Ballinlough got the better of Trim by a scoreline of 1-11 to 0-7 in cold conditions on Sunday afternoon. The game, originally scheduled to take place in Ballinlough, had to be played in Trim due to an unplayable pitch. The ‘Lough’ had the better of their rivals for the whole contest, and led from the moment Kevin Mallen kicked a first minute point until the final whistle. Scores were hard to come by early on, in a cagey opening. It took the hosts until the 20th minute to register their first score of the afternoon, when Paul Gilsenan split the posts with a routine free kick.
Ballinlough had increased their tally to 0-3 at this stage after good scores by Kevin Devine and Peadar Byrne. Ronan McGuinness was also rewarded for his battling display with a well taken point soon after. Trim were guilty of some poor free taking throughout the game, and went into the break trailing 0-6 to 0-3.
The visitors continued their strong performance into the second half, and were rewarded with a goal after just 5 minutes. Devine did well to get a fist to a free which was dropping short, and punched into the back of the net, leaving 5 points between the sides. This advantage was quickly extended thanks to some fine free taking from Byrne, whose marauding performance caused real problems for Trim around the middle of the park.
The home side continued to battle, and were rewarded with scores by Michael Lowther and Neil Hefernan, but never really looked like overcoming the deficit thanks to a strong defensive performance anchored by Padraig Muldoon. Gilsenan saw red late on for Trim late on after striking Robbie Farrell, but the result was in no doubt at this late stage in the day and the ‘Lough’ will go into their next league fixture against Simonstown in high spirits.
Ballinlough: K. McGuinness, R. Farrell, P. Muldoon, E. Smith, C. Mallen, L. Maguire, B. Smith, P. Byrne (0-5), T . McCullen, S. Geraghty, M. McCullen (0-1), R. McGuinness (0-1), K. Mallen (0-3), K. Devine (1-1), N. Farrelly. Subs: J. Higgins for Farrelly; J. Reilly for R. McGuinness; R. McGuinness for Higgins.