Goals gift victory to Offaly side

Gaeil Colmcille made a predictable exit at the first hurdle in the Leinster Club IHC at Pairc Tailteann on Sunday when they pressed the self-destruct button against Offaly champions Ballyskenagh. Christmas arrived early for the Kells men who dispensed gifts in the form of goals during an opening half when they more than matched their opponents in all departments except the scoreboard Despite conceding a soft goal to Ballyskenagh after only six minutes, Gaeil Colmcille showed tremendous battling qualities as they fought back to lead (0-4 to 1-0) by the end of the opening quarter. However, from then until the interval, Gaeil Colmcille gave away a further three goals to the Offaly side and trailed by a daunting 4-0 to 0-5 at the interval. And it was unfortunate that Gaeil Colmcille were so porous at the back because Ballyskenagh didn"t really create any worthwhile chances. The Offaly side benefited from atrocious defending and tallied five wides as they laboured to find any fluency in the point-scoring department. Wind-assisted Gaeil Colmcille had points from Stephen Reddy and Robbie Flanagan (two each) and Brendan Murray during that opening half, but goals from Alan Middleton (two), Tadgh Maher and Morgan Lalor kept Ballyskenagh in the ascendancy. Against the elements, Gaeil Colmcille displayed their willingness to battle and scarcely 60 seconds had elapsed when Flanagan rattled the Ballyskenagh crossbar. Then Brendan Murray"s centre was saved by 'keeper Alan Franks. Tom Shine eventually found the net for the Meath men midway through the half, but they were unable to inflict any serious damage on the scoreboard for the remainder and Ballyskenagh did enough to advance to the next round of the competition. Ballyskenagh had to wait until the ninth minute of the second-half to register a point from play and it arrived from Timmy Hennessy who added another soon after with Lalor, Aidan Franks and Maher also splitting the posts before the end. Ballyskenagh - Alan Franks; T O"Riordan, C Murphy, P Kennedy; S Kirwan, Aidan Franks (0-1), M Kirwan; D Middleton, F Hannon; M Lalor (1-1), T Hennessy (0-2), T Maher (1-1); C Kirwan, A Middleton (2-0), R Middleton. Subs - G Hannon for C Kirwan, T O"Toole for Murphy. Gaeil Colmcille - C Ferguson; P Tormay, M Foley, K Reilly; B Tormay, B Smith, C Keegan; D O"Neill, L Newman; T Shine (1-0), R Flanagan (0-2), C Tormay; D Tormay, B Murray (0-1), S Reddy (0-3). Subs - B Ferguson for C Tormay, M Barrett for Newman, P O"Neill for P Tormay, R Bradley for Shine, C Roche for Reddy. Referee - Danny Harrington (Dublin)