NAOMH Moninne are back in their first Louth Senior Hurling final since 2004 after seeing off Pearse Og with a superb second-half display at Clan na Gael Park on Saturday evening.

The Dundalk outfit will face six-in-arow chasing Knockbridge in the decider, but they will do so with plenty of confidence on the back of this win and having topped their group with five wins from as many starts.

They made a dream start to both halves in this contest, racking up 1-5 in the space of 10 minutes in the first period, before bagging 1-7 between the 39th and 44th minutes.

Gerard Smyth had Pearse Og in front thanks to a couple of early frees, but manof-the-match Philip Englishby struck the game's first point from play in between and Naomh Moninne took a firm grip on the contest thereafter when Eddie McArdle fielded a high delivery from Diarmuid Murphy and drilled a good finish past Stephen Smyth.

Oisin Drumm, Englishby, Murphy, from a free, and Englishby all added a point apiece as the black and amber opened a 1-5 to 0-2 lead.

However, their good work was partially undone at the opposite end as Shane Callan, Smyth, Eddie McCarthy and Smyth again hit back with four points on the bounce.

Still Moninne didn't panic and they reestablished a five-point cushion when Padraig Murphy turned on an Oisin Drumm delivery to find Stephen Smyth's net once again.

Gerard Smyth replied with a free, but Diarmuid cancelled it out with one of his own to leave Moninne 2-6 to 0-7 up at the break.

Pearse Og briefly threatened to force their way back into the game after the restart when Smyth converted another free and Eddie McArdle profited from a misunderstanding between James Connolly and Pearse Doherty to be credited with his side's opening goal.

But the sight of their rivals in the rearview mirror spurred Moninne again and seven points without reply really put the issue to rest.

Oisin Drumm, Murphy with four frees, Englishby and Andrew Mackin did the damage as they opened a 2-13 to 1-8 lead.

That burst meant that Gerard Smyth's well-taken penalty was a mere consolation for Pearse Og and Moninne added further gloss to the final scoreline with singles from Englishby, Mackin and Drumm.

The CCC are yet to fix the final, but it is likely to take place on the last Sunday in September prior to the Junior Football final.

Knockbridge easily booked their path to the decider with a 3-21 to 0-8 win over St Fechin's. NAOMH MONINNE: James Connolly; Mark McGuinness, Pearse Doherty, Dermot Plunkett; Barry Murphy, Diarmuid Murphy 0-6f, Ger Collins; Darren O Hanrahan, Donal Rafferty; Oisin Drumm 0-3, Eddie McArdle 1-0, Philip Englishby 0-5; Stephen Ryan, Padraig Murphy 1-0, Ronan Geoghegan. Subs: Stephen Rafferty for R Geoghegan (28), Andrew Mackin 0-2 for S Ryan (36), Padraig Mulholland for P Murphy (53). PEARSE OG: Stephen Smith; Noel Callan, David Mulholland, Seamus McDonagh; Gary O'Brien, Donal McArdle, Andrew McCrave; Gerard Smith 1-6, (1-0 pen, 05 frees), Shane Callan 0-1; Mattie Boland, Eddie McCarthy, Aidan Callan; Barry Myles, Donach Callan, Brian McCabe. REFEREE: Noel Mullaney (Monaghan).