A large crowd turned up at Ballinlough on Saturday evening in expectation of a lively Feis Cup battle between two of North Meath’s keenest rivals, however a serious leg injury to Oldcastle player Colm Caffrey led to the abandonment of the match after 20 minutes.
Ballinlough……………..0-2 Oldcastle………………..0-1
The teams met last year in the Quarter-Final of the Intermediate Championship and on that occasion Oldcastle prevailed after extra-time on their way to championship success, although this match only lasted 20 minutes there was plenty to suggest that there would have been little separating the teams once again.
Derek Muldoon hand passed over the bar to give Ballinlough an early lead; however moments later his brother Padraig was left puzzled after he conceded a penalty for what seemed like a legitimate challenge on Alan Mc Cann. Fortunately for the home side Paddy Gilsenan’s 3rd minute penalty rebounded off the crossbar and away to safety. Colm Mallen extended the Ballinlough lead when he fired over from 25 meters after Benji Smith had instigated the attack with a brave interception. The Oldcastle forwards were working hard to create some openings and when the Ballinlough defense thwarted one of their attacks at the expense of a ’45; Vincent Reynolds slotted the resulting kick over the bar in the ninth minute. There was plenty of effort from both teams in the following ten minutes but nothing to move the score board as the match came to an unfortunate conclusion following a challenge for possession.
Ballinlough GFC would like to wish Colm Caffrey a speedy recovery from injury.
Ballinlough: K. Mc Guinness, B. Smith, P. Muldoon, R. Farrell, C. Briody, L. Maguire, J. Byrne, S. Byrne, Cian Mallen, J. O’ Reilly, D. Muldoon (0-1), R. Mc Guinness, Colm Mallen (0-1), S. Fagan, K. Rothwell.