NH MAIRTIN 4-14

NEWTOWN BLUES 1-9

Nh Mairtin claimed the Louth Minor Championship title thanks to a stunning second half display at Drogheda on Sunday afternoon.

The Monasterboice side trailed by a point at half time but after a remarkable performance inspired by team captain and Man of the Match, Sam Mulroy, they emerged with a 14-point victory.

The Blues went into the game looking for a third successive Minor Championship title and boosted by scores from Ross Nally they looked to be very much in contention at the turnaround. However, they were simply blown away by a rampant Mairtins team roared on by a large and enthusiastic support.

Fittingly, it was Mulroy who got the ball rolling in the second half as his expertly taken goal inside the opening minute put his side in front.

The Mairtins followed up with a series of well-taken points along with goals from Lee Neilon and Joe McGrane, to add to the three-pointer from Mark McCullough in the first half, to ensure they got their hands on the trophy.

The one-sided nature of the second half was in stark contrast to the evenly balanced encounter in the opening period, where the Blues had the wind in their backs and opened the scoring through Oisin Doherty. Mulroy then got his first of the game before his side grabbed the initiative with a goal from McCullough to lead by 1-2 to 0-2 at the end of the first quarter.

However, Nally fired over four successive points to put his side in front, and in the dying moments of the half, Ian Connor and Shane Morgan exchanged points to leave the Blues ahead by 0-8 to 1-4.

Nh Mairtin made a blistering start to the second half with Mulroy hitting the back of the net, but a Nally point left the minimum between the teams at 2-4 to 0-9.

Remarkably that proved to be the Blues last score until injury-time as they had no answer to the Mairtins for the remainder of the game.

Mulroy (4), Conor Whelan (3) and Eoghan Callaghan pointed to make it 2-11 to 0-9 before substitute Lee Neilon added the third goal to end any lingering hope for the Blues.

The Mairtins could enjoy the remainder of the game knowing that they were on their way to lifting the Fr Larry Murray Cup, and Joe McGrane put the icing on the cake with a late fourth goal. The Blues did have the final say with a Nathan Seery goal in injury time but it was of little consolation for his bitterly disappointed side.

NH MAIRTIN: Luke Mitchell; Andrew Clarke, Shane Morgan 0-1, Mark Whelan; Sean Faulkner, Eoghan Callaghan 0-1, Jack McCarville; Joe McGrane 1-0, Conor Morgan; Paddy Usher, Mark McCullough 1-0, Jack Murphy 0-1; Conor Whelan 0-5, Sam Mulroy 1-6, James Martin. Subs: Lee Neilon 1-0 for J Morgan, Thomas Rooney for M McCullough, Jake Murtagh for T Rooney BC, Conor Brady for J Murphy.

NEWTOWN BLUES: Dean Martin; Adam McGinn, Ronan Levins, Alan Connor; Ciaran McCann, Emmet Carolan, Jamie Kelly; Ian Connor 0-1, Luke Cormican; Reece Levins, Ross Nally 0-6 (3f), Jamie Doherty; Declan McNamara, Robert Sullivan, Oisin Doherty 0-2. Sub: Nathan Seery 1-0 for C McCann.

REFEREE: Aidan Shevlin

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