Nobber 1-8 Blackhall Gaels 2-10

Nobber began their 2024 Intermediate Football Championship campaign on a very warm Sunday lunchtime throw-in fixture against Blackall Gaels played in sunny Seneschalstown.

Perfect conditions for championship football with the weather proving favourable and the Seneschalstown groundskeeper having the pitch in excellent condition. This game can be described as a perfect example of a game of two halves. The scoring goals were certainly at the scoreboard end of the ground on the day. Of the 21 scores taken by both teams during the game, only 5 were converted into the railway bridge end goals (3 by Blackhall Gaels in the first half and 2 by Nobber in the second half). The wind played a factor in both sides' scoring execution throughout the 60+ minutes.

Nobber started the brightest in the opening quarter taking a 4 – 0-point lead. The black and ambers opened the scoring with a well-taken free from Dale Larkin followed by some good team moves with Conor Owens and Larkin adding to the Nord Meath men’s lead. Centre forward Karl Casserly was moving well and causing problems for the Blackall Gaels defence and finished a nice move raising yet another white flag for Martin Morgan’s charges. The Nobber defence stood firm with Tony McEntee and Barry Cassidy making the Blackall Gaels attack work extremely hard to get a score. The experienced Richie Shields was solid at centre-back and was linking play nicely between defence and attack for the Deesiders. Blackall Gaels got some scores of their own from distance, however, Casserly notched over another impressive point, followed by a Niall Farrell placed ball to increase Nobber’s lead. Nobber finished the first half strongly with some good play by midfielder Dean Halpin who laid off to the returning from Australia Fiachra McEntee to finish well to the back of the net.

Half-time score – Nobber 1 – 6 (9) Blackhall Gaels 0 – 3 (3)

The first 10 minutes of the second half were always going to be important. Blackall Gaels started with intent and enjoyed large spells of possession around the middle of the park whilst advancing forward to scoring positions. The Batterstown/Kilcloon outfit began to eat into Nobber’s lead and narrow it considerably. Midway through the second half the South Meath men rattled the back of the Nobber net to push them in front (1 – 7 v 1 – 6). Nobber had some chances but their luck was not in. Martin Morgan’s charges didn’t give up and championship debutant Gustas Povecivios kicked a lovely score to keep the game alive. Povecivios showed some good ball-handling skills using his basketball background to his advantage. Blackall Gaels continued to extend their lead, however, Thomas Murtagh notched over another score for the black and ambers. Nobber had some goal chances in the second period and on another day these may have hit the back of the net and the result may have been different. Lorcan McEntee and Paul Meade were unlucky on both occasions.

Nobber will be disappointed with their second-half performance but cannot be faulted for the effort and work rate of the whole squad on the day. Some positive and welcome news for Nobber supporters was to see the return to action of Paul Meade. Paul suffered a serious leg injury in the summer of 2022 and has shown great resilience and character to get back on the playing field.

Resilience and character will certainly be needed for the rest of the championship. Martin Morgan and his management team have two weeks to prepare for their second-round fixture against neighbours Meath Hill on Sunday, August 25 at 4 PM in Kilmainhamwood.

Nobber team – Dary Hutchinson, Tony McEntee, Eanna Fagan, Barry Cassidy, Seamus Fagan, Richie Shields, Kian Donohoe, Niall Farrell (0-1), Dean Halpin, Conor Owens (0-1), Karl Casserly (0-2), Lorcan McEntee, Dale Larkin (0-2), Fiachra McEntee (1-0), Barry Bradley.

Subs used – Gustas Povecivios (0 -1), Thomas Murtagh (0-1), Mark Condra, Paul Meade.

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