Gaeil Colmcilles seconds fell short in Dunganny by two late points in the Premier Championship Division 1 Semi-Final on Tuesday evening.
Taking on the defending Champions, Gaeil Colmcille opened up a 0-03 to 0-02 lead early on with Liam Barry and Gary McGovern and a rare Paulie Tormay score pointing for the Kells side.
The Gaeils defence was excellent throughout the first half and some great tackling kept Gaeil Colmcille in the ascendancy.
Shooting up the pitch into a slight breeze, Gaeil Colmcille keeper Sean Thornton had to be on his toes as a number of Ratoath efforts dropped short but as Ratoath applied more pressure they soon found their range and took the lead with over half the first period played.
As the teams traded scores, another Liam Barry score was followed by the score of the evening when McGovern slotted over and an Alex Williams lung busting run got Kells sixth and last score of the half to see them trail by 2 at the break 0-06 to 0-08
Liam Barry closed the gap to a single point early from the restart but a free for Ratoath restored their two point lead. Scores were few and far between in the second half but Daniel Farrelly pointed a monster with the outside of his boot to once again reduce the gap to the minimum.
As the trend of the games, with every score Kells got Ratoath matched it and with 10 minutes remaining, Ratoath led by 0-10 to 0-08.
Gary McGovern who was causing problems at Full-Forward got his third point of the day and after getting in front of his marker, turned and slotted over the point. From the resulting kickout, Jack Hogg intercepted and as he tore down on goal the Ratoath defender cynically pulled him down which resulted in a black card and an equalising score for McGovern to set up a nervy finish.
Kells now with the numerical advantage couldn’t make it count on the scoreboard and it was the reigning Champions Ratoath that found a way thanks to two late frees to see them advance to the final.
Gaeil Colcmille: Sean Thornton, Fionn Smith, Cormac Keegan, Danny Muldoon, Killian Kelly, Paul Tormey (0-01), Daniel Farrelly (0-01), Oisin O’Reilly, Darragh Smyth, Eoghan Flynn, Alex Williams (0-01), Jack Hogg, Liam Barry (0-03), Gary McGovern (0-04), Cormac Ferguson,
Subs: Sean Cleary, Harry Flanagan
