Slane 0-14 Cortown 0-10

Slane marked their return to Junior Championship football with a 4 point win over Cortown in Rathkenny on Saturday evening. 

After an 8 year spell in the Junior B ranks, the new championship structure meant Slane made the jump to the Teach na Teamhrach Junior Championship this year.

Thankfully the rain stayed away during this encounter and allowed for perfect match conditions in Rathkenny, with Slane playing against a slight breeze in the first half.

Slane started the better of the 2 teams, with a pointed free from goalkeeper Darren Berrill slotted over from just inside the 45 with 2 mins on the clock.
From the resulting kickout, a well worked move between Podge McGowan and Matt Tully, seen Daniel Forde slot over to complete the move he started to put Slane 2 ahead early on.

Cortown got back into the game, with 2 points in response, 1 from a well-taken mark and another fine score from distance.

The next 20 minutes proved decisive with Slane getting 7 scores to Cortown’s 1. Matt Tully put Slane 3-2 up with a 30 metre free, followed by a terrific curled effort from Zak Fitzsimons to extend the lead to 2. Four dead ball situations meant Slane extended their lead to 6, with Berrill extending his tally to 3 points with a 45 and another free kick. Podge McGowan got his first score of the game with a free out on the right and Forde scored from a well caught mark on the edge of the D.

Midfielder Jim Marry produced a moment of magic with the first half drawing to a close, as he found himself on the 21 on the far right with little options on, he sent it over the bar to extend the lead to 7.
Cortown slotted over just before the break to end their 20 minute scoring duct to send the sides in at half time with a 9-3 score line.

Cortown started the better of the 2 teams and got 2 points of their own early into the second half to reduce the deficit to 5. 
McGowan got his second point of the game to get Slane’s second half tally up and running. 

Injured Aaron Lane was replaced by Eoin Gibbs on 37 mins. McGowan got things going again with another well taken free to extend the lead to 6 with 40 mins on the clock. The next Cortown attack resulted in a Cortown free which was slotted over, after which seen a Cortown forward deservedly sent off for a strike on Eanna Mooney. 

After the drinks break, with Cortown down a man they emptied the tank pushing for a goal to close the margin. Slane held out but gave away some easy frees in the process which Cortown continued to chip away at the margin reducing it to 3. 

Eoin Feeley stroked over on his left to push the margin out to 4 again. Slane brought in Daniel Carolan and Kyle Tallon to add some legs in the forward line for the last 12 mins or so. 
Carolan not long on the pitch pointed well to add breathing space after a Cortown free had reduced the margin to 3 again. 

Last score of the game came from another Tully point which put Slane 4 ahead with seconds left to give the men in blue breathing space coming into the dying moments.

Slane will be particularly happy with their first half performance with some great fielding and movement on show but there’s still room for improvement ahead of the next rounds of the championship. 

Thanks to Cortown for a competitive, physical game of football and best of luck for the rest of the campaign. Thanks to Rathkenny also for hosting the game and ensuring all HSE guidelines were followed during these strange times. 

Slane: Darren Berrill 0-3, Aaron Lane, Sean Martyn, Liam White, Ru Searle, Eanna Mooney, Eoin Feeley 0-1, Jim Marry 0-1, Peter Martyn, Podge McGowan 0-3, Francis Marry, Matt Tully 0-2, Cillian Gough, Daniel Forde 0-2, Zak Fitzsimons 0-1 

Subs: Eoin Gibbs for Aaron Lane, Daniel Carolan 0-1 for Daniel Forde, Kyle Tallon for Podge McGowan, Gordon Finnegan, David Reilly, Finn Searle, Stephen Kells, Jake Harrop, Sean Murray

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