Oldcastle and O'Mahonys have to be happy with a draw
Oldcastle 1-11
Navan O’Mahonys 2-8
EALMA PURCELL
A draw is better than a loss, but a win is better than a draw, and the Oldcastle lads will be rueing missed opportunities to take the win in this opening match of the IFC for both these teams.
The first half was a torrid affair for Oldcastle, with O’Mahonys dominating the game, and the blustery wind not doing Oldcastle any favours either.
Conor Delaney got Oldcastle off the mark, with two from Garrett O’Reilly and a lovely CJ free seeing both sides on four points. O’Mahonys added on another, but CJ retaliated with a fine score, level again.
The next NOM attack resulted in a lovely long-range point, and was followed by a converted free, followed by the hammer blow of a goal, to leave the Navan side five ahead.
Oldcastle attacked again and again but each fizzled out without a score, before O'Mahonys came again just before the first half ended, with another point, to leave it Oldcastle 0-5, Navan O’Mahonys 1-8 at the break.
It was an energised Oldcastle who came out of the dressing room, and they made their intentions clear from the start, with Jason Scully getting a great ball in to Ronan Maguire, on to Garrett O'Reilly who shot for goal, blasted off the crossbar and back out!
The next NOM attack was halted by a super Conor Delaney intercept, the ball broke to Colin Hawdon and up the field, a great ball way up to Garrett who made a lovely pass to the speedy CJ coming up alongside; CJ shoots and yes! right to the back of the net for a super goal, game on!
The O’Mahonys’ kickout was brought down by Keith Connell, on to Garrett, to Scully, on to Pearse Sheridan and back to Scully who sent her over the bar. Cian McPartland and Oran O’Reilly were putting serious pressure on the Navan lads now. They looked rattled, and the next NOM attack resulted in a free which they sent wide, with the Packie Kevin kickout to Ronan Maguire going upfield via CJ, in to the waiting Garrett O’Reilly and over the bar.
O’Mahony’s kept possession of the next ball until the Oldcastle 30 yard line, where a bit of a melee ensued, and out of it emerged Jason Scully, ball in hand and heading in the right direction, great run upfield and a lovely ball in to CJ for a mark on the 20 yard line, he tipped her over to level the match once more!
With that, the kickout was fisted down by Colin Hawdon to Garrett, who was awarded a free, CJ to take, and he coolly tipped her over the bar again, for a one point lead!
Back to reality with the next play, NOM’s working her all the way upfield and managing to wrangle a goal, ahead once more! Packie’s kickout found Ronan Maguire, on to Keith Connell who made a great run, and finally in to James Cooke, having a super match, and over she went for the point.
NOM attacked again, but Keith Connell cleared it, back to Packie Kevin, onwards to Colin Hawdon, to Lee Healy with a good run, back to Colin, to Dylan Garrigan and finally to Pearse Sheridan who sent her between the posts., level match once again!
With about six or seven minutes played out after that, O’Mahonys shot two wides, but Oldcastle had some super chances to take the win, but with a few missed passes or saved shots, it just wasn’t to be, and when the referee blew up the match the sides were level.
Oldcastle - Packie Kevin, Dylan Garrigan, Cian McPartland, Oran O’Reilly, Lee Healy, Darren Hawdon, Ronan Maguire, Jason Scully (0-1), James Cooke (0-1), Conor Delaney (0-1), Pearse Sheridan (0-1), Keith Connell, Colin Hawdon, CJ Healy (1-4), Garrett O’Reilly (0-3). Subs - Paddy Gilsenan, Paddy Rahill, Louis Colleran, Eoin Smith.
Navan O'Mahonys view
COLIN O'BRIEN
Both teams left Ballinlough frustrated yet relieved in equal measure on Saturday evening when the sides were left to share the two points on offer. The final quarter saw both sides squander opportunities to take the lead and a draw looked a fair result.
With a gale-force wind behind them, Navan O’Mahony’s opened the scoring with a pointed free from Jake Regan. This was nullified within seconds at the other end of the pitch, when Oldcastle scored from play. Conor Finnegan managed to edge his side in front again but the sides were soon level when Oldcastle split the posts.
In the sixth minute, Regan kicked an excellent point from play from nearly at the sideline, added to by a well-taken point by Louis Collins shortly after. The next three minutes kept the umpires busy with Oldcastle converting a free and a mark before Regan scored, this time from the opposite sideline.
The sides were level for five minutes until Navan O’Mahony’s worked the ball through a number of players until Paddy Dillon was in a scoring opportunity and split the posts. A free from Regan left two points in it until approaching half time, Mike O’Reilly gave a perfect pass across the square to Darragh Maguire who palmed it to the net to put some distance between the sides for the first time. A Collins point in injury time put six between the sides at the break
Navan O’Mahony’s 1-08 Oldcastle 0-05
Against the wind in the second half, Navan O’Mahony’s had a lot of work to do. In the opening minutes of the half, Oldcastle were through on goal but were denied by the crossbar. A couple of minutes later, however, they did get through to find the net, leaving three points between the sides.
Struggling to add scores of their own, Navan O’Mahony’s missed a number of opportunities sending some wide with others dropping short. By the tenth minute, the sides were level once again and less than a minute later, Oldcastle had taken the lead for the first time with a free.
Navan O’Mahony’s worked the ball down the field again and once more it was O’Reilly who set out the all-important pass. This time corner forward Oisin O’Brien was the recipient who found the net, to put the Brews Hill charges two points to the advantage again.
Oldcastle responded immediately, pointing from play from the resulting kickout and leaving the narrowest of margins between the sides. Another point in the fifteenth minute meant the sides were all square again. Indeed it proved to be the last point of the game as both sides struggled to convert chances in the final quarter.
Both teams dropped a number of balls short as well as kicking wides, while both sets of defenders also dispossessed on several occasions. Navan O’Mahony’s Darragh Murphy proved most effective for his side at this, winning a number of balls and guiding them up the pitch.
Navan O’Mahonys - Aaron Byrne, Darragh Murphy, Brian Dillon, Paddy Dillon (0-1), Louis Collins (0-2), Mike O’Reilly, Darragh Maguire (1-0), Niall McGrane, Conor Finnegan (0-1), Evan Coffey, Cathal Smyth, Aodhan Mallon, Ronan Clarke, Jake Regan (0-4), Oisin O’Brien (1-0).
Subs - Eoin Joyce for Collins, Duggie Dillon for Clarke, Shane Maguire for Finnegan, Jack McConnell for O’Brien.