ST MARYS 6-21

GERALDINES 2-10

St Marys brought the Fr Larry Murray Cup back to Ardee for the first time in 30 years when they blew away the challenge of the Geraldines in the Louth Minor Championship Final in Drogheda on Sunday afternoon.

In what was a stunning display of football the Ardee lads were simply unstoppable on the day and deservedly ended their long wait for the title. The celebrations at the final whistle illustrated just what it meant to the players and supporters as this victory was the culmination of many years of preparation at St Marys.

While there were many fine individual displays that combined to achieve this victory, there is no denying that the stand-out performer was 16-year-old Jonathon Commins who finished the game with a massive personal tally of 2-13.

While it was a disappointing outcome for the Geraldines, they can have no complaints that they lost out to a superior team. The deserve credit for battling all the way to the end and contributed to what was an entertaining first half.

Despite their best efforts the Gers were unable to match the pace, strength and cohesion of the Marys, not to mention the incredible scoring power.

It was fitting that it was Commins who opened the scoring with the first point of the game and it looked ominous for the Gers when he added a goal soon after, with Conor Gillespie landing a point to make it 1-2 to no score.

Credit to the Gers who responded in fine fashion to take the lead with a David Murdock goal and points from Fedhelm Joyce (2) and Conor Soraghan.

However, the excitement continued as Commins got his second goal on 14 minutes to put the Marys back in front. The Gers were battling bravely to stay in contention but they suffered a setback just before the break when Gillespie hit the net to make it 3-9 to 1-6 at half time.

The McGeough Park side began the second half brightly and gave themselves hope when Fedhelm Joyce added a second goal on 38 minutes to reduce the gap to 3-11 to 2-9.

However, the Marys kept their composure and Commins landed three quick-fire points to steady the ship.

With ten minutes to play Gavin Kirk put the game beyond any remaining doubt when he struck the fourth goal. The Marys continued to press right up to the final whistle and there was still time for Ciaran Keenan and Tiernan Corrigan to hit the net to make it six for the day.

ST MARYS: Alan McGauley; Cian Taaffe, Philip Trainor 0-1, Killian Scott; Lorcan Dixon, Donal McKenny, Gavin Kirk 1-0; Liam Jackson, Conor Hennessy 0-1; Jonathan Commins 2-13, Conor Gillespie 1-2, Ciaran Keenan 1-1; Carl Gillespie 0-1, Joe Mulholland, Shane Matthews 0-1. Subs: Tristan Knowles 0-1 for S Matthews, Andrew Bingham for Carl Gillespie, Tiernan Corrigan 1-0 for G Kirk, David Conlon for J Commins, James McDonald for C Keenan.

GERALDINES: Ciaran Peelo, Eoghan O'Hora Matthew Fee, Ross Kelly; Dylan Sharkey, Dan Corcoran, Padraig O Cuinneagan; Ben Mooney 0-2, Jack Reid 0-1; Conor Soraghan 0-1, Flynn Kieran 0-1, David Murdock 1-0; Oisin Meegan, Conor McGowan, Fedhelm Joyce 1-5. Subs: Jack Connolly for E O'Hora, Ronan Greene for D Murdock, Liam McDonnell for O Meegan, Oisin Geoghegan for D Sharkey.

REFEREE: Anthony Briscoe.

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