Gaels best in Navan showdown

Simonstown Gaels moved into pole position in the Group B of the SFC with a narrow 1-11 to 1-9 victory against local rivals Navan O’Mahonys who were without Kevin Reilly and Stephen Bray at Trim on Friday evening.

The Gaels deserved to win as they were less wasteful than O’Mahonys and laid the foundations for victory in the opening half when they established a 1-8 to 0-5 interval advantage with Sean Tobin finshing the net about five minutes from half-time.

O’Mahonys were a little bit unlucky to trail by six points at that stage as they were twice denied scores by the woodwork, but it was the workrate of the Gaels that was the key factor in that opening half.

O’Mahonys enjoyed a period of dominance in the second-half, but were unable to make it count on the scoreboard until Shane Gillespie netted three minutes from the end of normal time.

That cut the deficit to two points (1-8 to 1-10), but Simonstown countered almost immediately with a point and in three minutes of added time (due to an injury to Shane O’Rourke) and the Gaels battened down the hatches.

“There’s a long way to go in this race and there’s nothing won yet,” commented Simonstown manager Colm O’Rourke.

See next edition of Meath Chronicle for full report and views of both managers.