St Michael’s: 1-17 Walterstown: 1-10

All square with three minutes of normal time remaining, yet the difference was seven points when the long whistle was sounded, as St Michael’s picked up the victory in the third round of the Meade Farm Intermediate Football Championship in Sean Newman Park on Sunday. 

The result resigned the Blacks to relegation play-offs, where they will take on St Pat’s in the quarter-final in Duleek on Thursday, September 19. 

Playing against the wind in the opening half, Walterstown went into the dressing room at the interlude four points in arrears. However, they got their noses in front eleven minutes into the new half when Neil McGinley hit the back to the net to leave the score at 1-6 to 0-8. And as the minutes went by, it was a case of tit for tat right the way through until Mick’s got their noses in front on 28 minutes, Paddy Tobin planted a goal past Mark McCormack in stoppage time and put the lights out on Walterstown, who finished with just twelve men on the field. 

The Blacks were dealt a hammer blow ahead of this final group encounter with the news that Conor Farrelly was ruled out with injury. However, they did hand a starting role to Ruarí O’Dowd, his first of the year, following a lengthy spell in Australia. O’Dowd replaced Farrelly on the team sheet in an otherwise unchanged team from the one that lined out against Kilbride in the second round. 

St Michael’s, through Gearóid O’Malley, hit Walterstown where it hurt from frees and that really was the story of this game. His accuracy, time and time again, kept the scoreboard ticking, and when the opportunity arose late on, and with the smell of blood in the air, the Carlanstown outfit took full advantage. The win wasn’t enough for them to advance, but nonetheless, it leap-frogged them ahead of Walterstown into third place and ensured them of a relegation quarter-final meeting with Nobber. 

Late on, both Ruairí O’Dowd and Fionnan O’Connor were sent to the line after receiving second yellow cards. The latter was adjudged to have kicked his opponent by referee Kieran Olwell, while O’Dowd was shown a second yellow for putting his hand on his opponent's back. It mattered little at that point, as Michael’s were in control. Meanwhile, Conor Lenehan also finished out the game on the bench when he was shown a black card late in the day. 

SCORERS: Neil McGinley 1-2 (2f), Adam Quinn 0-3, Fionnan O’Connor 0-3 (2f), Jack Doyle. 0-1 (1  ’45’), Mark Foy 0-1. 

WALTERSTOWN: Mark McCormack; Eoghan McCague, Alan Wall, Jack Doyle; Ciaran Cox, Breandan McGuinness, Conor Lenehan; Mark Foy (c), Conor McEntee; Adam Quinn, Fionnan O’Connor, Aron McLoughlin; Ruairí O’Dowd, Neil McGinley, Olly Maloney. SUBS: Ross Reynolds replaced E McCague HT. 

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