DREADNOTS 0-11
NAOMH MAIRTIN 1-8

Dreadnots booked a meeting with Cooley Kickhams in the Senior Championship quarter-final after they battled back from a five point deficit in the first half to draw with Naomh Mairtin at the Gaelic Grounds on Sunday evening.

Although Nicky McDonnell scored a late point for the Monasterboice men to level match, it wasn't enough for his side as the Dreadnots went through as runners-up thanks to a superior score difference.

Defeat will be hard to take for the Mairtins as they were the better team for much of the game but wasted a series of opportunities to kill off their opponents. Over the hour they kicked nine wides, landed two efforts into the goalkeeper's hands and wasted an excellent goal chance in the first half.

The Dreadnots came into the game on the back of a good showing against St Patricks in their opening match, and they were further boosted when James Califf was named in the starting line up. The big full forward marked his return from injury with the opening point of the game.

Califf scored twice more in the opening 23 minutes as his team took the lead on three further occasions. However, with the very impressive Nicky McDonnell (3) and JP Rooney hitting the target, the Mairtins levelled on each occasion to make it four points apiece.

The Monasterboice men then edged in front with a Francis McCullough effort and should have added a goal before Rooney hit the net from a 30th minute penalty to put his side ahead by 1-5 to 0-4 at the break. The penalty incident also saw Brian Gargan given a black card for his foul on Nicky McDonnell.

It was looking good for the Mairtins early in the second half when Rooney's point stretched the advantage to five.

However, the Dreadnots responded in fine style and three points in as many minutes from Califf, Peter Kirwan and Liam Shevlin had then back in the game at 1-6 to 0-7 with 37 minutes played.

The continued to dominate and Califf (2) and Pauric Smith hit the target to edge their side in front entering the final quarter.

The scoring rate dropped at that stage but the Mairtins were next to raise a white flag as Brian Berrill fired over in the 54th minute to make it 0-10 to 1-7. Califf again proved his worth to the Dreadnots when he landed his seventh point of the night to regain the lead.

The Mairtins pushed forward in an effort retain their interest in the championship and although McDonnell levelled one more time. His side created a chance to win the game but saw them kick wide from a good position to allow the Dreadnots to make it through to the last eight.

DREADNOTS: Kenneth Shevlin; Brian Gargan, Derek Shevlin, Conor Murphy; Anthony Williams, Cian McEvoy, Barry Faulkner 0-1; Padraig Rath, Pepe Smith 0-1; Liam Shevlin 0-1, Peter Kirwan 0-1, Pat Lynch; Conor Campbell, James Califf 0-7, David O'Brien. Subs: Ryan Gargan for B Gargan, Luke Judge for P Lynch, Niall Kirby for C Campbell.

NH MAIRTIN: Craig Lynch; Eoin Wright, David Delaney, Paul Campbell; Graham McQuillan, Brian Howell, Brendan Reilly; Gavin Mooney, Mick Fanning; Paul Berrill, JP Rooney 1-2, Brian McQuillan; Francis McCullough 0-1, Nicky McDonnell 0-4, Sean Clutterbuck. Sub: Brian Berrill 0-1 for S Clutterbuck. Tweet

Most Read Stories