Ciaran Joyce was in fine form for Trim on Saturday evening

Trim 1-12, Gaeil Colmcille 1-8

The Trim bandwagon just keeps rolling along and they made it three wins from their last three outings in the SHC on Saturday evening. They really had to work hard to dig out this victory recovering from a slow start to edge in front and stay there. Manager John Andrews said he had brought his troops to Athboy expecting nothing else but a robust challenge from a Gaeil Colmcille outfit still in search of their first victory. "We really had to work hard for this one, but we expected nothing else, we knew it would be difficult, they won the MHC last year. We showed plenty of character to come back and win," he said. Trim's march to victory was greatly boosted after 49 minutes when Joey Toole won the ball close to goals and delivered a neat pass to Neil Heffernan who fired to the net which left Trim ahead by 1-10 to 1-6. This was Toole's first game after a spell away from the Trim set-up and it didn't take him long to make an impression. He was only on the field a minute or two when he delivered that pass to Heffernan. Toole went on to fire over a fine point just before the end and his return adds considerably to Andrews' options. Some measure of the early difficulties encountered by Trim could be seen from the way they trailed for most of the first-half. Seconds before referee Marcus Quinn blew for the interval Trim's Tommy Farrell pointed to edge his team in front for the first time, 0-9 to 1-5. Thomas Shine levelled matters with an excellent point early in the second-half. From then on however, Trim always looked the most likely winners, steadily adding on the points to put distance between themselves and their tenacious opponents. The game was marked by a series of long-range points with top scorer Alan Douglas notching a total of six. He fired over one memorable effort from play, splitting the posts from out on the right sideline.  The Trim victory was based on a very solid display from their formidable half-back combination of Ciaran Joyce, Colm Doyle and Ryan Andrews.  Damien McGee and Niall Murray did well at midfield winning plenty of ball especially from their own puck-outs. Gaeil Colmcille again showed plenty of spirit. They just lack a player or two that could make all the difference when it comes to closing out games. Charlie Usher helped them make their bright start with a goal after 13 minutes. Usher also hit two notable points. Shine and Denis O'Neill formed a good midfield partnership and each found the range while  Reddy, Fionn Ferguson and Eoin O'Sullivan are among a crop of talented youngsters in their ranks. They will need their considerable reserves of spirit to avoid the dreaded drop.  Trim - B Carley; G Kennedy, B Keogh, J Lee; R Andrews, C Doyle, C Joyce (0-2); D McGee (0-1), N Murray; J Canty, J Toher, T Farrell (0-1); D Higgins (0-1), N Heffernan (1-0), A Douglas (0-6, four frees). Subs - K Higgins for Lee 33 mins; J Toole (0-1) for Farrell 43 m. Gaeil Colmcille - C Murray; C Ferguson, M Foley, K Reilly; E O'Sullivan, B Smith, P Tormey; T Shine (0-1), D O'Neill (0-2);  S Reddy (0-2, frees), B Tormay, C Roche; F Ferguson, C Usher (1-2), B McGovern (0-1). Sub - N Flanagan for Usher 46 mins. Referee - Marcus Quinn (Clann na nGael).