Navan O’Mahony’s 1-10 Killary Emmets 2-05

Cool heads and a great team spirit helped Navan O’Mahony’s over the line in this Minor Semi Final in front of a big crowd in Dunganny on Wednesday evening. Down by five points at the interval, the Brews Hill lads never gave up.

Killary Emmets took an early lead in the game when awarded a penalty in the opening quarter. Making no mistake, the penalty-taker picked his spot and duly put his side in the lead. A few minutes later, they added to this lead with a converted free, putting four points between the sides. 

After the slow start and a missed goal opportunity, Rian Porter raised a white flag for Navan O’Mahony’s from a well-taken free. The Castletown-Syddan outfit responded with a free of their own, nullifying Navan O’Mahony’s score. 

Things were beginning to look up for Navan O’Mahony’s when Paddy Yourell made a high ball into the square his own and directed it towards the net. With only one point between the sides, it was all to play for. Shortly afterwards, Killary Emmets made their way down the field again to restore their lead with a well-finished goal. A point from Yourell and two further Killary Emmet points left five between the sides at the interval and Navan O’Mahony’s with it all to do in the second half.

Navan O’Mahony’s 1-02 Killary Emmets 2-04

Navan O’Mahony’s were much quicker off the mark in the second half, with Evan Cully splitting the posts after two minutes. This was only the start of the revival and was shortly followed by a pointed free from Tiernan Black and two points from Porter, one from a free and one from play. 

Just shy of halfway through the second half, another Black point put the sides level for the first time since the throw-in. With a number of goal opportunities narrowly missed, nothing separated the sides until Porter added to his earlier tally with a free, giving the Brews Hill outfit the lead for the first time. As well as the scorers, Ivo Fitzherbert, Jack Lafford and Jamie Maguire’s contribution to the scores was also impressive. Cormac Nugent, Ciaran McAreavey and Jack Quinn played important roles in the passage of play, all contributing to the build-up of scores.

A peach of a point from Padraig McEvoy put more distance between the sides with an insurance point coming from Yourell after twenty-three minutes. With Killary Emmets still only one score behind, it was a tense end to the game with Navan O’Mahony’s showing great character in this time. 

Credit must go to the backs who managed to keep Killary Emmets scoreless for the first twenty-eight minutes of the second half, with great performances from Colm O’Toole, Diarmuid O’Bric and Mark Murphy. Ciaran Scott’s crucial clearance when a goal could have changed the game towards the end played a massive role in the victory. Killary Emmets never managed to get the goal they needed and Navan O’Mahony’s progress to the final.

Navan O’Mahony’s: Ciaran Scott, Colm O’Toole, Mark Murphy, Diarmuid O Bric, Jamie Maguire, Jack Lafford, Cian Magee, Padraig McEvoy (0-01), Evan Cully (0-01), Tiarnan Black (0-02), Cormac Nugent, Ciaran McAreavey, Patrick Yourell (1-02), Rian Porter (0-04), Ivo Fitzherbert. Sub: Jack Quinn for McAreavey

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