By virtue of this minimum margin win over O'Mahonys, Blackhall pipped the Navan men for top spot in Group A of the Navan Shopping Centre SFC to set up a quarter-final meeting with Dunboyne, a repeat of last year's decider. Blackhall Gaels .......... 0-8 Navan O'Mahonys ..... 0-7 Losing by the narrowest margin to Blackhall Gaels for the second year running wasn't the worst aspect of their first defeat in the current campaign for O'Mahonys, but rather the dismissal of Mark Ward early in the second-half on a straight red card, which looks set to rule the county player of of his side's quarter-final meeting with Trim and also the semi-final should the Brews Hill side advance to the last four. O'Mahonys trailed by 0-4 to 0-7 at the time of Ward's dismissal but were back on level terms before David Carty popped over the winning point for Blackhall Gaels. Michael Downes' charges spurned a couple of chances to earn a draw and also saw their manager sent outside the wire by referee Noel Martin. O'Mahonys led by 0-2 to 0-1 in the early stages but fell two points in arrears on two occcasions before reaching half-time trailing by 0-4 to 0-6. Despite the absence of Mark Crampton, Tadhg Brosnan and Alan Nestor, Blackhall Gaels had the edge for most of the hour while O'Mahonys will be hoping to have Neville Dunne, Shane McKeigue and Kevin Reilly available for selection for the quarter-final meeting with Trim in two weeks time. Blackhall Gaels - M. Whelan; D. O'Brien, G. Beirne, B. Moyles; J. Joyce (0-1), P. Brady, D. O'Neill; A. Moyles (0-2), M. Ferris (0-1); D. Beirne, J. Callanan (0-1), N. O'Hora; D. Dalton (0-1), J. Meyler, D. Carty (0-2). Subs - R. Dolan for Callanan, C. Kennedy for O'Hora. O'Mahonys - M. Brennnan; C. Reilly, R. Hogan, D. Moran; C. McGuinness (0-1), N. McKeigue, L. Russell; M. Ward, S. MacGabhann; D. Bray, D. Murtagh, H. Finnegan (0-1); P. Smyth (0-3), S. Bray (0-2), S. Keating. Sub - S. Crosby for Hogan. Tweet

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