Gaeil Colmcille were cruising to victory for 50 minutes of this game but late scores from Trim and a penalty save by Gary McGovern provided a tense finish in sunny St. Lomans Park on Thursday evening.
Resolute defending in the first half kept the hosts scoreless. A point for Caolan McConnell after three minutes was quickly followed by a goal from Liam Barry and a point from Kevin Carpenter to give Kells a flying start. The Gaeils created numerous chances and although the wide count was growing they gave the hosts very few chances and continued to extend their lead. Andrew Butler kicked a point before Gary McGovern got his two points for the night, one from play and the second from a free. In the last 10 minutes of the half Barry converted a free and Butler added another point to open up a 10 point lead.
Jamie Jordan was introduced for the second half as McGovern moved to the goalkeeping position to replace the injured Justy Carry-Lynch. Not long into the half Trim finally got off the mark when their centre forward pointed a close in free but Andrew Butler replied immediately with one from play. The next score was a goal for Trim and again the Kells men responded this time with points from Barry and Butler. Remarkably these were to be the Gaeils last scores of the game with almost 15 minutes remaining, although they continued to dominate. This gave Trim some hope. They added two points and with little over 5 minutes remaining they goaled from the penalty spot to reduce the gap to four points. Just before the game entered injury time the home side were awarded a second penalty but this time McGovern got down well to his left to save and ensure Kells maintained their lead until the final whistle.
Gaeil Colmcille: Justin Carry-Lynch, Max Finlay, Bruno Griffin, Taidgh Dardis, Finn Mullan, Sean King, Killian Kelly, Oisin O’Reilly, Kevin Carpenter (0-01), Andrew Butler (0-04), Shane Bennett, Liam Barry (1-02), Conal McGovern, Gary McGovern (0-02), Caolan McConnell (0-1)
Subs: Jamie Jordan for Carry-Lynch, Phelim Dunne for Kelly, Alex Williams for Bennett, Fionn Smith for King, Gary Arkins for McConnell
