Ballinlough 1-08 Donaghmore/Ashbourne 2-13 

Ballinlough made the extremely early morning trip to Ashbourne this morning for Round 2 of the Div.3 League, and it was no surprise that it took the visitors a little while to get going, sending the ball wide of the posts on several occasions early on.

The home side had no such issues as they added two points by the fifth minute, before Ballinlough finally got up and running when Sean Tunney pointed from play in the tenth minute.

Points were traded when Donaghmore/Ashbourne pointed from play while Kit Óg Lynch pointed a tap over free, the ball brought forward for a bit of dissent from the home side in the 15th minute.

Ballinlough took the lead a moment later when a fine ball in from Mark McCullen held beautifully in the wind and landed perfectly into the outstretched hands of Kit Óg Lynch, as he turned and fired the ball to the back of the net to give Ballinlough a two-point lead.

It was a short-lived lead however as from the kick out Donaghmore/Ashbourne gained possession and when former Meath star Andrew Tormay got a hold of the ball, he proved time has no power over class as he played an exquisite ball into the forward line and the ball was in the back of the net in seconds.

That score was followed up with a point from play for the hosts, before Ballinlough hit back with points for Harry Ryan and another Kit Óg Lynch free, again brought forward, this time for not allowing the player taking the mark to proceed, the sides now level in the 21st minute.

Donaghmore Ashbourne restored their lead with a point from play but once again they were to fall foul of the technical rules of the game as a pass back to the Keeper resulted in another tap over free for Kit Óg Lynch in the 26th minute.

It looked like the sides would remain level at the half time whistle but just on the stroke of half time Donaghmore/Ashbourne landed an excellent two-point score to give themselves the lead on a scoreline of 1-07 to Ballinlough’s 1-05.

From the restart Ballinlough started strongly and should have really put their noses firmly in front but they were to be twarthed twice in quick succession as firstly Harry Ryan and then Kit Óg Lynch both saw goal efforts saved by the Donaghmore/Ashbourne net minder in the opening minutes of the second half.

Benji Smith did add a point from play in the 33rd minute to reduce the gap to one point but Donaghmore/Ashbourne swiftly restored their two point advantage with a point from play.

This game looked like there were more goals in it as again another strong Ballinlough chance went abegging when Conor Fleming burst forward with the ball but was unlucky to see his fantastic effort hit the side netting in the 36th minute.

Down the other end Donaghmore/Ashbourne had a goal chance of their own only to be denied by the crossbar but they did add another free to their tally in the 38th minute.

A lull in scoring was finally ended when the home side pushed their advantage out to five with two points from play in the 49th minute.

Ballinlough rallied back with points from Kit Óg Lynch and Oisin McDermott by the 51st minute, but Donaghmore/Ashbourne kicked into gear again adding a point from play and then a killer goal in the 56th minute to put this contest to bed and the result beyond doubt.

A final point from play for Donaghmore/Ashbourne was to be the final score of the game in the 59th minute, so when Referee Robbie Barrett blew the full time whistle the home side prevailed on a scoreline of 2-13 to Ballinlough’s 1-08.

Ballinlough: A.Gibney, J.Connell, R.Farrell, C.Rennicks, L.Finnegan(0-01), M.McCullen, C.Fleming, O.McDermott(0-01), E.Briody, B.Smith(0-01), H.Ryan(0-01), N.McDonnell, B.Brunton, S.Tunney, K.Óg Lynch(1-04(4f))

Referee: Robbie Barrett

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