Kildalkey took on an on the up Kilmessan on Friday evening in Trim after a first round loss to Trim and after a tough hours hurling it was a case of job done as they eaked out a 5 point win with the game always in the balance throughout.

Kilmessan came into this game after a good in against Clan na Gael in Round 1 and Kildalkey knew a repeat of their Round 1 game v Trim wouldn’t be good enough to beat Kilmessan.

They needed to up their game and while they didn’t reach their best they did improve considerably to gain the 2 points and get their campaign up and running again.

A hat trick from Brian O Halloran helped their cause greatly and all 3 came from direct running at the Kilmessan defence and each one boosted his team at vital times as Kilmessan were always with them and it just gave Kildalkey a little bit of breathing space every time .

The first half was low key as both teams only played in spurts and spasms and it was very stop start and never really opened up.

All Kildalkeys points came from the hurl of Nicky Potterton all placed balls and the first of O Hallorans goal left Kildalkey 1-5 to 1-3 up at halftime.Kilmessans goal coming from a mix up in the Kildalkey defence but in general they were on top with Kilmessan finding it hard to break them down Brin Kelly Brendan Mckeon and David Coneely Martin Healy and David Harmon coming out with the ball time and again to keep Kilmessan at bay 

Mark Healy got the first point of the second half as the rain left things greasy for both teams 

Soon after O Halloran raced in for his second to leave it 2-6 to 1-5 

Kilmessan hit back while Nicky Potterton kept the scoreboard ticking from play and frees 

O Halloran pounced for a third goal but down the other end Kilmessan weren’t going away and kept in touch and after a speculative shot hit the top of the post and came down Darren Reilly reacted the quickest to pull on the loose ball and score a goal for his team 

David Harmon left the field with a head injury which was a blow 

Nicky Potterton hit Kildalkeys last 2 points from play 2 super efforts to give his team a badly needed 5 point win on the night .

Next up is Dunderry next weekend.

Kildalkey team and scorers: C Smith, D Conneely, B Kelly, B McKeon, Mark Healy (0-1), D Harmon, Martin Healy, P Conneely, N McNally, P Barnwell, B O Halloran (3-0), L Rickard, C Fitzgerald, G Kelly, N Potterton (0-11)(8f)

Subs: J Kavanagh for D Harmon 

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