St Mochtas and St Fechins will meet in the Intermediate Championship Final after coming through their semi-finals over the weekend with narrow victories.

The Louth Village side were pushed all the way by Mattock Rangers before emerging with a 1-10 to 0-11 win after a dramatic finale, while St Fechins came from behind in the second half to defeat Nh Fionnbarra by 2-13 to 2-8.

The first semi-final saw the Fechins meet the Finbarrs at Dunleer on Saturday evening and it was the Termonfeckin side who got off to a flying start when 1-3 from Ronan Holcroft helped them lead by 1-5 to no score inside the first quarter.

However, the Finbarrs finally settled into the game and a goal from Conor Osborne helped reduce the deficit to 1-6 to 1-3 at the break.

It could have been even better for the Ballygassan side but Bernard Osborne saw his penalty crash off the post.

The Barrs continued their revival in the second half and a goal from William Woods saw his side move into a 2-6 to 1-6 lead after 39 minutes.

However, the Fechins responded well to the challenge and got back into the game with points from Matthew Flanagan, Holcroft and Bevan Duffy before a goal from Eoghan Duffy saw them regain the lead at 2-10 to 2-7 early in the final quarter.

The Barrs tried hard to lift themselves but the Fechins remained on top in the closing stages and late points from Holcroft and Flanagan sealed their passage into the final.

It promises to be an entertaining decider as St Mochtas will be optimistic of landing the Seamus Flood Cup after producing a fine display to see off the strongly fancied Mattock Rangers at Ardee on Sunday afternoon.

In a game where defences yielded very little space to the opposition, it was a goal from Declan Byrne on 15 minutes that proved crucial.

That score put his side 1-1 to 0-1 ahead after a very tight opening quarter and with Gareth O’Reilly, Stephen McCooey and Byrne adding points, the Louth Village men were 1-4 to 0-5 up at the interval.

The Collon side were finding it difficult to get into their rhythm but David Reid kicked three points along with scores from Adrian Reid and Ryan Leneghan to keep in touch.

Declan Byrne, Andrew English and Barry Mulholland helped extend the gap to five points with six minutes to play. However, Mattock took over in the closing stages and scores from JP Watters, Adrian Reid and David Reid saw the deficit reduced to just one point with three minutes remaining.

In a dramatic finale, the Collon side threw everything at the Mochtas in search of the equaliser but the defence stood firm and deep into injury time they broke from the back to allow Eamon O’Neill land the decisive point to see his team into the final.

Tweet

Most Read Stories