St. Michaels / Nobber 11-08, Ballinlough 4-04.                                                              

An excellent first half scoring spree with the aid of Storm Dennis secured victory for the St. Michaels / Nobber combination in the Deerpark in Carlanstown on Saturday afternoon last. 

In terribly wet and windy conditions it was difficult for either side to get into a decent rhythm but the home side always looked that bit more competent and they completely dominated the opening half.                         

The winners got off to a brilliant start and were 3-2 to 0-0 to the good after only 10 minutes thanks to goals from Jakub Bidinski (2) and Lorcan McEntee (2) and the same players also shared an early point apiece. 

Ballinlough who were struggling against the lashing rain / very strong wind and the tight St. Michaels / Nobber defence managed only one first half score, a point in the 18th minute by which time the home side had 6-4 on the scoresheet.  

Lorcan McEntee had opened his account with an early point, Jakub Bidinski followed with two quick fire goals both finished low inside the opening 7 minutes. McEntee added a further goal soccer style before Bidinski completed his hat-trick at the end of the first quarter. Cian McFadden then got in on the goal scoring act as he tapped in McEntee's effort which rebounded off the keeper and he added his second major a minute later when he found himself in space in front of the posts for a 6-3 lead. The home side then lost Bidinski through injury and Jo Jo Ogunube and McEntee finished the half with a point apiece for a 7-6 to 0-1 interval lead.

The lashing rain died down somewhat in the second half and the Ballinlough lads took advantage of the strong wind and added 4-1 in the opening 17 minutes of the new half, however normality was soon restored when Conor Owens bagged a goal for the home side, Jack Moriarty did likewise and a point apiece from Owens and substitute Ben Forte capped a good afternoon's work for the St. Michaels / Nobber side who limited the visitors to just two more second half points points. 

The back five plus keeper Aaron Gaffney and midfielder Eoghan Finnegan put in a good afternoon's work in testing conditions and they did a superb job in linking defence to attack.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
St. Michaels / Nobber team and scorers: Aaron Gaffney; Jamie Murray, Paddy Fitzsimons, Scott Farrell; Brian O'Reilly, Colin Condra; Eoghan Finnegan; Lorcan McEntee (2-4); Jack Moriarty (1-0), Cian McFadden (2-0); Conor Owens (1-1), Jo Jo Ogunube (2-1), Jakub Bidinski (3-1).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Sub: Ben Forte (0-1) for Bidinski injured 20 minutes.

Report by: Pascal Reilly.

Referee: Gerry Skelly                                                                                                                

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