14th November 1992
Scoil Colmcille’s B.N.S managed by Francis Flynn and Donal Barrett were back in the final of the Division 1 Cumann na mBunscol and after the disappointment of losing out two years ago the Kells lads were hoping to get their hands back on the trophy.
In a tense opening 15 minutes, it was Scoil Colmcille who only managed to get on the scoreboard when wing forward Simon Cahill got on the end of a stray ball into the forward line to point with his left foot after two and a half minutes of play, In the early exchanges the Colmcille’s backs were proving hard to get by with excellent defending from Peter Reilly and Full-Back Kenny Morgan clearing out any danger.
St. Oliver’s leveled things up around the 15th minute after some good defending by the Kells backs, the ball fell kindly to the Oliver’s forward who eventually pointed. Colmcille’s responded well and had their chances to retain the lead, but efforts from Eugene McCormack and Ronan Flood tailed wide to leave the scores level.
Oliver’s were struggling to find the target and the wide’s mounted up with the Navan side accounting for 10 wide’s in total in the first half alone. With 22 minutes on the clock a well worked move saw the Kells side take the lead once more, after good defensive work from Dessie Keegan and Niall Flanagan saw Centre-Back Darren O’Rourke clearing the ball out to the wing where McCormack went on a dazzling solo run, the ball then broke to Ronan Flood who hit a high ball in and full-forward Mickey Berrill did excellent to flick the ball on to Simon Cahill who tapped over.
From the resulting kickout, Colmcille’s were awarded a free kick after Paul Tully was taken down and despite the best efforts from Cahill to get the ball to take the free, it was Tully who tapped over to extend Kells lead 0-03 to 0-01 after 23 minutes. Scoil Colmcille had a great chance for a goal when wing forward Brian Smith played the ball in and it was well won by Berrill, Berrill then laid it off to Tully but his effort just wide of the left upright. Another goal chance went a begging when a high ball was flicked goalwards by Berrill, who was causing havoc at Full Forward, but the Oliver’s keeper was equal to the task and saved out for a 45.
Berrill knew his chance would come for a score, and from the resulting 45 Colmcille’s captain John Farrelly launched the ball in and Berrill got out in front of his marker, won his ball, turned and fired over the bar in what was the last score of the half leaving Scoil Colmcille’s 0-04 to 0-01 ahead.
Scoil Colmcile’s got off to a flyer in the second half when Brian Smith picked out the hard working corner forward Ronan Flood who pointed to extend Kells lead. Oliver’s looked to get back into the game and looked certain for a goal but for Colmcille’s keeper Andrew Lynch to pull off an excellent save to deny the Navan men.
Scoil Colmcille got the first goal of the game in the fourth minute of the second half when John Farrelly hit a high ball in that was flicked to the back of the net by Simon Cahill to give Kells a 1-05 to 0-01 lead. Two more points by Colmcille’s extended the lead with Berrill and Tully getting their second points of the game.
Oliver’s started to get back into the game and hit a couple of points in a row and looked to be closing in for a goal but for a cynical tackle by Kenny Morgan who was lucky to escape getting booked after he hauled the Oliver’s player to the ground, Some back chat by Morgan meant referee Tony Kearney brought the ball forward and from the resulting kick Oliver’s closed the gap.
Ten minutes into the second half and Oliver’s found the back of the net to ensure a tight contest for the remainder of the game. With the pressure mounting, the Colmcille’s midfield partnership of Farrelly and the strenuous Barry Lynch stood to the task and kept the Kells side on top. Paul Tully and Simon Cahill managed to get their third points each of the game, Tully’s being controversial one with one umpire waving wide and the other waving the white flag.
Oliver’s did manage to get a couple of scores to reduce the lead to four points as the game headed into the last five minutes. Scoil Colmcille arguably got the score of the match after the Oliver’s keeper charged out with the ball, he laid it off to his defender who went to clear his lines but for corner back John Moore to intercept, sell a dummy solo and point to leave Scoil Colmcille 1-10 to 1-05 ahead. There was still time for one more score and when wing forward Brian Smith pointed it was the insurance point to give Scoil Colmcille their first Cumann na mBunscol title since 1988. Captain John Farrelly climbed the steps of Pairc Tailteann to accept the trophy from Meath County Board Chairman Fintan Ginnity and the celebrations began. Credit must be given to Ray Egan for videoing today’s game and to Eric Brady for the live commentary.
Scoil Colmcille’s B.N.S: Andrew Lynch, John Moore (0-01), Kenny Morgan, Dessie Keegan, Peter Reilly, Darren O’Rourke, Niall Flanagan, Barry Lynch, John Farrelly (C), Simon Cahill (1-03), Eugene McCormack, Brian Smith (0-01), Ronan Flood (0-01), Mickey Berrill (0-02), Paul Tully (0-03)
Subs Used: Patrick Hurley, Gary Hickey, Subs Not Used: Michael Wilcox, Brendan Murphy, Carl Browne, Derry Smith, Liam Harte.
St. Oliver’s: Karl Grady, Gerry Kelly, James Murray, Thomas Flanagan, Adrian McAteer, Colin McGovern, Shane Melvin, David Nolan, Colin Monaghan, Cillian Kennedy, Donal Latisse, Darryl Murray (C), Dermot Morgan, Ross Manning, Paul O’Hare,
Subs: Graeme McMenamen, Barry Lynagh, Donal Galligan, Dermot Carry, David Reilly, Darren Murray, Ciaran Foley, Alan O’Neill, Andrew Faulkner, Michael McMahon.
