Corn Na Boinne round-up: Ballinlough earn welcome win

Ballinlough1-10

Syddan0-6

Ballinlough racked up a deserved and much-needed victory over a disappointing Syddan side in the Corn Na Boinne Cup at Ballinlough yesterday evening.

The home side were already well on the way to their deserved win at the interval when they led 1-7 to 0-4 against lacklustre opponents who never got firing in earnest. The only goal of the game arrived when Benjy Smith unleashed an effort from distance and the ball ended up nestled in the Syddan net.

Smith also registered two points as did Jamie Casserly. Harry Ryan, who also had an effort rebound off the bar, helped himself to four points, three frees, while Darragh Caffrey was another to slot over for the 'Lough who welcomed the win with open arms. Syddan's best player was Shane Carpenter who scored five points with Ben Blakemore their only other scorer.

Ballinlough - P Muldoon; H Briody, R Farrell, C Rennicks; M Geraghty (0-1), L Maguire, C Fleming; D Galligan, T McCullen; C Mallen, D Caffrey (0-1), F Gibney; J Casserly (0-2), B Smith (1-2), H Ryan (0-4). Subs - R McGuinness for Casserly, P Byrne for McCullen, B Wiseman for Ryan, S Tunney for Smith, N McDonnell for Mallen.

Syddan - B Bashford; C Rafferty, R Summersby, S Tallon; D Dillon, M Fedigan, S Fedigan; S Clare, C Dardis; J Meade, M Fedigan, C Duff; B Blakemore (0-1), Shane Carpenter (0-5), C Rowe. Subs - G McManus for Dardis, J Donoghue for Blakemore, A White for Dillon, R Farrelly for McManus, J Farrelly for Meade.

Duleek/Bellewstown3-13

Rathkenny0-13

Right from the throw-in Duleek/Bellewstown were in the zone and up for this Corn Na Boinne Cup encounter at Rathkenny last evening.

The visitors rattled the net in their first attack with John Flood finishing off a brilliant move when he fired the ball to the net. By the interval Duleek/Bellewstown led 3-6 to 0-7 and were well on their way. Flood added a second goal to his personal account while Johnny McDonnell also hit the target in that opening half.

Darren Mills registered three points for the winners while Jamie Flaherty (two) and James McWeeney also raised white flags. A significant moment in the second-half was a brilliant save by substitute goalkeeper Anthony Dowling at a time when Rathkenny were dominant. This was an impressive, hard-grafting overall team performance from Duleek/Bellewstown.

Duleek/Bellewstown - F Harford; G Reddy, K McCann, J Branigan; S O'Leary, B Moore, C Byrne; S Crosby, C Ryan; J Flood (2-5), J Flaherty (0-2), D Mills (0-3); J McDonnell (1-2), J McWeeney (0-1), M Collins. Subs - A Dowling for Harford, C Woods for Reddy, C Flyann for McWeeney, D Moore for B Moore, S McArdle for Branigan.