Navan O’Mahony’s 0-11 Royal Gaels 0-13

Navan O’Mahony’s bowed out of the SFC at the semi-final stage, with a two point defeat to Royal Gaels in a wet Dunshaughlin in front of a large crowd on Friday evening.

The home side were quick to get the ball down the pitch with the first effort wide under pressure from Sophia Fitzherbert. In the second minute, Muireann Nelson scored a point from a free to raise the first flag of the match.

A minute later, Robyn Murray made an impressive block in the square before Sarah Powderly cleared the ball to safety. Royal Gaels’ first score came in the sixth minute before they edged ahead three minutes later. Orlaith Mallon kicked a point from a free before Royal Gaels hit two in a row.

With twelve minutes remaining, a good run from Aoibheann Leahy resulted in Lauren Woods having possession and firing it over before Mallon kicked over a very impressive score. Royal Gaels kicked the next two scores. In injury time, Denise McGrath won a kickout and as fouled, with Nelson sending over the resulting free to leave the minimum between the sides.

Navan O’Mahony’s 0-05 Royal Gaels 0-06

Again, Royal Gaels were quick off the mark and Murray needed to make a save to prevent a goal almost immediately. The ball went up the field and Nelson drew the sides level once again.

Two points in quick succession from the hosts gave them the edge once again with Nelson closing the gap to one in the seventh minute. A six minute spell saw Royal Gaels add three points to leave four in it, which was a large advantage with scores hard to come by. Nelson reduced it to three but the next two scores went to the Dunshaughlin side to lead by five.

O’Mahony’s were reduced to fourteen for a time when Fitzherbert was sin-binned for ten minutes. Injury time had arrived before O’Mahony’s scored again, but with plenty of stoppages some time remained. Mallon and Nelson both added scores and three points separated the sides.

A number of opportunities for scores arose, with a combination of strong defence and bad luck keeping the ball out of the net. Ultimately, time ran out for the Brews Hill outfit and a point in the sixty-sixth minute wasn’t enough.

Navan O’Mahony’s: Robyn Murray, Sophia Fitzherbert, Sarah Maguire, Sarah Powderly, Isabel Thorp, Aoibheann Leahy, Lilly Dwyer, Rebecca Reilly, Lauren Woods (0-01), Charlie Murray, Denise McGrath, Muireann Nelson (0-06), Ailbhe Leahy, Megan Collins, Orlaith Mallon (0-04)

Subs: Neasa McDermott for Thorp, Milly Clarke Carolan for Murray, Julia Collins for Maguire

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