SHC: Cole's goal seal lucky win for Trim

August 06, 2019

Trim's Mikey Cole

Trim 1-13 Blackhall Gaels 1-12

Trim senior hurling team got a huge rub of the green last night as the stumbled and fumbled across the line to beat a luckless but a very good Blackhall Gaels team played in Boardsmill yesterday evening.

A scrambled goal by Michael Cole in the fourth minute of additional time at the end of the match gave a very fortunate Trim team a victory that they honestly did not deserve on the night.

Trim had to play without the services of goalkeeper Charlie Ennis due to holidays, he was replaced between the post by outfield playerJames Andrews and was having his very first outing as a Goalkeeper. Trim was also short County Star Alan Douglas due to a hand injury.

From the throw in Blackhall went a point ahead with a superb long distance score from county player Stephen Morris. Trim replied to this score with a neatly taken point from play from David Murtagh. Trim then took the lead with a pointed free from Damo McGee in the third minute. From the third minute to the fifteenth minute Blackhall outscored their opponents in Red with six unanswered points to lead by seven points to just two from Trim. During this period of total dominance Shane Whitty at centre back and Stephen Morris at centre field were outstanding for Blackhall and Trim never got to grips with Whitty or Morris as they continued to dominate for the sixty five minutes played in this match. The Trim forwards and mid field were total anonymous at this time and it was the Trim rearguard of Ger Dwane, Ryan Andrews, Colm McGrath, Sean McGee, James Toher and David Murtagh that kept their team in the match in the first half. In the sixteenth minute Trim got their first point in fourteen minutes with a free from Damo Mcgee. Neil Heffernan reduced the margin with a point from play in the seventh minute. The Town team seemed to be crawling themselves back into this match when disaster struck from a long range free the ball ended up in the net to give Blackhall a seven point lead with eight minutes left in the first half.  This goal seemed to give the Trim players the realisation that they could be beaten in this match. The forwards started contesting for the ball and Trim struck three points in the last seven minutes of the half to go in at half time down just four points down. These points came from the sticks of Brian Dowling, Damo McGee and Ian Birmingham.  In all honesty Blackhall should have gone in to the dressing room at half time a lot further ahead and their performance deserved it. Trim were shocking in the first half.

Half Time Score: Trim 0-7 Blackhall Gaels 1-8

Trim started brightly in the second half and scored three points to Blackhall’s one in the first ten minutes of the second half. The Trim scores came from Mikie Cole from play, Neil Heffernan from Play and a Damo McGee sixty five meter free. The Blackhall lead was just two points at this stage McGee with two pointed frees brought the sides level on the twenty minute mark. With Whitty and Morris still dictating things Blackhall scored three unanswered points to go three up again on the 60th minute of the match. During the ten minutes Blackhall were totally outplaying Trim but did not keep the score board ticking over, time and time again their attacks were broken down by the excellent Trim defence because of that one pass too many. Referee Stephen Masterson indicated that there would be three minutes of additional time to play. Ian Birmingham struck a great  point from play for the Reds in the sixty first minute. In the sixty fourth minute Neil Heffernan took a pass from Brian Dowling and took a shot for a goal, the shot was saved and parried outside of the small square, Heffernan pulled on the ground this shot was saved on the line and pushed out and landed at the feet of Mikie Cole who pulled on the ball and it ended up in the Back of the Blackhall net. This was a devastating blow for this gallant and very unlucky Blackhall team. There was then a steward’s enquiry about the Trim Goal but after a lengthy discussion with his Umpires the referee awarded the goal to the very very fortunate Trim Team. Trim won the resulting puck out and after a short passage of play the final whistle was blown.

This was a terrible performance from this Trim team and if the players are  honest with themselves they took Blackhall for granted and when Blackhall did not go away after twenty minutes Trim did not know how to go about responding or winning the match. Trim only came to life in the forward division in the tenth minute of the second half and the direct reason for this was the introduction of Ciaran Joyce. Joyce started winning the dirty ball, laying it off to a better placed player, taken and giving big hits something that did not happen in the previous forty minutes of play , Joyce totally gave the forward division a big lift and also desplayed the graft and guts on how to win this game.

The Trim Rear guard were excellent for the sixty five minutes played and in Goals James Andrews puck outs were a big plus when the pressure was on.  Full back line of Ryan Andrews Ger Dwane and Colm McGrath played very well, gained a lot of possession and always found a Trim man with their clearances. Half Backs James Toher, Seam McGee and David Murtagh did likewise. Dylan Farrell, Ian Birmingham, Brian Dowling and Neil Heffernan tried hard on what was a bad night for most Trim forwards.

This performance is nowhere near good enough to the level of performance needed in the knockout stages of the championship.

REFEREE WATCH:  8/10

Referee Stephen Masterson had a very good game and made very few mistakes during this match. His ability to allow the players play hurling made the match very entertaining and limited the number of frees scored to just ten in total. To many times in this championship have we seen free takers winning matches because of over fussy referring. This match was played in a very good spirit with no bad incidents at all and this was because the players were let hurl by the referee so no frustration crept into their play.

There were two natural togged out linesmen and four natural umpires on duty. Great to see so well done to all involved.

Pitch Watch: The Boardmill pitch was perfection last night, fully and clearly marked out. Top Class sod for hurling.

Trim Team & Scorers: James Andrews, Ryan Andrews, Ger Dwane, Colm McGrath, David Murtagh (0-1), James Toher, Sean McGee, Damo McGee (0-6), Dylan Farrell, Ian Birmingham(0-2),Peter Farrell, Mikie Cole (1-1), Neil Heffernan (0-2), Brian Dowling (0-1) Mikie Cullen

Subs: Ciaran Joyce for Peter Farrell 40 Minutes, Connor Quigley for Damo McGee 60 minutes


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