'Cilles claim Greg Hogge Cup in style
St Colmcille's made the long trip across Meath to Ballinlough on Monday night and came home with the silverware as they claimed the Reserve Cup Div 2 with a 3-6 to 1-6 victory over their hosts.
Despite a cold, damp March evening the north Meath club’s impressive facilities and pitch were in great condition for the fixture. After such a long journey, any concerns that the east Meath side might be a little sluggish were quickly dispelled as the seasiders hit the ground running in the early stages.
An early Oisin Brennan goal followed by points from Charlie Bacon and Stewart McDonnell saw the visitors race into a five point lead. At this stage the visitor’s pace and direct football was causing real problems for the Ballinlough rearguard.
The home side rallied however with a brace of points before Cille's midfielder Cillian Quigley delivered an unstoppable shot to the net on 15 minutes.
Both sides missed a number of scoring opportunities before Ballinlough converted a free and a well worked Lorcan Hughes point saw the half time score stand at St Colmcille's 2-3 Ballinlough 0-3.
After the interval, Ballinlough scored first with a well taken free before Cille's replied with points from Oisin Murphy and Charlie Bacon. After 12 minutes of the second half the seasiders struck for an all important third goal, with the ever dangerous Conor Murphy finishing the rebound following an initial excellent save from the Ballinlough netminder.
This left St Colmcilles ahead by 10 points with a quarter of the game to go and they looked to be in a comfortable position.
Ballinlough had other ideas however and to their credit really took the game to their opposition with a noticeable improvement in their intensity for the remainder of the game.
Two pointed frees from the north Meath side reduced the margin and they were now very much in the ascendancy.
A Ballinlough goal on 50 minutes saw the deficit cut to just five points and the game was very much in the balance again.
Ballinlough continued to press for goals when taking points might have been the better option and a number of goalmouth scrambles ensued. However, the young Cille's defence worked tirelessly and stood firm to repeatedly thwart their opponents.
A late turnover by St Colmcille's relieved the pressure and they moved the ball quickly to the scoring zone with a Conor Murphy point sealing a fine win.
St Colmcilles will be delighted with their first silverware of the year especially considering this is a very young squad with a large number of last year’s minors taking part in their first adult campaign.
After the game, team captain Oisin McAleenan was presented with the Greg Hogge Memorial Cup from Greg's father in the presence of family members.
The St Colmcille's club are especially privileged and honoured to be associated with a fitting tribute to the memory of the young Bective player whose untimely death continues to put sport in context.
St Colmcille's - Stephen O’Toole; Liam Leahy, Oisin McAleenan, Sean Horan; Darragh Kelly, Oisin Brennan (1-0), Ceelan Hayden; Cillian Quigley (1-0), Shane Towey; Lorcan Hughes (0-1), Charlie Bacon (0-2), Oisin Murphy (0-1); Stewart McDonnell (0-1), Conor Murphy (1-1), Ferdia Quigley. James McErlearney, Eoin Sweeney, Ben Maguire, Evan Hughes, Donal Meagher, Ethan Bradley, Robbie Tanner, Max Kingston, Rory Kelly, Dan Clarke, Conor Rath, Niall McErlearney, Tom Forkin, David O’Brien, Evan Morgan, Joe O’Toole, Paddy French, Cian Towey