Gaeil Colmcille 1-10 St. Colmcilles 1-03

A simple get the job done was the message and when you’re in the dreaded relegation battle, a win is all that matters. It wasn’t pretty for large parts but in the end it was Gaeil Colmcille’s accuracy in the first half that saves their skin for 2025. 

Seamus Mattimoe got Kells off to the perfect start within the first minute with a fisted effort over the bar. Aaron Browne followed that up with a lovely point from just inside the two point arc to Double the Gaeils lead. Gaeil Colmcille thought they got another score soon after with a monster free from Barry Farrelly but for the linesman to get involved and inform the referee that the free was taken from the wrong position. In Farrellys defence there was no white line drawn out for the free to guide Farrelly, a mistake the referee didn’t make for the rest of the game. 

Playing on the back pitch in Seneschalstown and shooting in to the front pitch in the first half, St. Colmcille’s were struggling to hit the target with the large crowd all thinking the same was the goals on the front pitch effecting the shooting for the east Meath side. 

Kells capitalised on this and a point from play from Liam Ferguson after he took a quick tap and go saw Gaeil Colmcille go three clear. The perfect half was complete in the 21st minute when Ferguson found Andrew Gormley inside the 21 and Gormley done ever so well so shrug off the interest of the Cille’s defenders and shot low with his left to the back of the net. 

As the wide's started to rack up for St. Colmcille’s, they got their first point of the game in the 24th minute after a bit of indiscipline from Kells saw Referee Patrick Coyle move the ball up from midfield to the 21 for an easy tap over free. 

Mattimoe’s second point of the evening was soon followed by Colmcille’s second point, again from a dead ball. The score of the first half and probably the game came in the 31st minute as Kells tried to close out the half and goalkeeper Barry Farrelly hovered around the two point arc and when the ball landed to him on the wrong side of the arc for a two point shooter, Farrelly pinged it between the posts to see Kells lead by 7. 

Another Gormley point, this time for a free was the final score of the half that left Gaeil Colmcille 1-07 to 0-02 ahead at the break. 

The second half proved to be somewhat of a dour affair with both sides struggling to register scores on the board. The only two scores in the first ten minutes of the second half came after a good point in the 36th minute and a goal in the 40th minute for St. Colmcille’s turned the game on its head and Kells led by just four points after being in complete control. 

Again, Kells were lucky that St. Colmcille’s shooting was off as wide after wide racked up. Gaeil Colmcille too were adding the wides and the next score in the game didn’t come until the 26th minute when Farrelly pointed a free. Three minutes later Ajay Tormey pointed as a substitute after coming off the field but coming back on to replace the injured Seamus Mattimoe. 

St. Colmcille’s went for goals and two pointers but when Brian Hanlon pointed in the 63rd minute it was all over as Kells preserved their senior status for 2026. Special note to Shane Callaghan and Liam Barry who both started their first Senior Championship game and put in two brilliant performances at either end of the pitch. 

Gaeil Colmcille: Barry Farrelly (0-03), Barry Tormay, Rian Early, Adam Muldoon, Jonny Quigley, Jordan Muldoon, Johnny Gormley, Liam Ferguson (0-01), Seamus Mattimoe (0-02), Aaron Browne (0-01), Ajay Tormey, Shane Callaghan, Andrew Gormley (1-01), Liam Barry, Oisin Reilly. 

Subs: Brian Hanlon (0-1), Ryan Farnham, Daniel Farrelly, Ajay Tormey (0-01), Bruno Griffin

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