O'Mahonys miss out in final replay

Colin O'Brien

In spite of it being level at half time Navan O'Mahonys lost out to St Peter's in the MFC Div 2 Liam Tolan Cup final at Fr McManus Park on Tuesday evening with the Dunboyne club claiming victory by 1-13 to 1-6.

In typically wet November conditions, it was an uncharacteristically subdued performance from Navan O’Mahony’s.

With a large crowd gathered in Fr McManus Park, Rían Porter opened the scoring for Navan O’Mahony’s with a well-taken point. This was soon followed up with two points for St Peters Dunboyne, propelling them into an early lead.

Tiarnan Black managed to break through the St Peters Dunboyne defence and a powerful shot for goal deflected off a Dunboyne player and into the net. Two further points from Black and Porter left Navan O’Mahony’s four points to the advantage with less than ten minutes gone.

In spite of the slippy conditions, both sides looked dangerous when they got in the scoring zone and Navan O’Mahony’s will be left ruing missed opportunities at this stage of the game.

After twenty minutes, there was three points between the sides. In the twenty-sixth minute, a well-placed rocket of a shot reached the top corner of the Navan O’Mahony’s net, putting the sides on even footing approaching half time.

In response to this, Navan O’Mahony’s edged in front once again with a point from Jack Quinn but before half time, St Peters Dunboyne matched this at the other end of the field and the sides were level at the interval, 1-5 apiece.

With all to play for in the second half, it was the Dunboyne lads who got off to a better start, opening their scoring after two minutes. After twelve minutes, they had taken a three point lead and looked to be largely in control of the game.

Midway through the second half, a Porter free was Navan O’Mahony’s only score of the second half. A number of frees pushed St Peters Dunboyne further into the lead and left Navan O’Mahony’s with too much to do with the time remaining.

An impressive save by netminder Ciaran Scott managed to keep St Peters Dunboyne goalless in the second half, but having enough points to claim the day.

This is an impressive group of footballers, with many of them eligible to play minor football in 2023. We look forward to seeing them competing for the MFC again next year and those who are overage next year can look forward to an adult career in the blue and white of Navan O’Mahony’s.

Navan O’Mahony’s - Ciaran Scott, Colm O’Toole, Riordan Russell, Jamie Maguire, Jack Lafford, Padraig McEvoy, Kian McGee, Evan Cully, Ivo Fitzherbert, Tiarnan Black (1-2), Cormac Nugent, Jack Quinn (0-1), Eoghan Nugent, Rían Porter (0-3), Patrick Yourell. Subs - Mark Murphy for Maguire, Diarmuid O Bric for McGee, Ciaran McAreavey for Cully, Jack Coyle for Porter, Sean Betson, Adam Fagan, CJ Cashin, Sean McNally, Callum Kearney, Christopher Stapleton, Conor McCarthy, Jamie O’Reilly, Rían McDaid