Navan O’Mahonys took to the field in Dunganny on Tuesday evening aiming to qualify for their first Minor Division 1 final since 2010. Dunboyne, many peoples favourites for the title were the opposition and it was them who scored the first point from a free in the 2nd minute.
O’Mahonys hit back immediately after a pin point kickout to Luke Casey who worked the ball to corner forward Daniel Joseph who took on his man and fired an unstoppable shot to the corner of the Dunboyne net. After a wide from both sides, Dunboyne got the next score with a point in the 8th minute. Paddy Yourell followed up with a good point from play. By the 14th minute Dunboyne had levelled the scores after 2 points from play.
The Brews Hill lads hit a purple patch over the next 10 minutes adding 5 points to the scoreboard with Cormac Nugent, Luke Casey, Rian Porter (2) and Hugh Clarke-Carolan all getting their names on the scoresheet. During that spell the O’Mahonys defence and keeper Jamie O’Reilly dealt with everything that Dunboyne threw at them. They got their first score in 13 mins from a free but Clarke-Carolan hit his second point with a monster kick from distance. This was the final score of the half and the Navan lads went in 1-07 to 0-05 in front.
The second half started with O’Mahonys braced for a period of pressure from this talented Dunboyne side and things looked ominous when Dylan Ryan burst through from half back but his shot tailed out wide. Indeed it was O’Mahonys who got the next two scores with points from Porter (free) and another Clarke-Carolan shot from distance. Dunboyne hit back with points in the 8th and 9th minute. There were no scores for the next 14 minutes with both defences coming out on top and both sides hitting two wides.
In the 23rd minute Daniel Joseph spotted Cormac Nugent in space and despite the best efforts of the Dunboyne keeper he found the back of the net which left O’Mahonys ahead by 8 points. Dunboyne scored a point almost immediately but could not find a way through the O’Mahony defence to get the goal they needed to get themselves back in the game.
A few high balls in were dealt with and O’Reilly in goals mopped up any breaking balls in around the square. Half back Euan Kerr after hitting a couple of wides, wrapped up the scoring for O’Mahonys with a fisted point. Dunboyne got the final score of the game in the 32nd minute but it was too little too late. There was a loud cheer on the final whistle as O’Mahonys reached the final on a scoreline of 2-10 to 0-10.
Navan O’Mahonys:
Jamie O’Reilly, Luke Maguire, Diarmuid O’Bric, Sebastian Snow, Euan Kerr (0-01), Michael Byrne, Brian Hughes-Magennis, Paddy Yourell (0-01), Bobby Gaffney, Hugh Clarke-Carolan (0-03), Cormac Nugent (1-01), Luke Casey (0-01), Adam McEvoy, Rian Porter (0-03), Daniel Joseph (1-00).
Subs used: Tom McGuinness, Diarmuid McCarthy, Sam O’Brien
