O'Mahonys seek success on various fronts

Sunday proved to be a very busy day for the coaches and mentors of Navan O’Mahonys u-15 camogie players with two club teams winning finals.

Colin O'Brien

The u-15 Division C girls were up first. On an unseasonably mild morning that would have been more in keeping with September than mid-November they took on Drumree in Dunganny.

Drumree had narrowly beaten O’Mahonys in their earlier group game and so another tight affair was expected here. Often finals can fail to live up to their pre-match hype but this one did not disappoint. It was a rip-roaring contest that captured the attention of everyone in attendance from the first whistle.

The evenly matched teams played some excellent camogie and went score for score throughout the 60 minutes. Vital scores by Amy Haim, Genevieve Dorrigan and Amy Betson were cancelled out by similar efforts at the other end of the field by the girls in Red and White.

O’Mahonys stuck to their task and inspired by some excellent defending by Grace Kielty and clinical finishing by the live wire Holly McKeigue pushed for home. However, credit to the Drumree girls they met the challenge head on and actually led by the minimum heading into the closing stages.

Just when it looked like their name could be on the cup , up stepped the ice cool Lauren Donegan to convert a free to send this pulsating encounter into extra time. In a nail-biting extra period, Eva Roe finished a crucial goal to the Drumree net to push the blue & white hoops back into the lead .

Drumree answered back with two points of their own and were pushing hard for a winner. As the game entered the closing stages O’Mahonys netminder Sarah Connolly stood firm to make some point-blank saves to ensure the Navan girls got over the line by the narrowest of winning margins.

A fantastic result for O’Mahonys but credit must go to a valiant Drumree team who also contributed massively to the spectacle.

Result Navan O’Mahonys 5-5 Drumree 4-7

Navan O'Mahonys - Sarah Connelly , Martha Tansey, Grace Kielty , Allannah McAreavey, Eva Roe, Anna Browne, Anna Killoran, Amy Betson , Lauren Donegan , Genevieve Dorrigan , Holly McKeigue , Laura O’Donnell, Amy Hain , Kellie Behan, Eabha Wickham , Abigail Callan (Capt.) , Lara Fanning , Amy O’Donnell, Caoimhe Lambe.

The final whistle had barely been blown in Dunganny when it was time to draw breath and go at it again. In the u-15 Division A final the venue was the Trim Road, this time the opposition was Na Fianna. Anyone who has followed underage camogie in Meath over the last few years can testify that matches beaten these two clubs usually produce fireworks.

Helped by the excellent pitch conditions and fine weather both teams served up another classic. If the O’Mahonys mentors felt their nerves were a little frayed by events in Dunganny earlier that morning, this match did nothing to help them!

The Navan girls seemed to be playing the better camogie but try as they might they just couldn’t shake the Baconstown girls off. Every single ball was contested with 100% commitment as players from both teams threw themselves into the tackle without even the slightest concern for their own safety.

A fine early goal by wing forward Ruth Stewart settled the O’Mahonys girls down but Na Fianna didn’t take long to find their stride and at half time only a point separated the two teams with O’Mahonys leading by a point 1.04 to 1.03.

There was to be no let up from either team in the second half, if anything the intensity somehow raised another notch and both teams put together some excellent passages of play. All that is good about this great sport was in full view in this period with spectators treated to high fielding, hard running, excellent striking, wonderful score taking and ferocious hooking and blocking.

The O’Mahonys half back line of Kitty O’Rourke, Dayna Keogh and Caoimhe McKenna repelled countless Na Fianna attacks. Behind them Sarah Byrne gave an exhibition of full back play. Milly Murray & Aoibhinn Kielty displayed a relentless work rate in midfield and in attack Sadhbh Byrne and Cara Ratty showed their class.

When Cara Ratty netted mid-way through the second half it looked as if O’Mahonys could create a bit of a buffer on the scoreboard for the first time in the match however Na Fianna never dropped their heads and kept contesting every ball. A last-minute Na Fianna goal left only a point between the teams. Were we heading for extra time again?

Thankfully this time there was no need to go through that nerve shredding experience again and the final whistle was sounded to roars of approval from all Brews Hill supporters in attendance.

No more than Drumree in the earlier game, huge credit should go to the Na Fianna team for their display here. They pushed O’Mahonys to their absolute limit and just came out on the wrong side of the result.

All in all, a truly remarkable achievement for the young camogie players of Navan O’Mahonys with almost 40 girls seeing game-time across both finals. A day that will live long in the memory of anyone who was lucky enough to witness both games and hopefully a portent of great things to come.

Result Navan O’Mahonys 2-8 Na Fianna 2-7

Navan O'Mahonys - Salomeja Slushnyte , Aoife Potts , Sarah Byrne , Orna Maguire , Dayna Keogh , Kitty O’Rourke, Caoimhe McKenna , Aoibhin Kielty, Milly Murray , Caoimhe Mulchrone , Hannah Snow , Ruth Stewart , Cara Ratty (Capt.) , Sophie Craig , Sadhbh Byrne, Abbie McCullagh, Rebecca Briggs , Chloe Gallagher , Saidhbhin Power

U-15

In a tightly fought game, it was Daniel Joseph’s first half goal that proved to be the difference for Navan O’Mahonys, as they progress to the u-15 premier final.

With O’Mahonys playing with the breeze and shooting in to the brews hill end in the first half, they opened up a well earned 6 point lead. Points from play from Cillian Roe and Bobby Gaffney were the pick of the scores for the Hoops in the opening half.

It was St Colmcille's who had the better of the opening exchanges in the second half, notching three unanswered points. The teams traded scores for the remainder of the game and in a nail biting finish, St Colmcille's were unable to find the all important goal to level the sides.

U-13

Navan O'Mahonys 3-10

Na Fianna 1-10

Navan O'Mahonys were crowned u-13 Roinn B champions at the weekend with a win over an excellent Na Fianna team. The winners raced into a big lead aided by a strong breeze in the first half. Goals from Harry McGuirk helped the Navan boys to a 2-6 to 0-4 half time lead.

Momentum shifted drastically in the third quarter as Na Fianna registered 1-5 to no reply. It was at that stage when the winners found a renewed foothold in the game.

A close range goal from Mohamed Jaafar and a well worked clincher from captain Cormac Fitzsimons sealed the deal.

Navan O'Mahonys - Kaylum Conway, Odhran Ratty, Conan Tansey, Oisin Tiernan, Gabriel Liu, Gabriel Phelan, Cormac Fitzsimons, Mark Gordon, Eoghan Darcy, Mohamed Jaffar, Luke Farrelly, Harry McGuirk, Max Rogers, Sean Rogers, Cody Clarke, Darragh Heatinge, Evan Doyle, Liam Coleman, Luke Murphy, Daniel Bellew.

U-21 HURLING

Navan O’Mahony’s 2-9 Donaghmore/Ashbourne 4-9

Things just didn’t seem to click for Navan O’Mahony’s in this U-21 B HC in Ashbourne on Sunday afternoon. The old sayings oft hold true and that seemed to be the case today – goals win matches.

The hosts got off to the better start with two points within the first five minutes, giving them an early lead. An impressive Sean McDermott goal briefly gave Navan O’Mahony’s the lead before Donaghmore/Ashbourne drew level again with a point.

With no score for the best part of ten minutes, Donaghmore/Ashbourne found the net to put themselves three points to the fore. Two points within a minute from McDermott and Cormac Keyes narrowed the deficit to the minimum once again. Side-stepping the opposing defender, Finn Malone was through on goal and made no mistake in picking his spot and finding it.

This two point lead was soon wiped away when Donaghmore/Ashbourne got two goals in as many minutes, before slotting over two points as the clock approached thirty minutes. Midfielder Jack Flynn managed to add one more for his side before the break, but Navan O’Mahony’s were left with a lot to do in the second-half.

Navan O’Mahony’s 2-3 Donaghmore/Ashbourne 3-8

Malone opened the second half with a well-taken, long-distance score. After eight minutes, Donaghmore/Ashbourne found the net once again and followed this up with a point five minutes later. Midway through the half, this left eleven points between the sides.

While they were unable to bridge the deficit in the time available to them, Navan O’Mahony’s can be pleased with the fact that they didn’t give up and kept the scoreboard ticking over. Flynn added to his earlier score with two good points in quick succession.

Malone also added another point, with the final scores of the game coming from Keyes, who scored two late points. The sides are likely to meet again in the later stages of the competition, where another good battle can be expected.

Navan O’Mahony’s - Max Lafford, Thomas Cully, Finn McNally, Riordan Russell, Evan Cully, Evan Brady, Michael Reavey, Jack Flynn (0-3), Colm O’Toole, Cormac Keyes (0-3), Shane McCarthy, Ed Nash, Sean McDermott (1-1), Eoghan Nugent, Finn Malone (1-2), Jack Quinn for Reavey.