St Nicholas Cruise Into Junior Championship Semi-Final
DKIT Sport JFC Quarter-Final
At The Grove, Castlebellingham
St Nicholas 1-19 Annaghminnon Rovers 1-3
St Nicholas comfortably booked their place in the DKIT Sport Louth Junior Football Championship semi-finals after a commanding 1-19 to 1-3 victory over Annaghminnon Rovers at The Grove, Castlebellingham.
Con Sheehan (St Nicholas) and Christopher Connolly (Annaghminnon Rovers) in a contest
St Nicholas established their authority early, with Hayden Quinn and Dylan Brogan opening the scoring before Shane Downey and Fionn Meagher added further scores. Quinn, Meagher and Philip Kirwan were among those to keep the scoreboard ticking over as St Nicholas took a 0-11 to 0-2 lead into half-time.
The advantage grew immediately after the restart when substitute Ross Brady found the net, followed by a Paudie Downey free.
Annaghminnon found the net themselves through Dylan McArdle, but St Nicholas continued to dominate, with Shane Downey, Meagher, Paudie Downey and Leo Quinn all contributing scores.
Leo Quinn’s late two-pointer rounded off an emphatic evening for St Nicholas, who now face Naomh Fionnbarra in the semi-final in two weeks’ time.
Full Time – St Nicholas 1-19 Annaghminnon Rovers 1-3
Man of the Match – Fionn Meagher (St Nicholas)
Fionn Meagher (St Nicholas) challenges Fergal Markey (Annaghminnon Rovers)
St Nicholas team: Shane Finegan; Alex Jordan, Alex Finnegan, Aaron Flanagan; Cebhan Houshidari, Donal Carr, Dylan Brogan (0-2); Alan McCordick, Sam Reilly; Shane Downey (0-2); Roy Kiearns (0-1), Fionn Meagher (0-5); Philip Kirwan (0-1), Hayden Quinn (0-3, 2f), Con Sheehan.
Subs: Paudie Downey (0-2, 2f) for Hayden Quinn half-time, Ross Brady (1-0) for Philip Kirwan half-time, Cian Flynn for Alan McCordick 44 mins, Leo Quinn (0-3, 1tpf) for Shane Downey 50 mins, Ruairi Hanlon for Alex Jordan 57 mins.
Annaghminnon Rovers team: Shane Grimes; Christopher Connolly, Ryan Cash, Richie Ashfield; Tiernan O’Brien, Colin Campbell (0-1), Fergal Markey; Conor Russell, Nathan Buckley; Dylan McArdle (1-0), Rory Phelan (0-1, 1f), Ronan Byrne; Aidan Lee Martin, Ciaran O’Reilly, Dwayne Markey.
Subs: James O’Connor (0-1) for Dwayne Markey 24 mins, Dwayne Markey for Ronan Byrne half-time, Daire Povall for Fergal Markey half-time, Tony Brennan for Rory Phelan 40 mins, Ronan Byrne for Ciaran O’Reilly 47 mins.
Referee: Declan Dunne (Lannléire)
Photos: Ciaran Culligan
Hayden Quinn (St Nicholas) takes on Ronan Byrne (Annaghminnon Rovers)
