St. Michaels / Nobber 5-10, Rathkenny / Slane 3-10.                                                      

St. Michaels / Nobber had to withstand a tremendous fightback from the Rathkenny / Slane combination in the second half of this cracking first round match in Carlanstown on Wednesday night last. But it was the home side who eventually came good with Lorcan McEntee excelling and getting the crucial scores in the second half.

The home side held a massive 11 point half time lead having played into the teeth of a strong wind thanks to the accuracy of Lorcan McEntee (2-0), Jack Moriarty (1-1), Jo Jo Ogunube (1-1), Ben Forte (0-2) and Cian McFadden (0-2) and they went in for the half time team talk sitting on a 4-6 to 1-4 scoreline. 

The wind got stronger and the rain lashed down on the Carlanstown pitch but that didn't affect the Rathkenny / Slane lads who came out with a completely different attitude in the second half and they had whittled away the St. Michaels / Nobber lead to six points by the tenth minute of the new half. McEntee pulled one back on 40 minutes however the visitors were in control in all areas of the pitch and pulled the deficit back to a single point with eight minutes remaining on the stop watch.

St. Michaels / Nobber had now gone 15 minutes without raising a flag and it wasn't until the 54th minute when McEntee stopped the rot and came to their rescue with three unanswered points in as many minutes. His midfield partner Jakub Bidinski was doing excellent work all over the park and it was a fitting reward for his endeavour's when he blasted to the back of the net on the stroke of full time to put the game beyond doubt.
The visitors posted the final score of the match from a free two minutes into injury time.
Along with the scorers others who showed up well were Aaron Gaffney, Colin Condra, Paddy Fitzsimons, Jamie Murray, Scott Farrell, Brian O'Reilly, Eoghan Finnegan and Declan Reilly.   

St. Michaels / Nobber team and scorers: Aaron Gaffney; Colin Condra, Paddy Fitzsimons, Jamie Murray; Scott Farrell, Brian O'Reilly, Eoghan Finnegan; Jakub Bidinski (1-0); Lorcan McEntee (2-4); Declan Reilly, Cian McFadden (0-2), Conor Owens; Jack Moriarty (1-1), Jo Jo Ogunube (1-1), Ben Forte (0-2).

Report by: Pascal Reilly.                                                                                               

Referee: Stephen Dawson 

Nobber/St. Michaels 5-10  Rathkenny Slane 3-10 

In a cracker of a match played under lights in Carlanstown on Wednesday night the Nobber/Carlanstown combination come out on top by virtue of an excellent first half display in which they notched 4 goals and led by 11 at half time 4-6 to 1-4.

They dominated the first half and with goals from Jack Moriarty, Jo Jo Ogungbe and 2 sizzlers to the bottom left hand  corner from the marauding Lorcan McEntee from 13 meters and points from Ben Forte (2) Ogungbe, Cian McFadden, Eoin Finnegan & Kuba Bidinski it looked as if they would totally overwhelm the opposition as they entered the second half with the wind in their favour.

Rathkenny/Slane had other ideas and quickly gobbled up the deficit with a goal and 3 points in the first 5 minutes after the resumption. They continued to erode the lead with Nobber/St. Michaels response being a lone McEntee point from play. A third Rathkenny/Slane goal narrowed it to a point as it entered the closing minutes but McEntee stood up to the plate. He kicked 3 points ( 2 excellent scores from play and 1 a placed ball off the ground) to restore a 4 point lead and when Slane/Rathkenny  were bearing down on goal he was there to make a vital interception in his own back line with the resulting 4 man move up the field ending up with Kuba Bidinski finishing to the net.A late pointed free was of little consolation to the excellent opposition leaving a final score of 5 - 10 to 3 - 10.

Every single one of the Nobber/St. Michaels team made a huge contribution to their victory but they will need to address aspects of their 2nd half performance in their next assignments against Ballinlough & Kilmainhamwood. Nobber/St. Michaels had just 15 players and it is great that this grade is not restricted to 13 a side, with more players getting game time when both sides have in excess of that number. 

Nobber/St.Michaels - Aaron Gaffney, Jamie Murray,Ppaddy Fitzsimons, Colin Condra, Scott Farrell, Brian O'Reilly, Eoin Finnegan (0-1), Kuba Bidinski (1-1) Lorcan McEntee (2-4) Conor Owens, Cian McFadden (0-1) Declan Reilly, Ben Forte (0-2) Jo-Jo Ogungbe (1-1) jack Moriarty (1-0) 

     

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