Murtagh signs off term with consolation prize

There are always bigger fish to fry, but on Tuesday of last week Navan O'Mahonys had little difficulty in landing the consolation prize of the A FL Div 2 title with a resounding victory over St Patrick's at Pairc Tailteann in what was Finian Murtagh's last game in charge. At the turn of the year O'Mahonys had aspirations of Keegan Cup glory. The league was viewed as an exercise to prepare for the championship battles. There was no emphasis placed on attaining league glory, although promotion was always in the fore front of the club's mind. Considering the disappointment the Brews Hill men endured in this years SFC it was commendable that they refocused their ambitions to league glory and reached a level of performance last Tuesday evening that would have secured many championship victories. From the word go O'Mahonys looked the vastly superior outfit. They kept faith with the majority of players that served the club well throughout the league and also introducted a number of excellent young players who will be the future of the club. In his last game in charge before handing over the reins to Davy Nelson, O'Mahonys coach Murtagh opted to start without Kevin Reilly, Mark Ward, Shane McKeigue and Stephen MacGabhann and he didn't feel the need to call on that talented quartet at any stage. Instead Murtagh turned to youngsters like Andrew Rogers, Ross Geraghty, Shane Gillespie, Daragh Maguire and Alan Forde and all repaid his faith with top drawer performances. Those bright young talents were supplemented by the class of Gary O'Brien, Niall McKeigue, Cormac McGuinness and Stephen Bray and with that mixture of outstanding youth and experience O'Mahonys were simply too strong for a St Patrick's side that struggled without their star turn, Niall Mooney. St Patrick's huffed and puffed throughout this game, but they rarely looked like troubling O'Mahonys. There was a brief three minute period at the start of the second-half when they rattled over three successive points, including their first from play from Daithi Whyte, when they looked dangerous. However, O'Mahonys were swift to nip that potential rally in the bud and continued the second-half in the same dominant fashion with which they lorded the opening period. O'Mahonys were lethal in attack and miserly at the back. All bar one point of their scores came from play, while they restricted St Patrick's to just two points from play. That is an indication of how good the O'Mahonys forwards were and also the excellence of Rogers, Cormac Reilly (pictured), McKeigue, Ian Matthews and O'Brien. Defeat was harsh for St Patrick's considering the huge effort they have put in all year, although the manner of their performance suggested that they were more than happy to have secured promotion back to A FL Div 1 following their play-off win over Oldcastle. It was clear from an early stage that O'Mahonys were firing on all cylinders. Gillespie found himself in acres of space to open the scoring after just 40 seconds and although Campbell responded a minute later from a free that was as good as it got for St Patrick's. When these sides met earlier in the campaign, O'Mahonys struggled to a 1-11 to 0-10 win in Stamullen, but this contest never looked like being as close. Geraghty found more room to restore O'Mahonys early lead and when Bray made it 0-3 to 0-1 with his first touch the signs looked ominous. Seven minutes later, and with his second touch, Bray gathered Gillespie's centre, sold a dummy to Seamus Byrne and planted the ball in the roof of the net. Forde and O'Brien made it 1-5 to 0-1 before Niall Whearty replied with a free after Shane Crosby fouled Whyte. That score was a temporary blip in O'Mahonys dominance as Bray, O'Brien and Cormac Reilly tagged on further points to earn O'Mahonys a 1-8 to 0-2 interval lead. Two converted frees from Campbell and a first score from play from Whyte closed the gap to 0-5 to 1-8 within three minutes of the restart and when Donal Landy lost his footing when presented with a goal chance St Patrick's best goal opportunity was gone. O'Mahonys settled again. Lee Russell and Bray put eight points between the sides. before points from Damien Moran, Bray (free) and Geraghty followed a Campbell free to put the issue beyond doubt, 1-13 to 0-6, with seven minutes remaining. Landy forced a great save from Mark Brennan, before Brian Calvey converted the resultant '45'. A plethora of late substitutions disrupted the closing stages, but O'Mahonys were still on the front foot as closing points from Gillespie and Geraghty sealed the win and the consolation prize of an A FL Div 2 crown. Navan O'Mahonys - M Brennan; I Matthews, A Rogers, N McKeigue; G O'Brien (0-2), S Crosby, C Reilly (0-1); Cormac McGuinness, D Moran (0-1); D Maguire, S Bray (1-4, one free), R Geraghty (0-3); S Gillespie (0-2), L Russell (0-1), A Forde (0-1). Subs - B Dillon for McKeigue 55mins, Ciaran McGuinness for Bray 55m, R Reddy for O'Brien 58m, M Sherlock for Brennan 58m, S O'Connor for Russell 58m. St Patrick's - S Byrne; D Stafford, K Whearty, A Reilly; B mooney, D Hagan, A Mooney; C Sullivan, C calvey; R Russell, D Whyte (0-1), J P Ryan; B Campbell (0-4 frees), N Whearty (0-2, one free), D Landy. Subs - R Kearns for B Mooney half-time, J Bell for Ryan half-time, B Calvey (0-1 '45') for Campbell 53 mins, C Murphy for A Mooney 56m, A Vickers for Calvey 58m. Referee - Marcus Quinn (Clann na nGael).