Navan O’Mahony’s 2-09 Castletown 1-09

Relief was the overriding emotion at the final whistle of the IFC semi final for anyone of a blue and white persuasion in Páirc Tailteann on Saturday afternoon. 

It was a very slow, cagey start to the game with O’Mahony’s attempts at scores thwarted by a Castletown defence working in packs. A Shane Maguire effort hit the post before going wide in the second minute. The first score of the game came in the form of a Castletown point in the eleventh minute. 

Five minutes later, Aodhán Mallon made a good run through to set himself up for a goal opportunity after a one-two with Sean Betson. Mallon was then blocked down before Oisin O’Brien scooped up the resulting loose ball and fired it home. Castletown responded immediately with a point and two minutes later, followed with another to leave the sides level.

On the twenty-minute mark, Ivo Fitzherbert was blocked down mid-shot and again O’Brien won the loose ball and split the posts. Duggie Dillon pointed from play to extend the lead. A spark of danger was extinguished when Darragh Murphy, Brian Dillon and Mike O’Reilly combined to clear to safety. Mallon pointed from a free in the twenty-fifth minute while Robbie Keelaghan and Ronan Clarke added their name to the score card before half time. An injury time point from Castletown left four between the sides at leath-ama. 

Navan O’Mahony’s 1-05 Castletown 0-04

It was very much the opposite of a slow start in the second half, when Clarke set up Keelaghan in front of goal to send to the net within fifteen seconds of throw-in. The same player also kicked the next two scores, one from a free and one from play to leave nine points between the side after seven minutes. 

Castletown pointed in the eighth minute, having missed a couple of opportunities before that. O’Brien nullified this with a point from play in the eleventh minute. Castletown’s purple patch was yet to come however and they went on to kick four points in a ten minute period. In this time, goalkeeper Niall Devlin made an impressive save and the ball was cleared by Maguire. A Castletown player won possession from this but sent it wide. 

With five points between the sides and O’Mahony’s desperately needing to swing momentum away from Castletown, O’Brien looked to be through for a score until he was hauled to the ground. Managing to play off the ball to Mallon, the score still came when the latter coolly handpassed over the bar to restore a lead of six points. Injury time had just started when Castletown found the net and it was a one-score game again. Three minutes was all that separated O’Mahony’s from a county final and they knew they had to prevent a goal at all costs. To this effect, Paddy Dillon put his nose on the line to block a ball! The last play of the game was a 45 for Castletown, which ended up high and wide, out of danger from an O’Mahony’s perspective who now advance to the final, joining the hurlers.

Navan O’Mahony’s: Niall Devlin, Darragh Murphy, Brian Dillon, Sean Betson, Sam Formosa, Niall McGrane, Aodhan Mallon (0-02), Mike O’Reilly, Darragh Maguire, Ronan Clarke (0-01), Robbie Keelaghan (1-03), Shane Maguire, Oisin O’Brien (1-02), Duggie Dillon (0-01), Ivo Fitzherbert

Subs: Paddy Dillon for Murphy, Conor Finnegan for Fitzherbert, Conor Brady for Keelaghan, Craig Munnelly O’Toole for Clarke, Evan Coffey for D Dillon.

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