2008 Louth Division 3 League Round 11

Date: Thursday 9th October, 2008
Venue Termonfechin
Time: 8.00pm

Dundalk Young Irelands 1-09 St. Fechins 1-08

We secured a vital win tonight in our quest to win Divison 3 and the Macardle Cup for the 2nd time in three years. This was a hard fought away win for Irelands in a game played in wet conditions. Playing against a strong breeze in the 2nd half, the Dundalk team remarkably came back from 6 points down with eight minutes left to win with a last minute Derek Maguire goal followed by the winning point from sub Conor Nixon. 

Playing with the advantage of a strong breeze, Young Irelands had a nervous start. Derek Maguire opened the scoring with a free after 5 minutes but Fechins replied quickly with points from Niall Devlin and Ronan Holdcroft. Fechins held the upperhand for most of the 1st half with two good points from Andy McDonnell and another from Ronan Holdcroft. Irelands only reply was a Ciaran Conlon point on 17 minutes. The home side led 0-5 to 0-2 at half-time.

Half-time  St. Fechins 0-05 Young Irelands 0-02

Having played against a strong breeze, Fechins must have thought they had a good cushion at half-time and their lead was further increased in the first minute of the 2nd half when Ronan Holdcroft goaled. Andy McDonnell and Ciaran Conlon then exchanged pointed frees to leave Fechins leading 1-06 to 0-03. Derek Maguire kept Irelands in touch with two pointed frees however the home team restored the six point lead with a brace of points from Paul King(45) and Ronan Holdcroft(52).

Irelands introduced minor Sean Laverty and he, along with earlier sub Conor Nixon were to have a major bearing on the final outcome. Laverty won vital midfield procession in the closing stages which led to points for Robbie Farrell and Conor Nixon before Laverty himself ran through to point with 4 minutes remaining. Following another pass from Laverty, top scorer Derek Maguire raced clear of the Fechins defence to score an equalising goal in teh 59th minute. There was still enough time for Conor Nixon to pop up with the winning point to give the Dundalk team a surprise win.

Having held control for most of the game, Fechins will be disappointed not to have taken something from the game and more than likely finished their hopes of Division 3 success. Brendan Fanning, Andy McDonnell and Ronan Holdcroft were their best. Young Irelands were elated to come away with two points they hardly deserved. Aaron Rogers, Gerard Nixon and Sean Laverty did most to bring the Irelanders back into the game when it looked beyond them.   

Dundalk Young Irelands
Craig McKenna, Ryan Moran, Simon Flynn, Shane O'Connell, Robbie Farrell (0-1), Aaron Rogers, Peter Flynn, Andrew Nixon, Gerard Nixon, Graham Carr, Derek Maguire(1-3)3f, Michael Shields, Ciaran Conlon(0-2)1f, John Boland, Mark Savage.
Subs used: Conor Nixon(0-2) for Graham Carr, Sean Laverty(0-1) for John Boland, Joey Flynn for Michael Shields

St. Fechins
Mark Savage, Richard McDonnell, Brendan Fanning, Harry McArdle, Vincent Corrigan, Brian Devlin, Mark Hynes, Colm Mulholland, Andy McDonnell (0-3)1f, Paul King(0-1), Anthony Duff, Niall Devlin (0-1), Darren O'Neill, Ronan Holcroft (1-03)1f, Colm O'Neill. 

Referee: Tommy McEnteggart (O'Raghaillaighs)