Gaeil Colmcille win minor title

Gaeil Colmcille bridged a 15-year gap when they won the MHC title, the Joey Loughran / Tony Donnelly Memorial Cup for the first time since 1994 at Pairc Tailteann on Sunday. Victory was all the sweeter as they defeated Kilmessan in a final which turned out to be a fascinating contest as 14-man Gaeil Colmcille produced a gritty performance. Initially, Gaeil Colmcille looked like a team that would win the title with ease as they raced into a 1-6 to 0-0 lead inside the opening 17 minutes It was like watching the Brendan Murray show as the midfield player ruled the roost comfortably and finished the half with seven points to his credit. However, Gaeil Colmcille appeared to have pressed the self-destruct button when corner back Darren Morgan received a straight red card following an off-the-ball incident. There had been an earlier exchange which went unnoticed by the Boardsmill referee Arthur Reilly who had to consult his umpires before making the decision. Kilmessan countered with 1-2 in a productive four-minute spell immediately after Morgan"s dismissal. Kevin Keena claimed the brace of points and set up Niall Flynn for the goal, but the Kells boys received the perfect tonic when hop-a-long converted full-forward Darren Tormay finished to the net soon after and helped his side to a seven-point, 2-8 to 1-4, interval advantage. Tormay, the team captain, had started at centre-back, but was later deployed in the full-forward role as he hobbled around after sustaining a bad knock. Conor Murray reverted to the crucial centre-back berth and gave an inspirational performance for Gaeil Colmcille. Kilmessan resumed smartly after the resumption, but wasted a good chance when Keena opted to go for a goal from a 20-metre free which was cleared by a hard-working Gaeil Colmcille rearguard. Gaeil Colmcille were denied a goal in a rare attack when the sliotar skimmed the outside of the post from Brendan Murray"s '65" while at the other end Kilmessan"s Mark Farrell finished to the net after a bout of ping-pong around the square. That goal failed to ignite the anticipated Kilmessan revival and they continued to search goals when points were on. Gaeil Colmcille showed the way when Brendan Murray converetd a free which boosted his side to a 2-9 to 2-4 third-quarter advantage. And the Kilmessan deficiencies were further exposed when Tormay found the pace to get through for another goal with 10 minutes remaining. On this occasion, there was nothing to enthuse about in relation to Kilmessan and they laboured with the basics although substitute Darren Pleavin managed a late goal which left the scoreline looking closer that the game actually was. Gaeil Colmcille can take great heart out of this success. It"s obvious that there is a tremendous amount of work on-going at under-age level and with players of the calibre of Brendan and Conor Murray and Cormac Keegan likely to push for places in the adult team for the forthcoming SHC, there should be plenty of healthy competition for the selectors to consider. SCORERS Gaeil Colmcille - B Murray 0-9; D Tormay 2-0; R Farnham 1-1; C Roche 0-1. Kilmessan - K Keena 0-5; M Farrell 1-1; N Flynn 1-0; D Pleavin 1-0; S Brennan 0-1; THE TEAMS Gaeil Colmcille - Danny McGovern; Alan McGovern, Cormac Keegan, Darren Morgan; John Murray, Darren Tormay, Darren King; Brendan Murray, Fionn Ferguson; Evan Keegan, Conor Murray, Shane Morgan; Seamus Mattimoe, Conor Roche, Ryan Farnham. Subs - J Quigley for McGovern 44mins; Thomas Smith for King 59m; L Carry for Keeagn 60m. Kilmessan - Sean Power; Keith Harlin, Padraig Burke, Ben Gaffney; Sean Keating, Scott Bagnall, Mark Farrell; Eoin Marsh, Shane Brennan; Padraig Maguire, Kevin Keena, Daniel Thynne; Ciaran Doyle, Niall Flynn, Cormac Doyle. Subs - Declan Smyth for Cormac Doyle 28 mins; Darren Pleavin for Ciaran Doyle 56m. REFEREE Arthur Reilly (Boardsmill)