Navan O’Mahony’s 3-14 Kilmessan 0-09

Playing in the colours of De La Salles due to a colour clash, Navan O’Mahony’s claimed the Junior B Hurling title with a win over Kilmessan in Páirc Tailteann. The Brews Hill side changed into their famous blue and white strip to receive the cup.

Both sides struggled to score in the opening ten minutes, although the umpires were kept busy waving wides in this period! There was also some good defensive play, with textbook blocks by Colm O’Toole and Riordan Russell.

In the eleventh minute, Barry McEvoy made a great catch before laying off to Sean Davis, who was denied a goal by the upright. A minute later, McEvoy kicked a loose ball to Andrew Snow who split the posts for the first score of the game. Kilmessan responded instantly with a point. 

McEvoy added another point in the thirteenth minute. Within sixty seconds, Diarmuid Collins passed to Paddy Skehan who played the ball over the bar without catching the ball. A good play between McEvoy and Shane O’Brien ended with a pass to Davis, who made no mistake in finding the net. At the opposite end of the pitch, danger was cleared when O’Toole dispossessed the Kilmessan forward before laying off to Brian Dunne to clear.  Snow and McEvoy added further points in the last few minutes and the half finished when Skehan landed a free in the square, which Jake Patterson directed to the net

Half time: Navan O’Mahony’s 2-09 Kilmessan 0-04

The second half got off to a much quicker start, with Skehan converting a free within the opening sixty seconds. Kilmessan added a point with a 65 three minutes later. 

Although Kilmessan had the wind behind them in the second half, the lead O’Mahony’s had built in the first was always going to be difficult to overcome. Davis rattled the net with a very impressive goal in the eighth minute of the second half, effectively ending the game as a contest.

Skehan added a point from play but O’Mahony’s struggled to add more scores, with a number of balls dropping short or wide. Kilmessan scored two points in quick succession in the middle period.

Kilmessan’s best chance of a goal was denied when Rice cleared the ball from a 21-yard free in the twenty-fourth minute. Skehan kept the scoreboard ticking over for O’Mahony’s in the closing stages, while Kilmessan also added points. Rían Breathnach scored the last point of the game and O’Mahony’s emerged as fourteen points winners.

Captains Ciaran McGuinness and Peter McLoughlin accepted the cup, with McLoughlin paying tribute to the management, supporters and players.

Navan O’Mahony’s: John Gleeson, Riordan Russell, Declan Tolster, Michael Reavey, Donal Rice (0-01), Colm O’Toole, Peter McLoughlin, Andrew Snow (0-02), Brian Dunne, Paddy Skehan (0-05), Barry McEvoy (0-04), Diarmuid Collins, Sean Davis (2-01), Shane O’Brien, Jake Patterson (1-0)

Subs: Niall McKeigue for Collins, Ciaran McGuinness for Dunne, Darragh Connell for Patterson,  Rían Breathnach (0-01) for O’Brien

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