St Nicholas GFC booked their place in the semi-final of the Kevin Mullen Shield with a win over Westerns in Darver on Sunday morning. Fielding a much changed side, the Nicks had to deal with difficult conditions as a strong wind had a big influence on the game throughout.

Westerns opened the scoring while playing with the wind in the first half, but the Nicks responded quickly through a well-worked point from Con Sheehan. Hayden added a nicely taken free soon after and the sides traded scores as the half went on. The key moment of the half came when the Nicks were awarded a penalty, which Fionn calmly finished. Further points from Fionn and Hayden, along with a well taken free from Lee, helped the Nicks build a lead and they went in at the break ahead by 1-5 to 0-4.

Despite now having the advantage of the wind in the second half, it was Westerns who started the brighter and enjoyed plenty of possession early on. However, some solid defending from the Nicks kept them from making it count on the scoreboard. Hayden and Leo chipped in with important scores to keep things moving in the right direction.

Westerns reduced the gap to three points late on, but the decisive moment arrived when Con found the net to give the Nicks some breathing room. Cian Flynn then rounded off an impressive performance in midfield by adding the Nicks’ final score of the game.

The result sees St Nicholas progress to the semi-final of the Kevin Mullen Shield, and they will look to build on this performance as the competition continues.

Full time Score 2-08 v 0-08

H/T Score - 1-05 v 0-04

Alex Finnegan

Josh Byrne

Darren Thornton

Senan Meagher

Ceabhan Houshidari

Sam Reilly

Dylan Brogan

Cian Flynn (0-01)

Hayden Quinn (0-03)

Leo Quinn (0-01)

Shane Downey

Con Sheehan (1-01)

Sean Lynch

Fionn Meagher (1pen-01)

Lee Kavanagh (0-01)

Subs:

Dylan Maguire

Alex Jordan