Duleek-Bellewstown 1-11 Meath Hill 2-11 

Duleek-Bellewstown’s chances of reaching the quarter final of the intermediate championship took a severe knock in this defeat to Meath Hill in Pairc Tailteann on Sunday. They must now avoid defeat against Rathkenny in the final game of the round robin series to secure their quarter final berth. 

In the final analysis Meath Hill played with the greater determination throughout the game and were fully deserving of their victory.

This was a game which had everything and which had the crowd fully entertained for the duration. There were period of good play, interceptions,  poor passes resulting for intense tacking, two penalties, one scored and one  missed, and even a ‘coming together’ after the final whistle., 

The first quarter was cagey affair with both sets of defenders keeping their opponents in check; Playing in to the hospital end Meath Hill opened brightly and had the first score of the game via a pointed free from their corner forward; This was followed by an equalising point from Cianan Byrne after a good pass from John Mc Donnell; However in the act of scoring he suffered an injury which forced him off some time later. 

A point from Tom Bowden, after coming in on the overlap increased the lead around the 10 minute mark. This was immediately followed by a double save from the Meath Hill keeper who parried shots from Jamie Flaherty and Cian Ryan. Then Meath Hill equalised after a series of interchanges in their forwards and  Shane Crosby restored the point advantage almost directly from the kickout. 

A Meath Hill point following a turn over in the Duleek-Bellewstown defence saw the game level again before Ciaran Flynn popped up with a goal and a point in the space of ninety seconds; The point coming after he received a pass down the left and he popped a nice score. The goal coming after Johnny Mac Donnell worked the ball into danger zone and Ciaran Flynn got the touch to force the ball over the line . 

A pointed free from Meath Hill brought the game back to a single score as the game approached half time and the first of the penalties came; Meath Hill had possession for a long period and were working the ball over and back and when a high cross field ball was broken down the in the large square their forward was hauled down and the resultant penalty was coolly despatched to bottom corner;  Meath Hill then went in front only for Shane Crosby to again draw the sides levels. 

That penalty just before half time had given  Meath Hill a new belief and they opened the second half with two long range points in the first 5 minutes but these were matched with points from John Flood and a second from Tom Bowden. Ciaran Flynn and the Meath Hill corner forward then swapped scores have the sides level going into the final quarter. 

Two quick scores around the 20th minute from Alan Bowden and a John Flood free had Duleek-Bellewstown two points to the good and their midfielder brought the sides back to parity with three minutes left on the clock. 

That equalising score had the desired effect on both teams and both drove forward   looking for the winning score. A fine smothering save from Ryan Lynch stopped the next attack and from the resulting attack a Shane Crosby drifted wide. The resultant kickout from Meath Hill was fielded by their midfielder on the terrace side and another long range attempt drifted wide. 

Then as the game entered the third minute of injury time the Duleek-Bellewstown defence turned over an attack at the edge of the small square and in the attempt to clear their lines the ball was dislodged and trickled over the goal line. 

From the resultant kickout Shane Crosby drove a long ball in which was fielded by Eoghan Heeney and as bore down on goal he was unceremoniously dragged down and a penalty was given.  The resultant penalty kick was saved and with it any hope of salvaging something from the game. 

In the final analysis Duleek-Bellewstown will wonder where thing went wrong. The opportunities were there, they were in the lead on numerous occasions, they had the possession and yet came out on the wrong side of the scoreboard; The bottom line is that they must get something out of the last match against Rathkenny in order to progress. 

Duleek-Bellewstown: Ryan Lynch, Sam O’Leary, Kevin McCann, Oisin Miland, Tom Bowden, Robin Clarke, Cianan Byrne, Shane Crosby, Cian Ryan, John Flood, Alan Bowden, Jamie Crosby, Ciaran Flynn, Jamie Flaherty, John McDonnell; Subs Kyle Callaghan, Cillian Kirwan, Elliot Lenehan, Dylan Collins, Eoghan Heeney 

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