Domhnach Mór Cill Dhéagláin 4-12 Naomh Moninne 3-11

Donaghmore Ashbourne hurlers secured the Leinster League Division 5 title with a four-point win over Naomh Moninne HC (Louth) on home soil on Sunday.

Moninne would get the first score with a good effort from the right wing before Don/Ash responded, first through James McKeown before a Tom Ryan free after good work in the forward line forced a Moninne defender to overcarry. The lead would be extended further five minutes in as Don/Ash raised their first green flag.

Eoin Breathnach latched on to a ball in and rounded the goalkeeper, only to see his shot hit the post and come back across the goal – right into the path of Seán O’Sullivan, who finished to the empty net.

However, Moninne would fire back with a goal of their own when corner-forward Robbie Matthews turned his man and struck from close range, before two further points levelled the game with 15 on the clock.

Another brace of frees from Ryan gave the Moors the advantage again but it wouldn’t last long as the Louth side were awarded a penalty, which Dylan Carey dispatched past Tom Burnell to put them in front. They would have gone further clear moments later if not for Burnell, who reacted quick to beat away a stinging shot.

The sides would trade points before the whistle, with another two scores from Ryan pushing the home side into a one point half time lead.

HT: Domhnach Mór Cill Dhéagláin 1-8 0-10 Naomh Moninne

Like the first half, Moninne opened the scoring with Dylan Carey levelling the game, but Don/Ash responded brilliantly with two goals in sixty seconds. The first came when Davin Jones broke free from his man and saw his shot saved well by the Moninne keeper, but the ball ricocheted perfectly for the onrushing Breathnach to bat home.

The roles were reversed following the next puckout, as Don/Ash forced the turnover in midfield and played it in to Breathnach. With two men on his back, he held the ball up long enough for Jones to steal it from the ruck and finish well to the corner.

Carey would put over two points in response and the lead would have been halved if not for a brilliant double-save from Burnell, the second of which saw him dive at a loose ball to block a strike with his body when a goal seemed certain.

That proved crucial, as the Moors rocked the visitors with their fourth goal nine minutes into the second half when Colm Ó Méalóid won a puckout and looked to have put over a point. The ball dropped short, where Jones challenged the Moninne keeper and got the better of the exchange – the ball dropping to his feet and him pulling on it to the net.

Sean O’Sullivan pointed to extend the lead, but Moninne weren’t giving in easy, with a number of Louth players keeping them in the fight. One of those, Conor Murphy, hit a third goal for the visitors, but scores from Ryan, Luke Andrews and Patrick Moran sealing a six-point win for the Moors and their first trophy since 2015.

FT: Domhnach Mór Cill Dhéagláin 4-12 3-11 Naomh Moninne

Donaghmore Ashbourne: T Burnell, C Field, F Hogan, S McKenna, T Ryan, S Benville, J McKeown, R Thomas, O Daly, C Ó Méalóid, A Tormey, P Moran, S O’Sullvian, E Breathnach, D Jones

Subs: Luke Andrews for Hogan

Scorers: Ryan (0-8), Jones (2-0), Breathnach (1-0), O’Sullivan (1-1), Andrews (0-1), Moran (0-1), McKeown (0-1)

Report and photos: Donaghmore Ashbourne 

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