This first round of the minor championship Division 1B took place on a dull evening in Ashbourne where the floodlights had to be switched on to allow the game to finish. Goals proved decisive to give the home side the edge over our young Gaeils.
Within two minutes of the start a Kells turnover and a surging run from Taidgh Dardis resulted in the corner back winning a free that was converted by Oisin Walsh. Unfortunately for Taidgh he aggravated an existing injury in the incident and had to be replaced by Calum Mitchell. Both sides traded scores for most of the remainder of the half. First Donaghmore-Ashbourne equalised from play before Walsh again converted a free. Once again the home side levelled and then it was Finn Tegemaiers turn from a free when his effort from distance split the posts. The next score for Ashbourne was a goal which put them in the lead for the first time in the game. Walsh continued to punish persistent fouling by the home side with two pointed frees which were both followed by Ashbourne points from play. The Gaeils first score from play came with almost 25 minutes of the half gone when Andrew Gormley slotted over despite being under intense pressure, after some good work from his brother John. The hosts got the next point, again from play, before the tit-for-tat scoring sequence finally came to an end when they followed it up with a goal shortly before the referee blew for half-time.
The Ashbourne side were quickly of the mark in the second half as they pointed within the first minute. Both sides missed chances in the next 5 minutes before Noah Boshell floated over a point from play, only for the opposition to point again to maintain their 6 point lead. Kells finally got a foothold in the game between the 7th and 17th minutes as Walsh scored three more frees during that time to cut the deficit in half. Despite dominating the next 5 minutes, the Gaeils failed to add to their tally and were hit with a sucker punch when a long range effort dropped short into the arms of an Ashbourne player who goaled from close range. This was quickly followed by a point to further extend their lead. Despite the setback, the visitors went at their opponents once again and Jack Hogg got on the end of a move to finish to the net with 4 minutes remaining. In the tense closing minutes Kells continued to pile on the pressure but could not find a way through to salvage something from the game.
Gaeil Colmcille: Glen Gavigan, Taidgh Dardis, Rian Early, Bruno Griffin, Killian Kelly, John Gormley, Tiernan Anderson, Oisin O’Reilly, Jack Hogg (1-00), Noah Boshell (0-01), Finn Tegemaier (0-01f), Andrew Gormley (0-01), Liam Barry, Oisin Walsh (0-07f), Harry Flanagan.
Subs: Calum Mitchell, David Butler, Conor Flanagan, Eoin Flynn, Conal McGovern.
