Rathkenny put down marker as Ballivor are well beaten

Those who feel Rathkenny are among the forerunners to win this year's IFC - and there must be plenty of those about - will have had their convictions reinforced after the red and blacks defeated Ballivor 2-14 to 1-7 at Dunderry this evening.

The refurbished Dunderry venue looked splendid in the warm evening sunshine and Rathkenny used the pitch as an arena to showcase their talents.

They were much the better team building on an 0-15 to 0-5 interval lead before pushing on to win.

Caolach Halligan capped a brilliant display with 1-4 while Will Gore also found the net for Paul McManus's polished side.

Keith Curtis also made a very significant contribution with six points, two frees.

Ballivor found it difficult to deal with Rathkenny's physicality and movement with Adam Gannon and Brendan McKeon top-scoring for them.

McKeon bagged 1-1 including an injury time goal from a superbly-taken penalty while Gannon hit four points.

Overall however Ballivor had no answer to Rathkenny's power and invention.

In injury time Rathkenny's Brian Meade and Ballivor's Kevin McKeown were both red-card. The outcome was obvious long before then.

SCORERS

Rathkenny - Caolach Halligan 1-4; Keith Curtis 0-6 two frees; Will Gore 1-0; David Curtis 0-2 frees; Robbie Garry 0-1; Eoghan Heavey 0-1.

Ballivor - Brendan McKeon 1-1; Adam Gannon 0-4 one free; Paddy Conneely 0-1; Kevin McKeown 0-1 free.

SEE ANALYSIS, QUOTES AND PHOTOGRAPHS FROM GAME IN NEXT ISSUE OF THE MEATH CHRONICLE