Trim seal Div 2 title in style
Trim will commence their SFC championship as FL Div 2 champions
Trim 4-10
Moynalvey 1-12
Tom Gannon
Trim put four goals past Moynalvey on their way to securing the Fl Div 2 title on Sunday in Summerhill. The game was won and lost in an enthralling third quarter that far exceeded the excitement levels of the rest of the contest.
Two Trim goals in quick succession in the 43rd minute put a good distance between themselves and Moynalvey on the scoreboard. The men in maroon were unable to make any inroads into the lead for the remainder.
The men in red showed great composure to see out the game well. The efforts of their middle third players, including Tadhg Carthy, James Toher and Conor Quigley was crucial to the victory.
Those three players in particular showed great composure throughout and were also the driving force behind a brilliant period for the Reds when they were temporarily reduced to 14 men.
Both teams were cautious in the early exchanges but after six minutes, Eoin Sweeney opened the scoring.
Trim broke forward again and delivered an early blow when Eoin O'Connor played a lovely ball across the face of the goal which was fisted to the net by Tom Carmody.
A well-struck free from Adam Murphy opened Moynalvey's account but a nicely worked score polished off by James Toher and two Carmody frees saw Trim outscore the opposition by 0-3 to 0-1.
That gave Ken Robinson and Des Teeling's side a 1-4 to 0-2 lead after 20 minutes. After a long ball fell nicely for Sweeney, the wing-back struck first time with the boot and found the back of the net to stretch the lead to eight points.
The sides traded two more blows apiece before the break, with the highlight being Cillian O'Sullivan's cracking curling point with the left in injury time. At half-time, Trim led 2-6 to 0-4.
A Moynalvey half-time substitution turned the game on its head and brought the clash to life in the third quarter. Mark O'Sullivan was introduced to the contest and in the very first play of the second-half, the stalwart scored a cracking two-pointer with the outside of the boot.
David McLoughlin and Carmody traded scores before McLoughlin sent over a two-point free which reduced the margin back to four after 35 minutes.
McLoughlin was then cynically dragged to the ground by Sweeney, who then received a black card for the foul. Murphy slotted over the resulting free, which happened to be outside the arc. McLoughlin added another and Trim's lead was now cut to one point.
14-men Trim had to now dig deep and they provided an instant response. A long ball in from Sean Foley was broken in the danger area and Tadhg Carthy was first to react and he finished to the net for Trim's third goal.
Moynalvey were still processing Carthy's goal when Trim broke through again and this time it was Foley who beat net minder Conor Egan to hand Trim a 4-7 to 0-12 advantage after 45 minutes.
Trim's experienced heads managed the game out well and apart from a Cillian O'Sullivan goal in the 49th minute, the senior side managed to hold Moynalvey completely at bay.
A Carmody free wrapped up proceedings and Trim were crowned FL Div 2 champions.
Trim - Eoin O'Reilly; Conor McGinley, Ben Holden, Eoghan Ryan; Eoin Sweeney (1-1), Conor Quigley, Padraig Walsh; Tadhg Carthy (1-0), James Toher (0-1); Harry Purcell, Daire Lynch, Eoin O'Connor; Sean Foley(1-1 one 45), David Lernihan (0-1 one 45'), Tom Carmody (1-5 four frees). Subs - Kyle Ennis (0-1) for Purcell 44m, Declan Dowling for Sweeney 47m, Ian Birmingham for Lynch, Cathal O'Reilly for Ryan.
Moynalvey - Conor Egan; David Regan, Conor Harnan, Darragh Brannigan; Hugh O'Sullivan, Michael Brady, Shane Lenehan; Padraic Harnan, Adam Murphy (0-5 three frees, one two point free); Vinny Walsh, Cillian O'Sullivan (1-1), Conor Quinn; David McLoughlin (0-4 one free, one two point free), William Harnan, Luke O'Halloran. Subs - Mark O'Sullivan (0-2 one two-point) for Walsh half-time, Stephen Donoghue for O'Halloran 49m, Cathal McCabe for Quinn 53m.
Referee - Stephen Cregan (Dunshaughlin).