Gaeil Colmcille staged an epic comeback in Thursday evenings PR Coyne A League Division 1 penultimate round fixture. Trailing by 8 points with just 11 minutes to play, Kells outscored Ratoath 0-10 to 0-01 to snatch a draw with a Brian ‘Beano’ Hanlon free with the last kick of the game.
Playing against a gale force wind in the opening half, it was Ratoath who opened the scoring with a 45 from Daithi McGowan after an excellent save from Barry Farrelly. Kells levelled things up two minutes later thanks to a Hanlon free but that was as good as it got for the visitors in the opening half as Gaeil Colmcille had to withstand huge pressure from the hosts and with the aid of the conditions saw them take a 0-05 to 0-01 lead thanks to four points from play in a row, one of those scores unlucky not to find the back of the net with Gaeil Colmcille caught out of possession and with Farrelly out of his goal, the attempted lob bounced over the bar.
Another excellent save from Farrelly in the 24th minute gave McGowan the opportunity for a second 45 which he duly obliged and struck over with the ease of the breeze to help. Four minutes later and McGowan completed a hat-trick of 45s and on the stroke of half-time, Ratoath’s lead was out to seven as they took a 0-08 to 0-01 lead in at the break.
Gaeil Colmcille knew they’d need a quick start to the second half and the opening three minutes saw them hit two points in a row, the first from a Farrelly free and the second was a wonderful score from Seamus Mattimoe from an acute angle. Just as Kells gained a bit of momentum, Ratoath hit them with a sucker punch and grabbed the games opening goal after a well worked move. A pointed free in the 39th minute extended Ratoath’s lead to nine points leaving Kells an uphill task to get anything from the game.
Andrew Gormley then struck Gaeil Colmcille’s third point of the second half and their fourth overall but Ratoath looked to have put the game to bed when they got their second goal, luckily for Kells, Referee Paul Mooney consulted his umpire and he ruled the goal out for a square ball. After getting out of jail, Gaeil Colmcille nearly found themselves back in it but for Oisin Reilly to clear a ball off the line for what looked a certain goal for Ratoath.
Eoin Carroll made a few changes and the introduction Ryan Farnham, Paulie Tormay and Aaron Browne who was making his first appearance in over a year after a cruciate injury added a lift for the Kells side and direct running caused Ratoath problems, Brian Hanlon added two frees in a row in the 49th and 51st minute. Hanlon hit a third point in a row in the 52nd minute, this time a point from play off his left boot.
Gaeil Colmcille applied serious pressure on the Ratoath keepers kickout and with the advantage of the wind, Jordan Muldoon’s point left just four between the sides, this was followed by a Farrelly free in the 54th minute. Ratoath looked to have added an insurance point in the 57th minute that saw them lead 1-10 to 0-09 but credit to the travelling side they never gave up and three frees in a row saw Kells get to within one point as Hanlon and two points from Farrelly set up a frantic finish.
Ratoath opted to go short with the kickout from Farrelly’s point and a loose pass down the sideline was intercepted by substitute Oisin Walsh, Aaron Browne was then hauled down and after the Ratoath player tried to block a quick free, the referee moved the ball up to just outside the 45 yard line and Brian Hanlon split the posts with a perfectly struck free from the ground to leave the sides level. From the resulting kick drew the full time whistle and with the points shared it was enough to claw Kells out of the bottom four which is eligible for relegation ahead of the final game versus Wolfe Tones.
Gaeil Colmcille: Barry Farrelly (0-04), Rian Early, Adam Donnelly, James Reilly, Jonny Quigley, Jordan Muldoon (0-01), Adam Muldoon, Liam Ferguson, Evan Sheridan, Ajay Tormey, Barry Tormay, Oisin Reilly, Andrew Gormley (0-01), Seamus Mattimoe (0-01), Brian Hanlon (0-05).
Subs: Aaron Browne, Ryan Farnham, Paulie Tormay, Oisin Walsh, John Gormley
