Duleek-Bellewstown put O'Mahonys to the sword in IFC decider

Duleek-Bellewstown were comfortable winners of the IFC decider on Saturday at Devenish Park.

Duleek-Bellewstown 2-2-13 (23)

Navan 0’Mahonys 1-2-6 (13)

Duleek-Bellewstown pulled away from Navan O’Mahonys in the final quarter and secured their return to senior football with a comfortable win in the IFC decider at Devenish Park on Saturday.

Not many would have predicted ahead of the final that Duleek-Bellewstown would win the Mattie McDonnell Cup by such a wide margin. It was expected to be a much closer affair and if anything it was the Brews Hill side who were very slight favourites ahead of the clash.

There is no doubting who was the better side on the day and for a large portion of the contest, Anthony Malone’s side was well on top but it was in the last quarter that they really pulled away from the opposition.

Duleek-Bellewstown did hold a significant five-point lead at half-time but after the break Navan O’Mahonys hit a purple patch and with around 20 minutes left, Darren Clarke's charges led by three points.

However, Duleek-Bellewstown finished the contest very strong and scored 2-7 without reply to seal their safe-passage back to the SFC for the first time since they were relegated in 2017. The midfield duo of Shane Crosby and Robin Clarke stood out for the now IFC champions.

Alan Bowden made a serious impact when he was introduced at half-time. Eamonn Armstrong did get on a lot of ball but his impact was largely curtailed by the opposition however, runners from deep such as Oisin Miland and Ciaran Byrne caused a lot of issues for Navan O’Mahonys.

Clarke’s men will be disappointed overall with their performance. There was a 10-minute spell after half-time where Navan O’Mahonys played some lovely football. However, the fact that 1-6 of their 1-10 tally was scored between the 31st and 41st minute speaks volumes about their showing outside of that purple patch.

There was no score in the contest for the first nine minutes until eventually Shane Crosby slotted a nice two-pointer. Two minutes later, Crosby was involved in the build-up for a goal chance which fell to Joe Hartford but his effort skinned the left-hand side post.

Cormac Nugent restored parity with two points in quick succession before Crosby repeated his earlier trick and raised another orange flag to put the eventual winners ahead by two at the end of the first quarter.

Oisin Miland came from deep and landed a nice point before Tom Bowden slotted a good free. Sam O’Leary got on the end of a nice move and split the posts. Soon after, Miland raised his second white flag to put Duleek-Bellewstown six points ahead.

The two opposing midfielders, Robin Clarke and Aodhan Mallon traded scores. In the 27th minute Paddy Dillon struck a lovely point with the outside of his left boot. At half-time though it was Duleek-Bellewstown who were in the driving seat with a 0-9 to 0-4 advantage.

Navan O’Mahonys shifted gears after the restart and within two minutes the men in blue and white hoops were level. A well-struck two-pointer from Dillon was followed a minute later by a goal polished off by Evan Coffey.

Johnny McDonnell edged the eventual winners ahead again. Dillon was unlucky not to register another two-pointer as his effort from deep came back off the post.

A lovely move in the 38th minute saw Navan O’Mahonys switch the ball right across the field with some nice link-up play involving Dillon, Niall McGrane and Mallon before Robbie Keelaghan split the posts. McGrane then played a nice one-two with Darragh Maguire before he raised a white flag and put his side ahead by one with 20 minutes left.

McGrane’s score was quickly followed by a super two-pointer from Mallon which extended Navan O’Mahonys advantage to three points. However, that score transpired to be Clarke’s side's last as Duleek-Bellewstown seized complete control of the contest.

The turning point for Duleek-Bellewstown when their half-time substitute Alan Bowden rattled off three points on the spin to draw the sides level. In the 53rd minute Robin Clarke recieved the ball at the peak of the arc and burst past two or three players before he laid it off to Sam O’Leary who had made a nice run from wide and O’Leary slotted the ball past Jamie O’Reilly to put Duleek-Bellewstown ahead by three points.

In the 58th and 59th minute Alan Bowden and O’Leary put the game beyond Navan O’Mahonys with two more points in quick succession. In the 62nd minute, a poor kick-out from O’Reilly went straight to John Flood who ran straight at the Navan O’Mahonys goalmouth before he was cynically fouled by Conor Brady.

Brady was given a black card for denying Flood a goal-scoring opportunity and a penalty was awarded. In truth, Duleek-Bellewstown already had one hand on the Mattie McDonnell trophy even before Crosby slotted away the penalty.

Further points late in injury time from Flood and Eoghan Heeney rubbed salt into the wounds for Navan O’Mahonys and the final whistle confirmed Duleek-Bellewstown as IFC champions for 2026.

Duleek-Bellewstown: Ryan Lynch; Cillian Kirwan, Colm Regan, Glen Callaghan; Cianan Byrne, Tom Bowden (0-1 free), Oisín Miland (0-2); Shane Crosby (1-4 two two-pointers, 1-0 penalty), Robin Clarke (0-1); Kyle Doherty, Eamonn Armstrong, Sam O’Leary (1-2); Johnny McDonnell (0-1), John Flood (0-1), Joe Hartford. Subs: Alan Bowden (0-4) for Hartford half-time, Eoghan Heeney (0-1) for McDonnell 47m, Kyle Callaghan for Doherty 53m, Elliot Lenehan for O’Leary 60m, Robert Caffrey for Miland 63m.

Navan O’Mahonys: Jamie O’Reilly; Darragh Murphy, Paddy Dillon (0-3 one two-pointer), Conor Brady; Darragh Maguire, Niall McGrane (0-1), Sean Betson; Niall Higgins, Aodhan Mallon (0-3 one two-pointer); Ivo Fitzherbert, Jack Quinn, Duggie Dillon; Ronan Clarke, Evan Coffey (1-0), Cormac Nugent (0-2). Subs: Robbie Keelaghan (0-1) for Nugent half-time, Eoghan Nugent for Maguire 44m, Christy Dillon for Quinn, Conor Finnegan for Fitzherbert both 50m, Shane McCarthy for Dillon 59m.

Referee: Andrew Smith (Dunshaughlin).