The third round of the Meath Premier Championship Division 7 saw a local derby take place in Grangegodden with Kilmainham the visitors, taking on Gaeil Colmcille with both sides looking for their second win of the campaign.
Picking up where he left off in Round 2, Gary Arkins struck for the opening score of the game when he pointed with less than one minute on the clock. Kilmainham responded well and hit the next two points with the latter coming from a dead ball. Arkins levelled things up one minute later and a superb Zak Griffin point put Kells back in front with 6 minutes played.
The games opening goal came on nine minutes when Dylan Roche got on the end of a great move and from an acute angle Roche fired past the Kilmainham keeper to the top left hand corner of the net. Kilmainham once again replied with a point but points from Arkins and Gary McGovern saw Gaeil Colmcille push clear. With 21 minutes played, Kimainham cut into the Kells lead when they raised a green flag with a goal low beyond James Flanagan.
Gaeil Colmcille closed out the half with two extra points, the first from Arkins followed by a second point by Griffin to see The Gaeils take a four point lead into the break 1-07 to 1-03.
Just like the first half, Gaeil Colmcille made the perfect start as substitute and top class Electrician Oran Carolan pointed with his right foot to stretch the lead to five points. Kilmainham cancelled out that score two minutes later and both sides shared the next two scores with Arkins pointing a free for The Gaeils. In a 17 minute second half blitz, the game completely flipped and the visitors took a firm grip on the game hitting 2-06 without reply to see Kilmainham move eight points clear.
As Kells pushed for late goals, they did keep the scoreboard ticking over and a free from Gary McGovern was followed by another point from Donlon while substitute Ryan O’Boyle got the final point of the evening but it wasn’t enough as Kilmainham held on to win out by five points.
Gaeil Colmcille: James Flanagan, Brian Byrne, Liam Byrne, Max Finlay, Niall Williams, Sean King, Conor Murray, Cormac O’Reilly, Sean Cleary, Ben Shine, Zak Griffin (0-02), Gary McGovern (0-02), Cian Donlon (0-01), Gary Arkins (0-05), Dylan Roche (1-00).
Subs: Oran Carolan (0-01), Luke Ronan, Ryan O’Boyle (0-01), Stephen Mooney, Darragh Smyth
