Reporting by Albert Jolly and Duje Grgic
St Patrick’s Navan and Coláiste Choilm Tullamore played out a lively and physical contest, throwing up plenty of scores, big moments and strong individual performances. The game began at 12:40, with Navan settling the quicker.
Navan opened the scoring after 6 minutes, hitting 1:00 to 0:00. A foul by Darragh Stewart on the 9-minute mark handed Navan a free, which they converted to move 1:01 to 0:00.
Tullamore responded on 13 minutes, with Sean Dempsey knocking over their first point, 1:01 to 0:01. A foul on Darragh Stewart at 16 minutes gave them momentum, and Sam Heffernan levelled the free-taking duties with a point on 17 minutes: 1:01 to 0:02.
Navan struck again through their No. 13 after 19 minutes, pushing the score to 2:01 to 0:02, but Tullamore answered with points from Keith O’Rourke and another from Sean Dempsey, making it 2:01 to 0:04.
A missed free from Sam Heffernan came on 20 minutes, before Jayden Daly added another Tullamore point on 22 minutes. Navan’s No. 15 fired wide on 25 minutes.
Both goalkeepers had big moments: Harry Cleary produced a strong save on 27 minutes, but Navan pointed from the resulting foul to leave it 2:02 to 0:05 at the break.
Half-time score: St Pat’s Navan 2:02, Coláiste Choilm 0:05
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Tullamore opened the second half brightly. Darragh Stewart pointed on 31 minutes for 0:06, before No. 15 added another on 37 minutes for 0:07.
Navan responded with a score to move 2:03 ahead on 41 minutes, but Sam Heffernan hit back with a point on 42 minutes to make it 2:03 to 0:08. A foul by Navan’s No. 6 then handed Tullamore a free, which they converted on 45 minutes to level things up at 3:03.
Both keepers were involved again – Harry Cleary made another save on 47 minutes, followed shortly by an excellent stop from the Navan goalkeeper.
Tullamore edged ahead again when Darragh Stewart knocked over a free on 51 minutes for 0:09, but Navan struck a crucial score on 56 minutes to move 3:04 ahead heading into the final moments.
Full-time score: St Patrick’s Navan 3:04, Coláiste Choilm Tullamore 0:09
A tight, competitive match with big defensive moments and strong scoring spreads on both sides, but Navan’s goals ultimately proved the difference.