Oldcastle got the came away from Ballinlough with a two point win on Tuesday evening in difficult conditions.
Mid-week B-League fixtures have always been somewhat of a difficulty early in the year for Ballinlough; with students away at college and it was no different on this occasion as senior manager Tommy Shine had to fill the void between the posts for the home side who were short a number of regulars.
Oldcatle hit the front early on and were; 1-2, up after 8 minutes but Ballinlough responded well and struck back with 1-4, Paddy Briody with the goal.
In a an action packed second quarter Oldcastle hit; 2-2, to make it 2-3 to 3-4 after 26 minutes. However Ballinlough finished the half strongly and Ronan Mc Guinness fired in a couple of goals before the break to put his team ahead; 3-6 to 3-4, at half time.
After a quick exchange of points early in the second half Oldcastle made a match winning surge in the third quarter to move ahead; 3-7 to 4-9 with 10 mins left. Kevin Beirne netted late on to set-up a grand finale but Oldcastle held on to take the points.
Best for Ballinlough; James Baugh, Paddy Briody, Kevin Beirne, Ronan mcguiness and Simon Deevy.
Ballinlough: T. Shine, E. Mc Cabe, J. O' Keefe, M. Farrell, J. O' Higgins, J. Baugh, P. Briody (1-0), K. Devine (0-2) K. Beirne (1-0), A. Fox (0-2), S. Deevy, J. Mongomery Francis, R. McGuiness (2-1), K. Rothwell(0-1), Daire Farrelly (0-1).