Blackhall Gaels 0-11
Oldcastle 0-8

The notorious Trim breeze did little in the way of favors for Oldcastle when they were put to the sword by Blackhall Gaels who turned in a strong second half performance on Saturday night in the first round of the Hoganstand.com Meath Senior Championship.

You only have to go back to 2012 for the last championship meeting of these two clubs and it was Blackhall who took the honors two years ago.

Oldcastle stated their intentions early, racing into a three nil lead using that wind and the big field in Trim to great effect. Blackhall could have been level on eight minutes when Dan O'Neill found himself bearing down on goal but O'Neill couldn't keep his shot down and blasted over the bar. Oldcastle added another point on twelve minutes which was soon countered when corner forward Dermot Carty found his range to leave it 4-2 on the quarter mark.

With both teams settling well there was some great duels on the field. Blackhall's John Kelly began imposing himself on the game, carrying the ball at pace and he helped himself to two points before half time. A brace of points from Oldcastle however would see them go into the dressing room with a slender 6-4 lead at the break.

Donnacha Tobin put his name on the score sheet four minutes after the resumption, the county man really relishing being back in the club jersey. The teams continued to trade points as Oldcastle countered immediately. A sublime kick from a placed ball by Alan Nestor maintained the one point deficit. A huge second Dermot Carty point put Blackhall on level terms for the first time after forty minutes and they were ahead when Nestor added his second three minutes later.

Again Oldcastle refused to let the Gaels pull away and brought the game back to eight apiece. The introduction of fresh legs for Blackhall in Patrick O'Brien and Ciaran Giblin marked a turning point in the game. A second point from O'Neill put the Gaels ahead then corner back Dan Carty finished off a move he started in the back line to put Blackhall two clear. With ten minutes to go Oldcastle pushed for a goal to try and stop Blackhall's momentum but it never came. Dermot Carty added his third point to put Blackhall three ahead. Oldcastle continued to press in search of a goal but the Gaels withstood the pressure and had three to spare at the final whistle. Final score in Trim Blackhall Gaels 0-11 Oldcastle 0-8

Blackhall Gaels -T.Dalton , Daniel Carty (0-1), C.McElligott , C.Stenson , D.Beirne , J.Kelly , S.Morris , A.Nestor (0-2), T.Delany , D.O'Neill (0-2), T.Murphy , D.Tobin (0-1), P.Kelly , T.Brosnan , Dermot Carty (0-3)
Subs: D.Durkan for Beirne , P.O'Brien for Delany , J.Meyler for Tobin , C.Giblin for Murphy ,

Referee: Cormac Reilly

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Oldcastle report:

Oldcastle travelled to Trim for the first round of the Senior Football Championship against Blackhall Gaels with high hopes of starting the campaign with a win. After just surviving from relegation last year , it was imperative for them to get a result to try and cement there place in senior football. It was windy but dry and both teams looked well up for the game. It was Oldcastle who started the best and raced into a 3 point to nothing lead with some well taken scores. It took Blackhall Gaels 9 minutes to get there first score on the board and they needed to somehow claw themselves back into the game before half time. The game became a lot more even throughout the rest of the half and it was Oldcastle who were kicking themselves for not going in with a higher lead. They had a great goal chance from a goalkeeper mistake and also could have been more clinical with there point taking. But in saying that Oldcastle managed 6 first half points and led at the break 6 points to 4. The second half begun and it looked like Oldcastle were still full of energy with an early score. But in fact it was Blackhall Gaels who were well pumped up for it and they started to take control of the game and take some very impressive scores. Oldcastle only managed one more point for the rest of the game which came midway through the second half. They will have to look to improve that in there next game as it seems to be a common problem. Blackhall started to look comfortable in the game and they went further ahead after levelling the game 10 minutes into the second half. They were working the ball well into scoring positions and opening up the Oldcastle defence , taking advantage of the gaps left by defenders and midfielders who joined the attack. Oldcastle were behind by 3 points and decided to bring in a few substitutes and change things about. They needed a goal to level the game but with still 10 minutes remaining they could've taken there points. Instead they passed up a number of point taking opportunities to go run towards the Blackhall goals. It was looking like a tough ask to get past the packed Blackhall defense but with only a couple minutes left they had a wonderful opportunity which was spurned and well saved by the goalkeeper. Blackhall had defended very well and in the end pipped Oldcastle with the final score reading Blackhall Gaels 0-11 to Oldcastle 0-08. A tough loss for Oldcastle but with the opportunities that they missed they can only blame themselves. But they can't drop the heads and they must keep fighting and look to two weeks time when they face Wolfe Tones in Pairc Tailteann.

Oldcastle - Ross Cadden; Johnny Short, Rory McHugh, Peter Lynch; Matthew Cadden, Terry Farrelly, Cian McPartland; Peter Monaghan, Conor McHugh; Paddy Gilsenan (0-02), Ronan Farrelly (0-01), Eoin McNamee(0-01); Alan McCann (0-01), Robert Farrelly (0-03), Eoin Gilsenan

Subs - Seany Rahill for Matthew Cadden, Stephen Tierney for Ronan Farrelly, Sean Maxwell for Johnny Short Tweet

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