Mercy Kilbeggan are North Leinster Senior C Football Champions

Mercy Secondary School Kilbeggan emerged victorious on a scoreline of 2-11 to 0-15 in a fiercely contested North Leinster Final with Dundalk De La Salle played in Trim. It was a gallant victory for the team who left nothing behind them on the field and ran out winners by two points after extra time. Superbly marshalled by joint managers, Gareth Farrell and Mark Corrigan approached the campaign in a very positive manner and turned early season adversity to their advantage.In their opening encounter, Mercy Kilbeggan produced the goods when overcoming Ballymahon Vocational School and they showed their mettle in the penultimate round when they got the measure of Laois standardbearers, Mountmellick Community School.Due to the icy conditions the final itself was played on the all weather pitch in the Trim Grounds, and this made for a fast compelling contest that enthralled from start to end. Dundalk had the best of the early exchanges and were only kept out by some outstanding goalkeeping from Paul Daly. Both sides exchanged points and Dundalk looked to be gaining an advantage until a superb individual goal by Darren Ruane gave Mercy Kilbeggan a three point advantage. Dundalk rallied and reduced this deficit to one point at the interval. Mercy Kilbeggan came racing out of the traps in the second half and pulled away but they failed to turn this dominance into enough scores. Bit by bit Dundalk edged their way back into the game and when the final whistle blew the sides were level.Extra time was a big ask for both sides in such arctic conditions on an all weather pitch, but the contest continued as intense as ever. Mercy Kilbeggan made the decisive breakthrough in the first period of extra time when Gerard O'Toole blasted to the corner of the net. This rejuvenated the team, and despite an intense rally from Dundalk, Mercy Kilbeggan hung on heroically to win by a two point margin, 2-11 to 0-15 - much to the joy of their traveling supporters.Paul Daly had an inspired day in goals keeping a clean sheet under immense pressure. The full back Kieran Glennon, Mike Dever and Man of the Match Dean McDermott made an outstanding contribution to the success of the team restricting Dundalk to wild shots on goal and little possession. The half back line of Brian Killian, Niall Kelly and Conall Ennis stood firm right till the end repelling wave after wave of attack. The centre field pairing of Niall McDermott and Conor Kavanagh literally ran themselves into the ground, before being replaced by Eoin Quinn and David Gaye in extra time. The half forward line of David Fennell, Pietro Scarnicchio and Paul Fennell worked tirelessly throughout the game - making very efficient and intelligent use of the possession that came their way. Darren Ruane at corner forward played a superb captains role driving the team forward, and like Gerard O'Toole scored a goal at a vital time in the game. Damien McCormack had his best game yet in the campaign showing outstanding commitment and ball winning ability particularly in extra time when tired limbs were taking hold. When he came on Daniel Galvin made an excellent contribution to help his team over the winning line.After the game Pat Lynagh presented the North Leinster Senior C Trophy to Mercy Kilbeggan captain Darren Ruane.Team : Paul Daly, Mike Dever,, Dean McDermott, Kieran Glennon, Brian Killian, Niall Kelly, Conall Ennis, Niall McDerrmott (Eoin Quinn), Conor Kavanagh (Daniel Galvin), Paul Fennell, Pietro Scarnicchio (David Gaye), David Fennell, Darren Ruane (Captain), Gerard O'Toole, Damien McCormack. Subs : Padraic Ennis, Liam Hanevy, Stephen Nally, Ciaran Daly and David Jessop.