Navan O’Mahony’s 2-08 Rathkenny 0-13

Navan O’Mahony’s managed to see the game out in spite of strong pressure from Rathkenny in Round 2 of the IFC, played in Páirc Tailteann on Sunday afternoon.

Quick off the mark, Navan O’Mahony’s pointed twice in the opening four minutes, with the first coming from Duggie Dillon and the second from captain Cathal Smyth. Rathkenny responded with a point in the fourth minute before Smyth rattled the net in the eighth minute to give his side a four point lead against the wind. 

Two minutes later, Rathkenny pointed from play before a ten minute scoreless period. Rathkenny looked to be through on goal only for an impressive interception from Darragh Murphy who worked the ball to safety. 

The lull in scoring was broken after twenty-one minutes by a Rathkenny point, soon nullified by a point at the hospital end by Jake Regan. Four points in a row for Donal Curtis’ side left the sides level approaching half time when Darragh Maguire slipped a ball to a running Dillon who slapped it into the net. 

Three points separated the sides at the thirty-minute mark and a Rathkenny free in injury time left two points between the sides at the interval.  

Navan O’Mahony’s 2-04 Rathkenny 0-08

Within three minutes of the resumption, it was down to a single-point game yet again when Rathkenny pointed from play. Two points in quick succession from corner forward Oisín O’Brien, one from play and one from a free, put three in it again.

Navan O’Mahony’s then went eighteen minutes without scoring, despite having the wind advantage. In this tie, an eleventh-minute free and a nineteenth-minute effort from play from Rathkenny meant Navan O’Mahony’s were ahead by the bare-minimum.

Again, it was O’Brien who added the next score of the game with a point from a free. A clear goal opportunity was denied when O’Brien was deemed to have fouled the Rathkenny defender. The last few minutes of the game saw the sides swap scores, with Rathkenny making it (yet again!) a one-point game in the twenty-sixth minute.

An O’Brien point from a free in the thirtieth minute proved to be the insurance point that Navan O’Mahony’s needed to cash in on, with a 32nd minute point coming from Rathkenny. The bare minimum between the sides, Rathkenny sent two late shots wide under pressure from the Navan O’Mahony’s backs, led by strong performances from Murphy, Maguire, Brian Dillon and Mike O’Reilly and the Brews Hill side claimed the day. 

O'Mahonys: Aaron Byrne, Darragh Murphy, Brian Dillon, Paddy Dillon, Louis Collins, Mike O’Reilly, Darragh Maguire, Niall McGrane, Conor Finnegan, Evan Coffey, Cathal Smyth (1-02), Aodhan Mallon, Duggie Dillon (1-01), Jake Regan (0-01), Oisín O’Brien (0-04)

Cormac Keyes for Finnegan, Ronan Clarke for Regan, James O’Reilly for Collins

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