Lavey get the better of Na Magha in Junior Hurling final

Na Magha 0-13

Lavey 2-24 

There was disappointment for Na Magha at Owenbeg today as they were comfortably beaten by Lavey in the Junior Hurling final.

Despite the result, Na Magha still have the Ulster Junior Championship to look forward to, and they can take plenty of positives from their display against a superior opponent, not least of all Padraig Nelis, who scored 0-7 overall and who was comfortably the best performer for the city side in very difficult circumstances.

Na Magha manager Ciaran McCarron opted to leave Deaglan Foley on the substitutes’ bench, Na Magha's star player unable to play due to undergoing surgery, which meant that the Championship’s third highest scorer going into the Junior final with 1-24 to his name was unable to influence the game.

Challenging

That said, even the magic of Foley may not have been enough to stem the Lavey tie at Owenbeg, with Ciaran McHendry leading the way with a ‘Man of the Match’ performance which ended in 1-12.

Liam Watson’s side were stronger throughout and never let up even when it was clear they had this match won long before the final whistle.

There was some controversy as early as the third minute when Lavey’s Jack Shaw was yellow carded for an off the ball incident which left Na Magha’s Diarmuid Shiels grounded. Shiels got to his feet gingerly, and the game continued, and Lavey quickly took control of proceedings.

PJ McAleese got the first score of the day after two minutes play, but it was Danny Shaw who got the game’s first goal after just four minutes to put daylight between the sides very early on. Ryan McGill had his shot well blocked, but unfortunately for Na Magha, the sliotar rebounded into the path of Shaw, who drilled it low and hard past Barry Robinson and into the net.

Padraig Nelis got the first of four first half points when he got Na Magha off the mark on five minutes and he doubled his personal tally after Ciaran Hendry had clocked on another for Lavey. But hope soon dwindled for Na Magha, as Lavey piled on point after point in a largely one-sided first half, Mulholland, Hendry and O’Neill pointing.

To make matters worse for Na Magha, Lavey were then gifted their second goal, when Hendry’s effort dropped short but still somehow eluded Barry Robinson, with the goalkeeper missing the sliotar as it ended up in the net to make it 2-5, 0-2 after just 15 minutes.

There was plenty of fighting spirit in this Na Magha team however, and successive scores from Aidan Cutliffe and Nelis showed that they weren’t going to just lie down at Owenbeg.

But the game always seemed to be in Lavey’s control and successive scores from Hendry, McAleese and McGill made it 2-8, 0-4 with half time approaching.

Ryan McAdams and Nelis both scored for Na Magha as half time approached, but Lavey finished much stronger, two from O’Neill, two from Hendry and the point of the half from Danny Shaw putting a 13-point deficit between the sides at the break.

Half Time 0-6, 2-13

Having dusted themselves down from their shock defeat to Eoghan Rua in the Intermediate qualifier. Lavey were more than ready for Na Magha, and they were in no mood to let up in the second half.

Na Magha could have improved their tally early in the second half but Nelis hit the post and Cutliffe dropped one short. After that, the city side managed just one of the next seven scores, from McAdams, as Lavey pulled even further away.

Four points from the clinical Hendry, coupled with one apiece from Jack Shaw and PJ McAleese made it 2-19, 0-7 before Nelis broke it up with a rare score for Na Magha. That was the first of five successive scores for Na Magha, with Lynch, Nelis again, substitute Adam Breslin and Thomas Lally all putting some respectability on the score at 0-12, 2-19.

But the final say went to Lavey, who scored five of the last six points in the final ten minutes. Nelis had his say to finish off on seven points overall, but another three from Hendry made it 1-12 for the Lavey man, and further scores from substitute Cahal O’Loan and Ryan McGill concluded a very comfortable day at Owenbeg.

Teams

NA MAGHA: 1 Barry Robinson, 2 Thomas Lally, 3 Diarmuid Shiels, 4 Aaron Campbell, 5 Mark McCloskey, 6 Fearghal Mac an Deanaigh, 7 Mark McShane, 8 Padhraig Nelis (0-7, 5f), 9 Bliadhan Glass, 10 Tommy Gallagher, 11 Breandán Quigley, 12 Tim Rankin, 31 Ryan McAdams (0-2), 14 Michael Lynch (0-1), 15 Aidan Cutliffe (0-1).

SUBS: Oisin Glass for Aaron Campbell 36’, Adam Breslin (0-1) for Tim Rankin 39’, Connor Shiels for Ryan McAdams 47’, Adam Rankin for Thomas Lally (0-1) 52’), Aidan McSteen for Aidan Cutliife 54’.

YELLOW: Fergal McAnaney 20’,

LAVEY: 16 Michael Taggart; 2 Colm Dillon, 3 Dominic Duggan, 7 Brendan Laverty, 17 Cormac Collins, 5 Aimon Duffin, 19 Liam Murphy, 4 Shane McGill, 9 PJ McAleese (0-3), 10 Ryan Mulholland (0-1), 26 Dermot O’Neill (0-3), 21 Danny Shaw (1-1), 13 Ciaran Hendry (1-12, 7f), 14 Ryan McGill (0-2), 15 Jack Shaw (0-1).

SUBS: Cahal O’Loan (0-1) for Danny Shaw 49’, James Crawford for Jack Shaw 54’, Ronan McCloy for Cormac Collins 54’.   

YELLOW: Jack Shaw 3’,

REFEREE: Niall Lifford.