Nobber 1-16
Trim 3-8

Trim senior footballers failed in this first hurdle of a two game relegation 'round robin' battle when they were defeated by Nobber on Saturday evening and now face a 'must win' final game against Duleek?Bellewstown in order to maintain their senior status next year.

For most of the game, with the exception of a seven minute period in the first half, Nobber were ahead in the scoring stakes. With eight minutes left and the gap at six points Trim embarked on a frantic attempt at recovery. To their credit they got back to within two points and but for some fluffed chances in front to goal and some resolute defending by their opponents they almost pulled the game 'out of the fire'. It wasn't to be on this day and consequently they must face a 'shoot out' with Duleek in the coming weeks.

Nobber were first to score with a point in the first minute but Trim gave an immediate sharp reply with a goal and point. The goal resulted from James Toher sweeping the breaking ball at mid field. He lobbed a long high ball into the square where full forward Derek Donohoe rose highest to palm the ball down to the 'in running' Neil Heffernan who made no mistake from the edge of the square. From the kickout, Michael Lowther gained possession in the middle of the field and after a mazy run through the Nobber defence he punched over the bar to put his side ahead by three points. So, with three minutes gone, Trim supporters would have been pleased with what they saw, but this upbeat experience was short lived as Nobber nailed four consecutive points in as many minutes to go one point ahead. The play remained at stalemate until the seventeenth minute when Trim opened up with another scoring burst, once again with a goal and a point in the space of a minute. The goal was a replica of the first when Paul Gilsenan found Derek Donohoe with a high ball. The full forward passed to the in-rushing Neil Heffernan who palmed to the net. This was followed by an excellent point from Alan Douglas who split the Nobber defence with a scything run and nailed the score without breaking his stride to put his side three point ahead. This was a good as it got for Trim in his first half as Nobber then gained the ascendency. In the final ten minutes of the half the North Meath side scored 1-5 without reply to go in at half time five points ahead, 1-10 to 2-2.

The Red's response to the half time talk was good as they came out and had four points on the board within the first eight minute to reduce the deficit to one point. The points came from Derek Donohoe, Paul Gilsenan (free), Alan Douglas and Michael Lowther. Douglas' point resulted from excellent foraging around the middle of the field from the young half back Darah Phelin. He eventually got the pass to Douglas who fired over an excellent point. For the twenty minutes that followed Nobber gained control as the Trim mistakes mounted with wayward passing and shooting resulting in the North Meath'ers clocking up six points with a sole one point reply from the boot of Alan Douglas. With Trim trailing by six points in the twenty seventh minute the game looked all but finished but a revival was sparked when Owen McGrath's shot at goal was foot blocked resulting in a penalty. Mark Gilsenan's made no mistake with the spot kick. The referee signalled four minutes of extra time to be played. Trim kept up the pressure and were rewarded with a Mark Gilsenan pointed free on thirty two minutes. Nobber did not relent and counter attacked in the final minutes with two wides which helped run down the time to the final whistle leaving them winners by two points.

The Trim scorers were: Neil Hefferan (2-0), Mark Gilsenan (1-1), Alan Douglas (0-3), Derek Donohoe (0-1), Paul Gilsenan (0-1), Michael Lowther (0-2).

Trim - Brendan Murphy, Colm Flaherty, Stephen Farrell, Robert Brennan, Daragh Phelin, Paul Flanagan, Maurice Power, Alan Douglas, Michael Lowther, Paul Gilsenan, Eoin McGrath, James Toher, Mark Gilsenan, Derek Donohoe, Neil Heffernan. Subs: Frankie Murphy, Niall Murray, Anthony Kane, Keith Hamilton, Stephen O'Toole, Stephen Doyle, Andrew O'Brien, Eoin Kelly, Shane Lenehan, Sean McDonagh. Tweet

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