as Na Fianna battled hard. However another surging run from Oldcastle right through the heart of the Na Fianna defence saw them net another goal followed by more pointed scores as they quickly quelled any hopes of a Na Fianna win.
Best for Na Fianna were Ethan Devine, Ciaran Holton, Connor Heffernan and Owen McDonnell.
Na Fianna: Connor Heffernan, Sean Coffey, Peter Slevin, Adam Hyland, Ronan Byrne, Daniel Devine, Owen McDonnell, Ethan Devine (0-5, 2fs, 1 45), Cian Slattery, Noel O'Sullivan, Ciaran Holton (0-3), Glen McDonnell, Michéal Keogh, Mark Slevin (1-01), Will Flynn (0-1).
Subs: Sean Rafferty for Keogh, Jack McNally (0-1,f) for G McDonnell, Shane Walsh (0-1) for Flynn, Sean Martin (0-1) for O'Sullivan, Oisin Coffey, Simon Daly, Kean Flynn, Oran Smullen, Kevin Coffey, Stephen Slevin.
