There was a Feis Cup rainbow over Navan O'Mahonys last night

Emphatic win for Navan O'Mahonys

By the time Eimhin Power had rifled to the net a goal after 25 minutes, this first round Feis Cup tie had ended as a contest as Navan O'Mahonys recorded a 4-18 to 0-6 win against Curraha WRITES COLIN O'BRIEN.

On a warm, bright evening at Brews Hill, the hosts were dominant from the off, and Eoin Joyce’s pointed free after less than a minute set the tone for what would be a one-sided campaign opener.

This was a youthful line-up, and the Hoops’ attacked with abandon, playing several kick passes from deep to willing runners in their full forward line.

Seán Walsh opened his team’s goal scoring account, finishing from a rebounded shot that had been well saved by the Curraha goalkeeper.

The goal was bookmarked by points from Jake Regan, as the Brews Hill outfit capitalised on some unforced errors by their opposition.

Further points from Walsh, Brian Dillon and Regan led to the aforementioned Power goal - by this stage, O’Mahony’s were coasting.

The heavy shower that preceded throw in gave the surface a slickness, meaning each kick pass played in by the Navan side carried with it a menacing air.

Darragh Maguire’s fisted effort after 27 minutes was the result of a long, arcing pass well-gathered by Regan, who laid it off to Maguire on the loop. Simple but effective football was the order of the evening.

The Hoops’ first half scoring was backboned by the industrious work of midfield pairing Conor Finnegan and Conor Brady.

The duo worked tirelessly to disrupt the Curraha kickout and linked the play efficiently.

Evan Coffey rounded off an O’Mahony’s dominated half, collecting a fist pass from Walsh and slotting calmly into the bottom right hand corner.

Curraha finished the half well, notching a point after some patient possession.

The hosts reeled off 7 unanswered points after the resumption, the pick of these coming from debutant Shane McCarthy, who had replaced goal scorer Power.

This long, left-footed effort that looped between the posts was just one of several well-taken scores in the second half from O’Mahony’s.

Curraha didn’t wilt, and began to win possession from their own kickouts.

They boosted their tally to 4 points mid-way through the second half and will take heart from the creation of some good scoring chances.

When they did manage to penetrate the O’Mahony’s defence, the visitors were repelled by sturdy defending from Paddy Dillon, Mike O’Reilly and Evan Brady in their team’s rear-guard.

The home side’s coaching ticket of Davy’s Nelson, Beggy and Bray will be satisfied with the manner in which their young charges finished the game. Clayton O’Sullivan goaled in injury time and Walsh, with the last kick of the game, rounded off a high-scoring evening.

Navan O’Mahonys - Colm Honan, Evan Brady, Mike O’Reilly, Paddy Dillon, Brian Dillon (0-1), James O’Reilly, Aodhán Mallon (0-2), Conor Finnegan, Conor Brady, Evan Coffey (1-3), Eimhin Power (1-0), Darragh Maguire (0-1), Eoin Joyce (0-2), Jake Regan (0-4), Seán Walsh (1-2). Subs: Jack Bellamy for Maguire, Shane McCarthy (0-1) for Power, Clayton O’Sullivan for Joyce (1-0), Sam Formosa for B. Dillon.

Curraha - Luke McCarthy, Mark Jackson, Matthew Webb, Seamus Hogan, Andrew Coyle, Niall Murphy, Conor Joyce, Rob McGovern, Brian Joyce, Oisin Fay, Sean Keogh, Ian Battersby, Gavin Coyle, Evan McGovern. Ben Heagney. Subs: Matthew Brennan for Ian Battersby. Liam Hogan for Luke McCarthy. Ian Battersby for Conor Joyce. Conor Moriarty for Rob McGovern. Jamie Cleary for Ben Heagney. Daniel Doran for Brian Joyce.