Navan O’Mahony’s 2-13 Kilbride 0-04

Navan O’Mahony’s had to battle much harder than the final scoreline suggested to overcome the Kilbride challenge and bring the Minor Div 1 title back to Paddy O’Brien Park. A strong second half performance was needed, with only a point separating the sides at the interval.

The scoring opened within ninety minutes when Muireann Nelson split the posts with a free. Almost five minutes passed before the host side added the second score of the game, a well-taken point from play. They quickly followed this with a pointed free to give themselves the advantage.

Having hit a number of short balls and wides, Navan O’Mahony’s drew level once again with a Lauren Woods point from play. A low scoring half, although lot for lack of opportunities for both sides, a Nelson free put the Brews Hill side ahead with ten minutes to go. 

The final ten minutes of the half, played in drizzly rain, saw the sides exchange two points apiece with Woods and Nelson scoring for Navan O’Mahony’s. Kilbride’s best chance of goal came in the twenty-seventh minute, but was intercepted and cleared by the quick-thinking captain Sarah Maguire.

Navan O’Mahony’s 0-05 Kilbride 0-04

With it all to play for, Navan O’Mahony’s were determined to be quickest off the mark in the second half and Lily Dwyer duly obliged with a point from play. The points seemed to come easier to Davy Nelson’s charges in the second half, with the side managing to play the ball down the field more efficiently.

After ten minutes, the lead was extended to five points via points from Nelson, Jorja Keogh and Grace Cahill and Navan O’Mahony’s looked to have a handle on the game. They couldn’t afford to rest on their laurels however, as Kilbride created numerous scoring opportunities but were unable to convert to the scoreboard. 

Fifteen minutes passed without score and then, like the NX on a chilly Tuesday morning, two came at once from Neasa McDermott and Dwyer. At this stage, seven points separated the sides and Kilbride would have been right back in the game only for an interception from Maguire in the full back line, resulting in a free out. 

Kilbride won the free out but netminder Rebecca Crowley caught the kick in and cleared it to safety. On the counter-attack, Nelson split the posts to widen the gap. Injury time saw Nelson add two goals as well as a point from Isobel Thorpe, to give a scoreline that didn’t reflect the flow of the game. 

Sarah Maguire received the Cup from Meath LGFA Vice Chairman Brian McKeown and paid tribute to the management team for their dedication, to the parents and guardians and to the players themselves for their commitment.

Navan O’Mahony’s: Rebecca Crowley, Dayna Keogh, Sarah Maguire, Allanah Brady, Lily Dwyer (0-02), Isobel Thorpe (0-01), Julia Collins, Neasa McDermott (0-01), Rebecca Reilly, Aoibhín Kielty, Jorja Keogh (0-01), Caoimhe Cullen, Cara Ratty, Muireann Nelson (2-05), Lauren Woods (0-2)

Doireann Mellett for Kielty, Grace Cahill (0-01) for Ratty, Abbie McCullagh for Cullen

Tweet

Most Read Stories