Navan O’Mahony’s 1-08 St Ultan’s 0-10

Navan O’Mahony’s claimed the Premier 6 FC in a dramatic finish in front of a huge crowd in Cortown on Wednesday evening. Although going five points down in the first half, the Brews Hill outfit showed great character to seal victory with a Clayton O’Sullivan point four minutes into injury time. 

Both sides were slow to start, with the first score of the game coming from St Ultan’s in the ninth minute. O’Mahony’s responded in style, with Andy Leech powering forward from midfield with steely determination, laying off Ben Forde for a point. 

St Ultan’s edged ahead with two points from play in quick succession and five minutes later, extended this with two converted marks. During this period, O’Mahony’s struggled to work the ball up the field, with a strong St Ultan’s defence making light work of clearing any ball that came their way. A sixth point for St Ultan’s in the 19th minute left five between the sides and things weren’t looking good for Ian Matthews’ charges. 

Ten minutes passed without score and, approaching half time, it looked like O’Mahony’s would be going in with a single score. That changed when Ciaran McGuinness made a great dispossession, with the loose ball swept up by Forde who split the posts. Two injury time points, a free from Paul Cunningham and a Conor McEvoy effort from play changed the dynamic of the game going into half time, and seemed to inject belief into what had looked a dejected side for periods of the first half.

Navan O’Mahony’s 0-04 St Ultan’s 0-06

Cunningham was quick out of the blocks in the second half, pointing within two minutes of the resumption. A dangerous ball from an O’Mahony’s perspective came when a 21-yard free was directed low into the square but was soon cleared to safety by Jake Patterson, who impressed throughout. 

Nevertheless, St Ultans soon did convert a free and two points separated the sides again. Eight minutes passed without score, although a Riordan Russell intervention was crucial in preventing a St Ultans score in this period. Midway through the half, Cunningham kicked two points, one from a free and one from play to leave the sides level for the first time in the game.

Captain Shane Crosby and Patterson combined well to dispossess a St Ultan’s player in the eighteenth minute. Five minutes later, after a great play from Leech to McEvoy to Cunningham, the latter managed to weave past the St Ultan’s netminder, and facing an empty goal put his side in the lead for the first time.

St Ultan’s were not giving up without a fight, and pointed in the twenty-eighth minute. When the equalising free was kicked in the thirty-second minute, the large crowd in Cortown were readying themselves for extra time. There was still some time to be played however, and up stepped Clayton O’Sullivan. As the clock approached thirty-four minutes, he kicked a high looping ball over the bar, giving his side the edge just when it mattered most. 

It wasn’t to be the end however, with St Ultan’s having another couple of opportunities to force the game to extra time. Goalkeeper Bríen Yourell delivered a a ball to safety while Jack Lafford, Leech, Matthews, Paul Quinn, Crosby and Podge McEvoy proved impenetrable when St Ultan’s desperately needed a score. 

After the match, Raymond Finnegan presented captain Shane Crosby with the Cup. Crosby spoke eloquently, paying tribute to St Ultan’s, to the management team of Ian Matthews, Marco Formosa and Gordon McCarthy. He spoke of his admiration for the group of players and how there was such a great bond amongst the group. 

Navan O’Mahony’s: Bríen Yourell, Riordan Russell, Ian Matthews, Jack Lafford, Podge McEvoy, Jake Patterson, Killian Clarke Doggett, Paul Quinn, Andy Leech, Ciaran McGuinness, Clayton O’Sullivan (0-01), Conor McEvoy (0-01), Paul Cunningham (1-04), Shane Crosby, Ben Forde (0-02)

Ruairi Devlin for Forde, CJ Cashin for McGuinness, Adam Fagan for Clarke Doggett.

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