FL Div 1: First-half flourish wins it for O'Mahonys
February 20, 2017
Navan O'Mahony's Ruairi O Coileain
Hosts Navan O'Mahonys eased to a FL Division 1 opening round win over promoted Rathkenny on Saturday night.
O'Mahonys ............. 2-15
Rathkenny .............. 1-5
Tomas O Flaharta's charges registered 1-6 without reply in the opening 17 minutes and were 13 points clear by half-time.
Last year's FL Division 2 winners cut the gap to eight points by the 47th minute, before the home side closed matters with five unanswered points.
Ruairi O Coileain top scored with 1-5 for O'Mahonys. His goal arrived 28 minutes in at the end of a move he started with a mark.
O Coileain also laid on the assist for the opening goal for Shane Gillespie in the sixth minute. That left the board reading 1-3 to 0-0.
Cormac McGuinness and Damien Moran gave O'Mahonys a platform at midfield which led to a 2-9 to 0-2 interval advantage.
That lead might have been greater but for six first-half wides to Rathkenny's two. Midfielders Brian Meade and James Macken were the visitors first-half scorers. Marcas Brennan's smart save denied the promoted side a 27th minute goal. However, it was quickly followed by their second score.
Brennan denied Macken a goal shortly after the restart. Things improved somewhat for Rathkenny when Sean Mongey fisted Adam Brennan's centre to the net midway through the half.
That left the board reading 2-10 to 1-4. Meade then landed his second free. However, Rathkenny were unable to add to their tally while O'Mahonys closed out the hour with five points on the spin. The sequence began with a brace of Cormac McGuinness scores. Ruairi O Coileain added two while David Bray posted the penultimate score.
O'Mahonys - Marcas Brennan; James O'Malley, Niall McKeigue, Paddy Dillon; Brian Dillon, Daragh Smyth (0-1), Gary O'Brien; Damien Moran, Cormac McGuinness (0-2); Ruairi O Coileain (1-5, 0-1f), Paul Whelehan (0-2), Daragh Maguire; Shane Gillespie (1-2), David Bray (0-3), Jake Regan. Subs - Sean Smith for Regan (45), Stephen Monaghan for B Dillon (54), Henry Finnegan for Whelehan (59), Niall Kearney for Gillespie (59).
Rathkenny - Colin Curtis; Thomas McGuinness, Ross Gore, Niall Branagan; Stephen , Robbie Garry; Brian Meade (0-2 fs), James Macken (0-1); Cathal McCabe, Ivan Lenehan (0-1), Jack Thompson (0-1f); Adam Brennan, Sean Mongey (1-0), Michael Mallon. Subs - Christy Meade for McCabe (35), Conor Brennan for Thompson (43), Andrew Finney for Curtis (53).
Referee - David Coldrick (Blackhall Gaels)
