Nobber 3-10 Blackall Gaels 1-13

Nobber welcomed Blackall Gaels to their home grounds on Saturday evening last in the first round of their 2023 league campaign. The game was played under cool and dry conditions with the pitch looking well. All was set up for a good entertaining game of football and that was certainly the case. Spectators got value for their money with goals proving the deciding factor for the North Meath men.

The game started off brightly with both teams trading points in the early stages. Centre halfback Niall Farrell found himself up the pitch in a scoring position and finished off a fine team move to the back of the Blackall Gaels net after 7 minutes of play. The black and ambers pushed on and were dominant throughout the first half. A great score from corner forward Lorcan McEntee from 35 yards midway through the first half left the Nobber men leading by 1 – 4 v 0 – 3. Blackall Gaels scored one more point in the second quarter whereas Nobber continued their dominance by notching up another 1 – 3 on the scoreboard. Paddy Clarke rattled the net blasting hard past the Blackall Gaels keeper and league debutant Conor Owens with an impressive point into the village end goals were notable scores for Paddy Bates’s charges.

Half-Time Score nobber 2 – 7 Blackall Gaels 0 – 4

Blackall Gaels got the first score of the second half into the village end goals. The lively Joe Tierney, however, had other ideas, after picking up the ball he ran directly at the Blackall Gaels defence and kicked the ball low and hard past the Blackall Gaels keeper raising another green flag for the North Meath men. The second half was quite equal in terms of possession for both sides and with 10 minutes remaining the Nobber men led by 8, (3 – 9 v 0 – 10). To Blackall Gaels credit, they never gave up and had their period of dominance in the final 10 minutes leaving it a nervy ending for Nobber. They scored a goal after 57 minutes to leave a tight finish, however the black and ambers had enough in the tank to hold on and record their first victory of the season.

Overall, a very impressive team performance from the Deesiders’ with McMahon solid in goals, and Cassidy, Farrell and Condra in defence. Thomas Murtagh showed his experience by catching some great high balls under pressure and conducting the orchestra at times. Both Mark Condra and Joe Tierney caused problems for the Blackall Gaels defence all day. Congratulations to Conor Owens on making his senior competitive league debut and to Karl Casserly on marking his return to competitive league action after a serious knee injury.

Round 2 fixture – Nobber make the trip to Ballivor next Sunday, March 12 for an 11:30 AM throw-in.

Nobber: Niall McMahon, Tony McEntee, Barry Cassidy, Barry Bradley, Kian Donohoe, Niall Farrell, Colin Condra, Thomas Murtagh, Dean Halpin, Conor Owens, Mark Condra, Joe Tierney, Paddy Clarke, Karl Casserly, Lorcan McEntee.

Subs used: Jonny Donohoe.

 

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