A FL Div 2 final: Oldcastle cut loose to scoop title
July 15, 2018
Syddan's Daire Rowe with Oldcastle keeper Conor McHugh during the Meath Division 2 FL: final at Pairc Tailteann
Oldcastle cut loose against Syddan in the latter stages of the FL Division 2 final at Pairc Tailteann on Sunday.
Oldcastle 4-15 Syddan 0-14
With three-quarters of the game gone, Oldcastle led by just two points, 0-12 to 0-10. Then the men in blue made their mark outscoring Syddan by 4-3 to 0-4 in the time remaining.
Robert Farrelly took scoring honours with 2-4 as Oldcastle clinched league promotion for the second year running and gained possession of the Kevin McConnell Cup that honours the memory of a legendary Syddan and Meath GAA figure.
Farrelly's opening goal in the 46th minute owed much to a Peter Monaghan solo run in along the endline at the town end.
Syddan weren't done and hit back with points from Brian Dillon and their top scorer Daire Rowe (free).
A brace of CJ Healy points helped move Oldcastle six clear, 1-15 to 0-12, by the 52nd minute before Farrelly's second goal.
Syddan tagged on another pair of points, both Rowe frees. Goals in the final minutes from Monaghan and Stephen Tierney added gloss to a merited Oldcastle success.
In a closely contested first-half, the scores were tied just twice. Syddan were first to show with points from Patrick Farrelly and Sean Clare. Oldcastle responded to lead by 0-4 to 0-2 by the 17th minutes
Maintaining momentum, Oldcastle moved 0-7 to 0-4 ahead by the 27th minute after goalkeeper Conor McHugh landed a 35-metre free.
Syddan close the half with four unanswered points, a trio of Rowe scores preceeded a Patrick Farrelly effort that earned them a 0-8 to 0-7 interval advantage.
Oldcastle posted five unanswered points within 12 minutes of resumption to move three clear approaching the mid-point of the half.
Syddan rallied briefly with points from Brian Dillon (free) and Sean Clare to cut the gap to two heading into the final quarter.
Oldcastle: Conor McHugh (0-2, 1f, 1 45)); Eoin Gilsenan, Cian McPartland, Oran O'Reilly; Darren Hawdon; Gerard Reidy, Jason Scully (0-1f); Ross Cadden, Patrick Rahill (0-2);CJ Healy (0-4), Ronan Maguire, Keith Connell (C); Patrick Kevin, Peter Monaghan (1-2), Robert Farrelly (2-4, 0-1f). Subs: Robert Smith for Connell (41), Stephen Tierney (1-0) for Kevin (50), Niall Mangan for Maguire (56), Ronan Taggart for E Gilsenan (57), Lee Healy for CJ Healy (59), Thomas Flood for O O'Reilly (59).
Syddan: Ciaran Farrelly (C); Mark Fedigan, Ronan Mooney, Ryan Summersby; Stuart Fedigan, Andrew Garland, Michael Fedigan; Sean Clare (0-2), Padraic Dillon (0-1); Graham Garland, Daire Rowe (0-8, 0-5fs), Patrick Farrelly (0-1); Brian Dillon (0-2 1f), Gary Farrelly, Cormac Rowe. Subs: Stephen Tallon for R Mooney (4), Cormac Rafferty for P Dillon (53), Cathal Dardis for Farrelly (56)
Referee: Pat Clarke (Seneschalstown)
