St Josephs Turn the Tide to See Off Naomh Mairtin

Anchor Tours Senior Football Championship Group 1 Round 2

At Cullen Autoparts Louth GAA Training Centre in Darver

St Josephs 0-16 Naomh Mairtin 1-8

St Josephs secured top spot of Group 1 of the Anchor Tours Senior Football Championship after a convincing win over reigning champions Naomh Mairtin at Cullen Autoparts Darver on Monday evening.

Naomh Mairtin suffered an early setback when Sam Mulroy was forced off through injury, with Eoghan Callaghan, John Clutterbuck, Tom Gray and Conor Morgan already absent – this added to the Monasterboice woes. Despite that, they settled well and struck the game’s first major when Darragh Dorian converted a penalty after Val Leddy’s effort was foot blocked by Aidan Kieran. Previously, Conal Smyth had opened the scoring for St Josephs.

Dorian, Leddy and Dara McDonnell helped Naomh Mairtin remain firmly in contention, while St Josephs had the scoring threat of Conall McCaul and Alan Quigley. McCaul landed an excellent two-pointer from play, and with the sides level at 1-4 to 0-7 at the interval, everything remained in the balance.

However, St Josephs took control after the restart. Quigley, McCaul and Gabriel Bell all found their range as the Dromiskin men steadily built a lead. Their middle-third was in complete control with the aerial prowess of Conall McCaul coming to the fore.

Naomh Mairtin struggled to register scores during a difficult spell with the absence of their talisman Sam Mulroy felt – especially with placed balls, with Wayne Campbell’s two-point free their first score of the second half.

Craig Doherty added two important points, while Pearse Grimes Murphy produced a superb individual score as St Josephs continued to pull clear. Jack Lynch’s late two-pointer helped Naomh Mairtin score different, but in the context of this game, it was too little, too late.

They face St Fechins next week in a do-or-die clash to get through the group.

Full Time: St Joseph’s 0-16 Naomh Mairtin 1-8

Man of the Match – Conall McCaul (St Josephs)

Conall McCaul produced a commanding all-round display, dominating the aerial exchanges throughout and kicking a number of superb scores.

St Josephs team: Aaron Gray; Cian Sheridan, Aidan Kieran, Rian Devlin; Ben McKeown (0-1), Cormac McKeown, Gabriel Bell (0-2); Conall McCaul (0-5, 1tp, 3f), David Kieran; Micheal O’Brien, Ben Collier, Oisin Reidy; Alan Quigley (0-4, 1f), Craig Doherty (0-2), Conal Smyth (0-1)

Subs: Pearse Grimes Murphy (0-1) for Micheal O’Brien (half-time), Jack Mulligan for Conal Smyth (blood, 37-39 Mins), Conor Neary for Aidan Kieran (47 Mins)

Naomh Mairtin team: Craig Lynch; Cian Sands, Thomas Sullivan, Conor Healy; Evan Whelan, Sean Healy, Jack Murphy; Dara McDonnell (0-1),  Adam Booth; Craig Callanan, Sam Mulroy, Wayne Campbell (0-2, 1tpf) ; Ben Callanan, Val Leddy (0-1), Darragh Dorian (1-2, 1-0pen)

Subs: Eric Winters for Sam Mulroy (1 Min), Jack Lynch (0-2, 1tp) for Ben Callanan (41 Mins), Mark Whelan for Eric Winters (59 Mins)

Referee: Bryan Smith (O’Raghallaighs)

Photo thanks to St Josephs GFC Facebook Page