Navan O’Mahony’s 1-9 Royal Gaels 0-7 

Navan O’Mahonys minor girls emerged victorious in a tough and tightly contested game versus Royal Gaels on Saturday. Both teams had secured victories against Skyrne and Walterstown and with only the top team in the group qualifying for the Div 1 final, this was effectively a semi-final.

The first half was a low scoring affair and both teams were slow to settle. Defences were on top and scores were at a premium. With 11 minutes on the clock O’Mahony’s registered their first score. This was followed by a Royal Gaels point on the 15th minute. Navan O’Mahony’s enjoyed the lion’s share of possession for the remainder of the half but could only manage a further two points while Royal Gaels tagged on a point from a free. The teams went in at half time with only a point between the sides.

Navan O’Mahony’s 0-3 Royal Gaels 0-2

Royal Gaels opened the second half with a wave of attacks and in the 6th minute they levelled the match. However, the Brews Hill girls rose to the challenge, pressing the Royal Gael’s kickout at every opportunity, tackling ferociously and attacking in waves. The next 10 minutes saw the O’Mahony’s girls tag on four points without reply and in such a low scoring match, they looked to be heading for a win. But credit to Royal Gaels who never gave up and slowly clawed their way back into the match. A pointed free on the 18th minute kick started the comeback and 4 more unanswered points brought the Dunshaughlin side right back into the match as the game headed for injury time. The character of the Navan girls was certainly tested in those nail biting last few minutes and they weren’t found wanting. The hoops chased down everything and Royal Gaels were finding  it difficult to get out of their own half,  The relentless pressure yielded a goal for the Navan girls and they  followed this by two further points which sealed the victory and qualified the Navan girls for a place in the Div 1 final v Kilbride.

O'Mahonys: R Crowley, D Keogh, S Maguire, A Brady, J Collins, I Thorpe, L Dwyer, R Reilly, N McDermott, S Cullen, J Keogh, A Kielty, C Ratty, M Nelson, L Walsh, G Cahill, A McCullagh, D Mellett, S Byrne, A Wartick, I Mallon 

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