Ballinlough 3-06 Meath Hill 3-10

A depleted Ballinlough were on the road early to head for a damp and miserable Meath Hill for this Premier Championship Div.5 Round 5 game and massive credit should be given to the young men from the Lough who put in a powerful performance against a much more experienced Meath Hill side.

Eoin Briody opened the scoring with a point in the third minute before Meath Hill got off the mark with a free five minutes later. But it was the visitors who took the first Major of the game when the Veteran Podge Muldoon, operating in midfield today, found himself in acres of space and fired a powerful effort goal bound and past the Meath Hill keeper to give Ballinlough a three point lead after eleven minutes.

A Meath Hill point from play a moment later left two between the sides before they were to take the lead for the first time in the 14th minute with a well taken goal that left them one ahead in what was a tight cagey opening period for both sides.

Sean Tunney levelled matters with a free on the 15 minute mark, and Ballinlough grabbed back the lead with Mattie Farrell sauntering up the field to nail an excellent score in the 17th minute. Indeed Ballinlough should have being further ahead as the midfield battles were being won consistently by the visitors but wayward shooting meant their lead remained at just a singular point.

When Meath Hill did finally win a kick-out, some dogged defending from young Fionn McDonnell ensured the turnover and from there the ball was played up to another youngster Kit Óg Lynch who pointed from play to double Ballinlough’s lead in the 22nd minute.

A Séan Tunney free in the 25th minute left three between the sides but all momentum was soon ceased when there was an extended period of delay as the Meath Hill wing back went down under no pressure and had to receive treatment for what looked quite a painful knee issue and we wish him a speedy recovery from his injury.

When play finally resumed Meath Hill were to be awarded a penalty for a foul inside the square in the 32nd minute, and while the penalty was struck well, the ball was superbly repelled by Mattie Farrelly in the Ballinlough net and he even tidied up the rebound to deny Meath Hill the goal.

The best the home side could do at this stage was a point from play in the 34th minute and with that Referee Paul Mooney called time on the opening period, Ballinlough leading 1-05 to Meath Hills 1-02.

The second half had barley started when Referee Paul Mooney made a massive call in awarding Meath Hill yet another penalty in the 32nd minute, the ball quite clearly hopping on the surface and into the hands of Josh Lynch but inexplicably the Referee deemed he had touched the ball on the ground much to the bemusement of the small Ballinlough support in attendance.

Whoever made the decision to change spot kick taker had the desired effect as despite a poorly executed penalty, Keeper Mattie Farrelly guessed the wrong way, and the ball trickled to the net to give Meath Hill a one point lead.

That score was followed up with two points from play for the home side to leave them three points up by the 39th minute.

I’ve said it already but I’ll say it again, massive credit must be given to this Ballinlough side who kept battling and were rewarded in the 41st minute when Mattie Farrell and Conor Fleming executed a perfect one-two with Fleming receiving the ball back, dancing his way around three defenders and sending the ball flying to the net to level the sides once again.

Meath Hill were the benefactors of a couple of frees by the 46th minute which were duly dispatched to give them a two point lead again but once more Ballinlough dug deep to hit back when Josh Lynch showed immense strength to retain the ball and win his free around the centre of the field, before sending it forward to little brother Kit Óg, and once he had turned his man he was away like a hare, cooly passing the ball beyond the grasp of the Meath Hill keeper in the 48th minute to give Ballinlough a one point lead.

A Meath Hill point from play levelled matters for the fifth time in the 50th minute but Ballinlough came again with Conor Fleming pointing in the 55th minute. That lead didn’t last long as the sides were level once more when Meath Hill scored the first and only Advanced Mark of the game in the 57th minute.

It was beginning to look like nothing would separate these sides and truth be told neither side would have complained with a draw game looking the fairest result, but tiredness finally began to seep into the Ballinlough rearguard, who had carried out a Trojan effort up to this point, and a pointed Meath Hill free in the 60th minute was followed up with a goal two minutes later as the fresh legs and experience of the home side showed towards the end to leave them four point victors on a scoreline of 3-10 to Ballinlough’s 3-06.

Much thanks to the Meath Hill volunteers for the badly needed mug of tea at full-time to help stave off the rain for a few minutes before the long journey home, it was greatly appreciated.

Ballinlough Team: M.Farrelly, B.Jordan, H.Briody, F.McDonnell, L.Finnegan, J.Lynch, M.Farrell (0-01), P.Muldoon (1-00), E.Briody (0-01), C.Briody, C.Fleming (1-01), N.McDonnell, S.Tunney (0-02(2f), J.O’Reilly, K.Óg Lynch (1-01)

Subs: J.Connell for C.Briody 41’, N.O’Reilly for S.Tunney 50’, C.Briody for E.Briody 52’

Referee: Paul Mooney

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