St. Michaels /Nobber 4-12, St. Vincents/Curraha 4-10                                               

This was all about pride as two teams battled for glory but late points from the superb Jordan Morris and Thomas Murtagh sealed victory for the north Meath combination in this excellent LMFM division 4 final played in Pairc Tailteann on Monday afternoon. Both sides deserve huge credit for the football they served up especially in the second half with the result going right down to the wire as the clock ticked well into the seventh minute of added time.

St. Vincents / Curraha made the better start and raced into a 1-6 to 0-2 lead by the end of the first quarter, their goal coming after five minutes. Cian Sheridan opened the scoring for the St. Michaels / Nobber side after eight minutes and a rasping shot to the top corner of the net from man of the match Jordan Morris should have inspired and lifted the north Meath side however St. Vincents / Curraha replied with their second major four minutes later to go 2-6 to 1-2 up on 20 minutes. By this stage the game was being played in slow motion mode with St. Vincents / Curraha sitting on their lead and St. Michaels / Nobber trying to get a grip on the game and they received the perfect pick-me-up on 27 minutes when a shot on goal from Morris was parried by keeper Evan Connor onto the boot of the in-rushing Paddy Clarke who made no mistake from the butt of the post. Both sides added a point apiece before the interval to leave it 2-7 to 2-3 in favour of St. Vincents / Curraha

St. Vincents Curraha stretched that lead by a point in the opening minute of the second half but the St. Michaels / Nobber management team's half time team talk began to bear fruit as the north Meath men seemed to have a spring in their step when they returned with Sheridan, Murtagh, Jack Condra and Ciaran O'Reilly taking control in the middle third. The impressive team captain Thomas Murtagh was on hand with another unstoppable shot to the back of the net. Morris' second goal came 10 minutes later from the penalty spot for a 4-6 to 2-9 lead following earlier points from Condra (2) and Cian Sheridan (1). Morris (2), Alex Farrell & Patrick Tobin (1) each stretched the St. Michaels / Nobber lead to 6 points with 5 minutes left on the clock however St. Vincents / Curraha had not thrown the towel in just yet and 2 goals in as many minutes levelled the match as the game entered injury time, the losers went in search of the winner and hit every part of the woodwork of the winners goal except the net but fortune favoured the brave and two breaks up-field resulted in two points from Morris & Murtagh in the third minute of added time. It was backs to the wall thereafter as the the game ran into 7 plus minutes of injury time and daylight began to fade but Niall McMahon, Harry Dunne, Alex Farrell Brian Reilly and Co were solid in defence as the north Meath combination held out for a memorable victory.      

This was an excellent team performance from St. Michaels / Nobber who sparkled all over the pitch especially in the second half, hitting some wonderful scores in the process and picking up their second MFC on the trot having secured the division 5 trophy in 2016.       

St. Michaels / Nobber: Niall McMahon; Harry Dunne, Alex Farrell (0-1), Brian Reilly; Cory McGivern, Jack Condra (0-2), Ciaran O'Reilly; Thomas Murtagh (1-1), Cian Sheridan (0-2); Ben Reilly, Patrick Tobin (0-1), Scott Doyle; Paddy Clarke (1-0), Jordan Morris (2-5), Stephen Clarke.                                                                                         Sub: Jack Dunne for Stephen Clarke.                                                                                                  

Referee: Dessie Smyth.                                                                                                                

Report by: Pascal Reilly.

Nobber Report

St Michaels/Nobber  4-12  St Vincents/Curraha  4-10 

In one of the most thrilling games games seen at the venue this year St Michaels Nobber prevailed to win the Division 4 championship title

Playing with the wind in the opening period St. Vincents/Curraha had the much brighter start opening racing into a 1.04 to .0.00 lead after 6 minutes.

Cian Sheridan opened the scoring for the victors with a eight minute point subsequently this was followed by 1.02 from Jordan Morris and a Paddy Clarke goal. Vincents/Curraha maintained their strike rate to turn over leading 2-7 to 2-3 at the break.

On the restart St V/C stretched their lead to five but again the Michaels/Nobber combination showed their character with a Thomas Murtagh goal and two points from Jack Condra and another from Cian Sheridan to level by the 39th minute.

Again St. Vincents/Curraha struck the front in the 42nd minute,but now with the victors starting to take hold they forged ahead with a Jack Condra point and a smartly taken penalty from Morris followed by two well taken points they found themselves five ahead with  fourteen minutes to play.

But again St. Vincents/Curraha struck back to level the match in the 62nd minute after two points in the intervening period from Alex Farrell and Paddy Tobin

Now well into injury time St. Vincents/Curraha had claims for a point waved wide following consultations between the referee and umpires.

On we went and following goal line clearances in both goalmouths up stepped Morris and Murtagh to score two magical points to send the silverware to North Meath.

Great credit is due to both sides for the sporting manner in which this fantastic contest was played out.

The St Michaels /Nobber: Niall McMahon, Harry Dunne, Alex Farrell 0-1, Brian Reilly, Barry Bradley, Jack Condra 0-2, Ciaran O Reilly, Thomas Murtagh 1-1, Cian Sheridan 0-2, Ben Reilly, Paddy Tobin 0-1, Scott Doyle, Paddy Clarke 1-0, Jordan Morris 2-5, Stephen Clarke. Subs: Jason O Donnell, Ben Gaffney, Cory McGivern, Dalton McDonagh, Seamus Fagan, Jack Dunne, Caolean McConnell, Daryl Shankey, Cian Donohue, Justin McPhillips, Cian Curran.

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