Loughcrew 3-10 Boyne Valley 1-17

In a repeat pairing from last year Loughcrew and Boyne Valley returned to Dunganny for the first of the Regional Football Championship Semi-Finals on a bitter cold Wednesday evening.

Early scores were traded with Boyne Valley’s Daire Rowe and Loughcrews Harry Ryan both finding the sticks in the opening five minutes before Boyne Valley took the lead with Slanes Francis Marry accurate from distance.

From there though Loughcrew took control, kickstarted with a David Gibney goal in the seventh minute and further points for CJ Healy, Pearse Sheridan and Gibney gave Loughcrew a five point lead by the tenth minute.

Syddan’s Daire Rowe found the posts again for Boyne Valley in the 11th minute but Loughcrew were in rampant form with points added from Lee Healy, David Gibney and then a second goal coming from Cormac Brown in the 15th minute gave the North Meath men a commanding lead.

A point for Conor Farrelly kept the Boyne Valley scoreboard ticking but Harry Ryan added his second of the afternoon in the 19th minute to leave Loughcrew nine points clear.

Credit to Boyne Valley they had to dig deep to stop this game completely running away from them and they hit back with four points without reply, David McLoughlin, Adam Quinn and Matt Tully all joining Darie Rowe on the scoresheet by the 26th minute.

Pearse Sheridan got Loughcrews first point in almost ten minutes and there was just enough time for Moynalveys David McLoughlin to point from a free before Referee Padraic Coyle blew the half time whistle, the scoreline reading Loughcrew 2-08 to Boyne Valleys 0-09.

The men in yellow came out fighting in the second half and despite some tenacious tackling from the Loughcrew rearguard, it was Boyne Valley who struck for two early points to reduce the deficit to three points.

A Pearse Sheridan point in the 38th minute left four between the sides but Boyne Valley were stringing some good passes together now and their slick movement was rewarded when Daire Rowe finished to the net from close range to leave just a solitary point between the sides.

In what was a game played at a frantic pace Loughcrew hit back immediately when Pearse Sheridan almost lost control of the ball but just about managed to play it across the face of the goal before it ran out of play, and Cormac Brown was on hand to grab his second goal of the evening in the 40th minute.

Harry Ryan edged Loughcrew further in front with a well taken point in the 43rd minute but from there it was all one way traffic as Boyne Valley set to work dismantling Loughcrew's lead.

A David McLoughlin free was the first of six points on the trot for Boyne Valley with Mark Foy, Conor Farrelly, Daire Rowe (2) and another for McLoughlin all added to Boyne Valleys tally to give them a one point lead in the 56th minute.

It would be remiss to say Loughcrew didn’t have chances themselves in that period but with three efforts dropped short between the 46th and 50th minutes they failed to register another score to match the free scoring attackers of Boyne Valley at this late stage of the game.

There was one half goal chance for Loughcrew in the 58th minute when Garrett O’Reilly pressurizing the keeper and with the ball spilling loose, O’Reilly managed to direct it goalwards from a tight angle, but as it bobbled across the face of the goal there was no purple jersey to force it across the line and the Boyne Valley netminder was relieved to see the ball trickle out of play.

With a couple of minutes added on Loughcrew kept attacking and had the ball for decent spells but thanks to some resolute defending from Boyne Valley they couldn’t create the chance that would level the game and send us to Extra-Time.

So when referee Padraic Coyle blew the full time whistle it was Boyne Valley the happier of the two as they booked their place in the Final once again with a one point victory on a scoreline of 1-17 to Loughcrew's 3-10.

Loughcrew Team: D.Scully, D.Garrigan, J.Cooke, S.Gibney, D.Caffrey, M.Flood, L.Healy(0-01), S.Reilly, O.Mulvaney, S.Geraghty, P.Sheridan (0-03), H.Ryan (0-03(2f)), C.J.Healy (0-01), D.Gibney (1-02), C.Brown (2-00)

Subs: B.Grey for J.Cooke 40’, G.O’Reilly for H.Ryan 46’, S.Guirke for P.Sheridan 55’

Referee: Padraic Coyle

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