MHC final: Thriller tied
October 22, 2016
Kildalkey's Conor Smith with Brian Dowling Trim during the Meath Minor Hurling Championship final at Pairc Tailteann.
Kildalkey and Trim played out a thrilling draw in the MHC final in the Pairc Tailteann curtain raiser on Sunday afternoon.
Trim .................... 3-11
Kildalkey ............. 1-17
Trim looked set for second place when trailing by eight points two minutes after the restart. Boosted by goals from sub Alex Dunne and corner-forward Sean Thornton the town side revived their bid for the Tony Donnelly Cup.
A thrilling second-half ended with Kildalkey forcing a replay with James McNally's 60-metre stoppage time free into the wind.
Such an outcome shortly after the restart when Trim trailed by seven points. They did however, have the wind at their backs after the change of ends.
Within two minutes of falling eight behind, Trim were just a goal off the pace by the 34th minute following sub Alex Dunne's second goal.
CJ Murtagh's charges maintained their momentum. They had the deficit down to the minimum five minutes later following points from David Murtagh and Brian Dowling.
Full-forward Michael Cullen made a big impression finishing with four points from play. However, it was Sean Thornton's 43rd minute goal that levelled matters, 3-7 to 1-13.
Cullen pitched in with a brace of scores to move Trim two points clear heading into the final quarter. Trim were never headed for the remainder of the gamel. Kildalkey got back on terms through their top scorer in the 57th minute, 1-16 to 3-10.
Peter Farrell's 57th minute free restored Trim's advantage, but McNally salvaged a second chance for Kildalkey.
Kildalkey, backed by the strong wind emanating from the town end, bossed most of the first-half. During this phase full-forward Nicholas Potterton, dropping deep at times, scores eight points.
Conor Fitzgerald got the opening score for side in royal blue jerseys and it was quickly doubled by Potterton's opener.
Eight minutes in Kildalkey endured a setback on the scoresheet when Alex Dunne - on initially as a blood sub - blocked an attempted clearence by Trim 'keeper Charlie Ennis to leave the adjacent scoreboard reading 1-0 to 0-2.
A Peter Farrell free doubled Trim's advantage. Kildalkey's response was five points on the spin to lead by 0-6 to 1-1 after 20 minutes, with Potterton leading the way.
Team captain Michael Cullen pulled a point back for Trim. Kildalkey replied with four successive scores to lead by double scores, 0-10 to 1-2, with the half-hour up.
Less than a minute into the second-half, Kildalkey goaled with Evan Fitzgerald netting after Conor Fitzgerald's effort was smothered by Trim 'keeper Charlie Ennis.
The scoreboard nearby read 1-11 to 1-3 and Kildalkey were in the driving seat. Trim's rally and Kildalkey's subsequent response made for one of the highlights of the year.
Kildalkey - Niall McNally; Michael O'Donnell, Brin Kelly, Cathal Reynolds; Conor Smith, James McNally (0-1 f), Brendan McKeown; Aaron Byas, Shane Curran; Evan Fitzgerald (1-2), Brian Conneely, Jordan Walsh; Martin Browne, Nicholas Potterton (0-13, 9fs 1 65), Conor Fitzgerald (0-1). Subs - Steven Murray for Smith (38), Dean O'Sullivan for Curran (52)
Trim - Charlie Ennis; Jack Cottrell, Tomas Conroy, Tom Doyle; Gerard Dwane, Jamie Leavy, Pauric Payne; David Murtagh (0-1), Zak McGowan; Mark Murray, Peter Farrell (0-4 3fs), Gavin Griffith; Sean Thornton (1-0), Michael Cullen (0-4), Brian Dowling (0-1). Subs - Alex Dunne (2-0) for Doyle (5), Andrew Dinan (0-1) for Cottrell (23), Kevin Lennon for Murtagh (56)
Referee - Pat Gannon (Killyon)
