Boardsmill 1-10
Meath Hill 2-5

Venue: Cortown

Boardsmill produced a brilliant second half comeback to down their North Meath opponents and win by two points. Playing their first game at Junior A level since 2010 Boardsmill started brightly and was ahead by two points to one after ten minutes thanks to John Mitchell point from play and a free from the ever accurate David Farrell. After such a good start Meath Hill started to chip away at the lead and worked a well taken goal, they rallied from here and notched another one goal and three points to Boardsmills one point to leave the half time score Meath Hill 2-4 Boardsmill 0-3

A couple of stern words at half time from Boardsmills Vinny Guy gave the men from Boardsmill hope of a comeback that looked extremely unlikely on the first half performance. Playing with the wind on their backs Boardsmill did all the early running in the second half with a David Farrell free and a point from Jim Bird. They kept up the momentum and slowly but surely chipped away at the Meath Hill lead before further points were added by John Mitchell and Evan Dixon before the Flattery brothers Cathal and Fergal both pointed.

After Boardsmill drawing level Meath Hill went down and won a scorable free from which they pointed to reclaim their lead. With seven minutes remaining a high ball was lofted into the edge of the square by Neil McLoughlin from which Cathal flattery rose highest and expertly finished to the net, the goal was reminiscent of the one he scored to claim the Junior B title for Boardsmill last autumn.

Now leading by two points Boardsmill were clever enough to run the clock down and keep control of the ball until the referee blew his full time whistle and marked a significant sign of Progress for the small south Meath team. On the second half performance it's hard to pick out those who stood out as all seventeen players that played lft a significant impact on the game for the Boardsmill cause.

Boardsmill team: Sean Dixon, Conor Darby, Niall Weir, Jim Bird 0-1, Charley Bird, Liam O'Brien, Eoin Corrigan, Fergal Flattery 0-1, Neil McLoughlin, Cathal Flattery 1-2, Keith Hamilton, John Mitchell 0-2, Evan Dixon 0-1, David Farrell 0-3, Ray Hatton
Boardsmill Subs: Eric Cribbin and Steven Gibbons.

Unused Subs: Jack Bird, Paul Dunne, Thomas Leonard, Shane O'Brien and Ray Cribbin 0-0

****

Meath Hill report:

Jun A football championship played in Crtown Sunday 13th April

FT: Boardsmill 1 - 10 Meath Hill 2 - 5

Meath hill started their championship campaign with a loss to Boardsmill - last year's Junior B champions on a scoreline of 1 -10 to 2 - 5.

This final score never looked likely as the hill were 2 - 4 to 0 - 3 ahead at half time, but a spirited comeback in the second half and a complete collapse of Meath hills challenge paved the way for a narrow but deserved victory for the underdogs.

The hill stared slowly and were two points to one down after 10 mins but then Pierce McGrath got the first of his two goals and it seemed that the Hill were on their way but poor shooting and bad misses from free kicks was to prove costly.

Nevertheless that second goal gave the Hill some breathing space and what was to happen in the second half didn't seem likely. But a return of 1 solitary point in the second half was just not good enough.

Boardsmill re-arranged their defence and with Charlie Bird dominating in that backline, the threat of the Meath hills forward line receded.

The Mill's midfield took over and 7 unanswered points left nothing between the sides with five minutes remaining. The hill to their credit responded with a point from a free by Pierce McGrath.

The game took its final change when a high ball into the edge of the square was fielded by Cathal Flaherty and dispatched to the net for the game decisive score and it gave victory to Boardsmill. The winners easily held on as a dejected hill were left to rue the missed chances of that first half.

Best For Meath Hill were Pierce McGrath, Jason Yorke and Michael McCabe.

Meath hill: C. Yorke, N. Yorke, J. Yorke, M. Byrne, B. Kieran, R. Owens M. McCabe, T. Rooney, K. Ginnitty, I. Malone, A. Mathews, M. Tully , S. McCabe, P. McGrath (2 - 2), M. Tully (0 - 3)

Subs used: Cian Mathews for M. Tully C. Marry for R. Owens K. Crosby for I. Malone. Tweet

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