Classy Martins' outfit coast to Junior 2A crown

Junior 2A Football Final

Naomh Mairtin 3-16 St Patricks 0-7

Naomh Mairtin cruised their way to winning the Junior 2A Football Championship with this emphatic victory over St Patricks in the blustery wind in Darver on Sunday afternoon.

The outcome never looked in doubt from the opening 10 minutes of this game onwards, as a Martins team which included several members of their 2019 Minor Championship winning side displayed poise and skill, which saw them produce several marvellous scores from play.

One member of that minor winning side was Jack Lynch, and his wonderful free from the sideline had all in attendance in awe.
Scores like this, along with two first half goals from the precocious talent Oisin Gray set the Monasterboice side on their way to a commanding first half lead of 2-9 to 0-4, as the Jocks made clever use of the first half breeze at the club house end.

With Pats facing the blustery first half breeze, the Martins pressed up on the opposition, forcing them into turnovers, as they aimed to kick the ball as early as possible into the two Callanans and Oisin Gray, with Craig Callanan hugely influential, coming deep, to gain possession as well.

It was Paddy Usher who collected a clever kick pass from Callanan, before raising the first white flag of the contest inside the first minute, before Callanan judged the wind perfectly for his side’s second score a minute later.

St Patricks were under the cosh and needed to settle things down, and thanks to the lively Conor McGuinness, who scored 1-2 against Cooley Kickhams in the semi-final of this competition, they were off the mark, leaving it at 0-2 to 0-1 in the Martins’ favour inside four minutes.

However, that early, intense pressing forced the Pats into making errors coming out of defence, and Martins’ Tom Rooney intercepted a Pats free kick in their half, before laying the ball off to Oisin Gray, who twisted and turned before driving the ball to the net for the first goal of the final.

With the Martins winning nine out of 12 on the Pats’ first half kickouts, the likes of Adam Booth, Karl Morgan, Tom Rooney, Jack Lynch, Connor Smyth and Paddy Usher saw plenty of possession.

The Callanans and Paddy Usher stretched the Martins’ lead to seven points, while a wonderful strike from distance by Karl Morgan meant that the Jocks led by 1-7 to 0-1 after 20 minutes. Following his strike from the sideline, Lynch converted from play to keep that scoreboard ticking over.

The free taking of St Patricks’ Shane Murphy also deserves plaudits. His effort into the breeze, along with Adam Finnegan’s close range placed ball, gave the Pats a little glimmer of home, closing the deficit to eight points.

However, any fading hopes of a Pats revival were all but diminished, when Connor Smyth split the Pats defence to set up Craig Callanan, who put it on a plate for Oisin Gray to score his second goal of the game. Another free from Shane Murphy meant that the Martins were very much in charge at half time, at 2-9 to 0-4.

Craig Callanan, who finished with 31 possessions in the match, continued to tee up scores for his colleagues at will, and he set up Oisin Gray for the first of two consecutive points from the former Ballymackenny College student.

That opening quarter saw the Jocks outscore the Pats by 0-4 to 0-1 overall, with Ben Callanan and Adam Booth, who touched the ball 24 times over the hour, finding the range to go with Gray’s two points.

To their credit, the Pats, who were undoubtedly missing the presence of key players Ray Finnegan and Gavin Gregory, did not throw in the towel, and Conor McGuinness epitomised this determination, as his long and hard run set up Shane Murphy for a point from play for the Lordship men.

Murphy and McGuinness continued to carry the fight to the Martins with further efforts from frees, while James Savage can be pleased with his work over the 60 minutes, as he continued to scrap and forage for breaking ball and possession.

However, there was little doubt about the winners of this game, as Jack Lynch who had 26 possessions himself, nailed two further close range frees, while goalkeeper Joe Gordon converted a 45.

There was time for Oisin Gray to seal his hat trick before the end as the Martins added further gloss to the scoreboard, as they were crowned winners of the Junior 2A Championship for 2022.

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Naomh Mairtin: Joe Gordon (0- 1 45’); Colm Egan, Eoin Cooney, Tadgh O’Brien; Karl Morgan (0-1), Cian Sands, Jack McCarville; Adam Booth (0-1), Tom Rooney; Jack Lynch (0-4, 0-3 frees), Connor Smyth, Paddy Usher (0-2); Craig Callanan (0-2), Oisin Gray (3-2), Ben Callanan (0-3). Subs: Ryan Sands for McCarville (14), Jamie Winters for Sands (42), Adam Callanan for Usher (44), Eamonn McQuilan for O’Brien (53), Stephen Morgan for Ben Callanan (60).

St Patricks: Stefan Breen; Ronan McDonnell, Padraig Duffy, Eoghan O’Connor; Pauraic Reneghan, Dylan O’Shaughnessy, Cillian White; Daniel Tumility, Martin Breen; James Savage, Thomas McCann, Jack Elvin; Conor McGuinness (0-2, 0-1 free), Adam Finnegan (0-1 free), Shane Murphy (0-4, 0-3 free). Subs Stephen Toner for O’Connor (39), Jody Keenan for McCann (40), Ben McGuinness for Tumility (43), James O’Connor for Murphy (50), Philip Sharkey for Elvin (52).

Referee: Cathal O’Brien