Navan O’Mahony’s 1-14
Bective 1-06
Navan O’Mahony’s progressed to the last four of the Intermediate Football Championship, overcoming Bective in front of a big crowd in Simonstown.
Bective opened the scoring with a free in the first ninety seconds. On the five-minute mark, Ronan Clarke opened the scoring for O’Mahony’s, followed a minute later by a free from Aodhan Mallon. During this time, O’Mahony’s also had a number of balls drop short and wides in this time.
Netminder Niall Devlin lost possession in the square and was forced to foul the Bective player, leading to a penalty. This was duly converted and gave Bective the lead again. O’Mahony’s recovered well and points from Robbie Keelaghan and Ivo Fitzherbert drew the sides level again.
Duggie Dillon capitalised on a loose kickout after Fitzherebert’s point and put O’Mahony’s ahead once again. Rory Maguire and Damien Moran’s charges enjoyed their best period over the next eight minutes. Mallon, Keelaghan, Dillon and Oisin O’Brien all added points while Dillon found Keelaghan with a good pass to set up a goal. A dangerous ball into the square was delivered to safety by Niall McGrane. A Bective free in the 28th minute saw out the half and O’Mahony’s led by seven at the interval.
Navan O’Mahony’s 1-09
Bective 1-02
Having built up a lead in the first half, O’Mahony’s needed to ensure they kept it in the second. Captain Mike O’Reilly extended his side’s lead shortly after the resumption.
Bective narrowed the lead with a point from a free. After a couple of wides, Fitzherbert kicked an impressive point from a narrow angle. Four minutes later. Darragh Murphy made a gut-bursting run through the Bective defence, splitting the posts.
Scores were hard come by in the last quarter of the game, with O’Mahony’s focussing on preventing a Bective comeback. Both sides added two points, with Keelaghan and Fitzherbert scoring for the Brews Hill outfit.
Navan O’Mahony’s
Niall Devlin, Darragh Murphy (0-01), Brian Dillon, Sean Betson, Sam Formosa, Niall McGrane, Aodhan Mallon (0-02), Mike O’Reilly (0-01), Darragh Maguire, Ronan Clarke (0-01), Robbie Keelaghan (1-03), Shane Maguire, Oisin O’Brien (0-01), Duggie Dillon (0-02), Ivo Fitzherbert (0-03)
Conor Finnegan for S Maguire, Craig Munnelly O’Toole for Clarke, Conor Brady for D Maguire, Cormac Keyes for O’Brien, Eoin Joyce for Keelaghan
