There was quite a contrast in the age profile of the teams with the town outfit consisting of a lot of ex-first team footballers while Ballinlough used fourtenn U-21 players throughout the course of the match and while they had an edge in speed and fitness they struggled to match the strength and experience of their opponents.
Timmy Reddy, John Morris, Richie Bradley, Paul Murphy, Ross Kelly, Benny Reddy, Henry Barry provided senior experience for the Kells outfit and they all contributed handsomely as two second half penalty's from Alan Tormay were decisive.
The town outfit got off to the better start but Ballinlough gradually settled and with scores from Daire Farrelly, Ken Rothwell and Niall Farrelly seen they move ahead 0-5 to 0-4 at half-time.
Gaeil Colmcille made the the better start to the second half and they were in the clear when Alan Tormay clinically dispatched a penalty in to the corner of the net, but their opponents seemed to be getting on top with Kevin Beirne and Niall Farrelly doing well at midfield while Ken Rothwell was beginning to get some joy against the Gaeil Colmcille defence.
But just when Ballinlough thought they were in a position to push on for the win they were hit with a real blow when they had a penalty awarded against them, Lorcan Gibney did well to keep out Alan Tormay's shot but the ball rebounded and Tormay was quickest to react and side footed the ball to the net, which left four points between the teams. Ken Rothwell and James O' Higgins tagged on late frees for Ballinlough but it wasn't enough as Gaeil Colmcille held out for a two point win.
Ballinlough: L. Gibney, J. O' Reilly, E. Smith, S. Smith, P. Farrelly, J. Baugh, M. Farrell, K. Beirne, N. Farrelly, O. Brady, J. Reilly, J. O' Higgins, D. Farrelly, K. Rothwell, D. Lynch. Subs: J. Tunney for Farrelly, B. Mallen for Brady.