Gaeil Colmcille and Ratoath faced off in Sean Eiffe Park with a place in the Semi-Final at stake. Gaeil Colmcille had the extra safety net of a draw being good enough as they sat two points ahead of Ratoath.
Ratoath registered the opening point of the game with Liam Barry levelling the match with a free from his trusty left foot. The sides traded a point a piece with Andrew Gormley getting the Gaeils point. Ratoath took the lead once again 0-03 to 0-02 on 14 minutes but two minutes later Kells Full-Forward rose above the Ratoath Full-Back to fist to the back of the net to give Gaeil Colmcille the lead for the first time. Gaeil Colmcille called on goalkeeper Conor Flanagan on a couple of occasions to keep Ratoath at bay.
Ratoath got back on level terms scoring the next two points but Barry hit his second point from a dead ball to ensure Kells took the slenderest of margins going in at the break
H/T Gaeil Colmcille 1-03 Ratoath 0-05
Ratoath came out of the blocks all guns blazing and hit three points to no reply to see the home side regain the lead. Things got better for Ratoath when they found the back of the net 11 minutes into the second half. The lead increased to five points, Kells upped their game and Hogg bagged his second goal of the game to make sure the Gaeils kept in touch and close the gap to two points.
Gaeil Colmcille forwards pressed the Ratoath kick-outs and saw them hit three unanswered points from the Gormley brothers Andrew (2) and John seeing Kells go a point up heading into the final stages.
Ratoath pressed hard for a winning goal and but for some heroic defending and saves from Flanagan they might have got their reward. Ratoath did win a free and the midfielder tapped it over to draw the sides level. Ratoath was hoping for one more chance but the referee came to Gaeil Colmcille’s rescue and blew for full-time to see the lads move on to the semi-final where they’ll face Senechalstown.
Gaeil Colmcille: C Flanagan, R Early, B Griffin, C Mitchell, A Glynn, F Tegetmeier, H Flanagan, O O’Reilly, K Kelly, J Gormley (0-01), D Butler, T Anderson, L Barry (0-02), J Hogg (2-00), A Gormley (0-04)
Subs: O Walsh, N Boshell, E Flynn,
