Meath…1-16
Derry…1-10
There’s something earthy, indefatigable, primal almost about rural GAA teams. The smaller the club, the more raucous and enormous their support will be. When all of the above are in sync, the bigger potential banana skin they become for often ‘softer’ ‘townie’ outfits. Ballinlough have tripped up as many as anybody in Meath over the years. Now read on…
No doubt you’re perplexed as to what Football League Div. 7 game has to do with an U-20 HC match, but stay with me here. Ballinlough, who now operate in the Junior ranks of Meath football, and are ‘twinned’ with Kilskyre/Moylagh for hurling, beat senior outfit Rathkenny’s second string on Friday evening with a late point from a 40-something like myself, Podge Muldoon, proving crucial.
However, it was the description of the construction of the score by the North Meath club’s ever eloquent PRO Susan Farrell that really caught the eye. She transcribed it thus: “Podge flicked it up with the agility of a 15-year-old before pulling off a deft 1-2 with Benji Smith before slotting over. Chipping up probably being safer than the alternative means of acquiring possession”.
With rolemodels like that, should we be surprised what anybody from Kilskyre/Ballinlough is capable of? Yet, there was something equally as fitting about whomever was piloting the Meath GAA X account musing “Patrick Jordan netted after a scintilating run from Tom Shine, whose egg and spoon experience from school really shone through!”
Now, in fairness to them, the typically plucky Derry side goaled themselves shortly thereafter, but, with the sides having traded point for point all day, once a Lorcan Byrne effort put Seanie Corrigan’s troops two clear (0-11 to 0-09) twelve minutes after the restart, they kicked on and asserted their status as the better team.
There literally was a puc of the ball between the sides throughout the first half with Daire Shine (two) and Mark Leavey sharing Meath tally between them as the sides were deadlocked, 0-06 apiece, with half of the day’s work done.
The familiar pattern continued after the Jaffa Cakes with both Shine and Leavey pointing, only for their efforts to be cancelled out at the other end.
Though then came the first major turning point as a Byrne point followed up one from Jordan to give the locals a two point cushion for the first time in the game.
After that, the egg and spoon race took off, Jordan filled the onion bag and then Mark Horan, Darragh Heffernan, Byrne, Leavey and substitute Noah Conroy all pointed to round off an impressive display.
SCORERS – M. Leavey (0-7), P. Jordan (1-1), D. Shine (0-3), L. Byrne (0-2), M. Horan, D. Heffernan and N. Conroy (0-1 each)