Gaeil Colmcille retained their Premier Division 1 status with victory over Trim in St. Loman’s Park on Wednesday evening. With the sides level at the break, Kells used the conditions to their favour and kick on in the second half.
In a tight opening period, both sides would have to wait until the 8th minute before the games opening score and it fell to the home side to give them the early lead. It could have been worse for Kells only for keeper Sean Thornton to pull off a number of great stops to keep the Trim attack out. There would be no more scores until the 16th minute when Kells found the back of the net. Gary McGovern sent Harry Flanagan on a run down the left wing, Flanagan laid the ball off to Ahmed Lawal who found Alex Williams at the back post, Williams cut inside and made no mistake.
Three points in a row from the home side saw them retake the lead with 22 minutes of the game played. Moments later and Gaeil Colmcille was handed a lifeline after the Trim defender was adjudged to have blocked the Kells shot with his foot. Gary McGovern stepped up and made no mistake sending the keeper the wrong way.
From the resulting kick-out, Trim cut the Gaeil Colmcille defence apart and got their first goal to once again see them take the lead. Kells still had time before the half was brought to a close as Cormac O’Reilly found himself in an advanced position to point to leave the teams all square 2-01 to 1-04 at the interval.
Gaeil Colmcille now with the aid of the conditions started the half strongly and Midfielder Sean Cleary got the scoring underway for Kells in the 34th minute. Wing-Forward Ahmed Lawal who at the time was carrying an injury somehow composed himself and hit two left footed points in a row before substituted for a well earned break.
Kells were starting to get on top and three points in a row pushed them seven points clear with Oisin O’Reilly, McGovern and Williams all pointing. A seven point lead turned to ten points in the 46th minute after Dylan Roche capitalised on a mistake in the Trim backs and Roche excellently finished low beyond the keeper.
Trim responded with a single point but in the 53rd minute but Alex Williams all but sealed The Gaeils safety with a goal in the 53rd minute. Gaeil Colmcille made a number of substitutes and one of those was Andrew Butler who made a big contribution scoring two points.
The star of the game for Kells was midfielder Oisin O’Reilly who worked tirelessly in defence and attack throughout the game finished the game off in excellent fashion hitting three points in the closing stages. Attention for so many of these young lads now turns to the U19 Championship while the remainder will get a well deserved rest over the coming months.
Gaeil Colmcille: Sean Thornton, Taidgh Dardis, Bruno Griffin, Max Finlay, Eibheann Keegan, Cormac O’Reilly (0-01), Kilian Kelly, Oisin O’Reilly (0-04), Sean Cleary (0-01), Eoin Doogan, Gary McGovern (1-01), Ahmed Lawal (0-02), Harry Flanagan, Dylan Roche (1-00), Alex Williams (2-01)
Subs: Sean King, Andrew Butler (0-02), John Brady, Jamie Jordan, Phelim Dunne, Niall Williams, Barry Smith, Stephen Reddy
