Navan O'Mahonys turn on the style to win u-21 decider

Navan O'Mahonys produced a sparkling performance to win the u-21 FC final with plenty to spare against Gaeil Colmcille at Pairc Tailteann on Saturday evening where Alan Forde (pictured) was the best player on the park. Forde has tremendous pace and he covered ground effortlessly throughout. O'Mahonys started at a blistering pace and laid the foundations for victory in the opening two minutes with a goal and a point. Even at that early stage of the game it was fairly obvious that there was huge gulf in class between the teams and while Gaeil Colmcille battled with great determination and character, they were unable to find any answers to the series of questions that the Navan side posed. Gaeil Colmcille had plenty of talented footballers with a full-forward line that included Saemus Mattimoe and Danny McGovern and midfield wasn't too bad either with Conor Murray and Seanie Curran fighting the good fight. However, O'Mahonys were strong in every department and apart from Forde, they had players of the calibre of Conor Finnegan at full-back, Paul McGrath and Darragh Maguire at midfield and an abundance of options in attack where Darragh Smyth, Michael Kelly, Shane Gillespie, Jake Regan and Cathal Smith were all fluent for the hour. Forde claimed the opening point after only 18 seconds and Darragh Smyth added a goal after Kelly's pace made the opening. Kelly chased a ball that looked as if it was going wide, gained possession and then picked out Darragh Smyth on the edge of the square for a simple finish. Leading by 1-1 at that stage, O'Mahonys added points from Kelly and Regan soon after and even when Gaeil Colmcille managed a pointed '45' from Curran it didn't look like it would be of any real benefit. That view was reinforced when Cathal Smith (two frees), Regan and Forde added points for a 1-7 to 0-1 advantage before Gaeil Colmcille found some rhythm with points by McGovern and Mattimoe. Forde pointed for O'Mahonys in between those scores for a 1-8 to 0-3 interval lead and his performance was one of the reasons why the Kells side struggled. Forde was a central figure in everything positive for O'Mahonys and he survived a number of tackles that earned yellow cards for the perpetrators. O'Mahonys eased further ahead in the second-half as the points flowed with Forde was in the driving seat. Points from Cathal Smith (two), Darragh Smyth (two), Forde, McGrath, Gillespie and Regan put the issue beyond any doubt. Gillespie added a goal in the closing stages with McGovern (three) and Mattimoe adding points for Gaeil Colmcille. Navan O'Mahonys - J Walsh; C Lynn, C Finnegan, K Reddy; J Reilly (0-1), C Walsh, D Louth; P McGrath (0-1), D Maguire; D Smyth (1-3), A Forde (0-4), M Kelly (0-1); S Gillespie (1-1), J Regan (0-3 one free), C Smith (0-4 three frees). Subs - G Power for Lynn 32 mins, E Murtagh for Louth 38m, J Power (0-1) for Smith 52m, L Murrell for Maguire 54m. Gaeil Colmcille - J Skelly; C Ferguson, P Tormay, D Tormay; S Reilly, C Keegan, B Tormay; S Curran (0-1 '45'), C Murray; O Reilly, B Farrelly, F Ferguson; D McGovern (0-4), S Mattimoe (0-2 one free), G McGovern. Subs - C Roche for G McGovern half-time, A McGovern for Reilly 58 mins. Referee - Des Smith (St Ultan's).