Harkin hat-trick stuns Trim in SHC thriller

Eoin Harkin was the star of the show in Kilmessan's victory over Trim

Kilmessan 4-13

Trim 1-19

Tom Gannon

A hat-trick courtesy of Eoin Harkin was crucial to Kilmessan as they stunned one of the favourites for the Meath SHC, Trim, in Pairc Tailteann on Saturday evening. Prior to a sliotar being thrown in on Saturday, Trim were the only side still with a 100% record in the championship but this result means that Trim, Kildalkey and Kilmessan can all still claim that all-important top spot in Group A.

Trim started well and looked much sharper than their opponents in the first quarter. However, Kilmessan fought their way back brilliantly with three goals inside the last 10 minutes of the first half.

Trim themselves may look back regretfully on goal opportunities that went a begging for themselves at various stages throughout the contest. Mikey Cole, who had been a goal-scoring machine in the championship up to this point had a few great chances to raise the green flag but Stephen Clynch did well to deny Cole on several occasions.

Having been level at half-time, both sides battled extremely hard in the second-half in what was a memorable encounter. However, Kilmessan were able to come up with crucial scores in the right moments and Nicky Horan’s men fully deserved the victory.

David Murtagh and Mark Molloy secured two early points for Trim before James Murray fired a rocket at the Kilmessan goal mouth and managed to find the top corner. A dream start for the men in red and white as they led 1-2 to no score.

Declan Smyth eventually opened Kilmessan’s account but Trim and Mikey Cole quickly responded. For the next 15 minutes, the two sides engaged in a score-for-score battle in which Trim came out on top, outscoring their opponents by two points during this period. The highlight was Josh Harris’ lovely piece of stickwork to tap the ball over the head of a Kilmessan defender before splitting the posts. Murray was very sharp during this spell and he added three well-taken frees to his earlier goal. Trim now led by six heading into the last 10 minutes of the half.

There was a huge momentum shift in the 21st minute when a long-range effort from Kilmessan’s Kyle Donnelly dropped short and the only man who was on hand to react was corner forward Sean Doyle. Doyle buried the ball to the back of the Trim net to reduce the gap back to three.

Trim responded well to Doyle’s goal and points from Murtagh, Conor Quigley and James Andrews restored their lead of six once more. With three minutes left in the half, Mark Horan played in Eoin Harkin for the first of his goals to bring the gap back to three again.

A minute later the pair teamed up again and Harkin buried his second goal much to the delight of the Kilmessan faithful. A point for both teams on either side of Harkin’s goal meant that the sides went in at half-time level, Kilmessan 3-6, Trim 1-12.

Kilmessan started the second-half brightly with three consecutive points courtesy of Declan Smith, Kris Gorman and a free from Horan. Trim responded well though with three scores of their own with Murray, Cole and Andrews adding to their respective totals to level the contest once more.

Kilmessan were not deterred though and they delivered a killer blow when Eoin Harkin completed his hat-trick at the end of the third quarter. It was a massive goal in the wider context as from then on, Kilmessan never relinquished the lead.

Points from substitute Darren Reilly, Gorman and Darragh Horan gave Kilmessan a four-point cushion heading into injury time. Trim did secure the final two points but it wasn’t enough and Kilmessan held on for a brilliant victory in a thrilling encounter.

Kilmessan – Stephen Clynch; Harry Cahill, Shane Brennan, Peter Farrell; Noah Conroy, Kyle Donnelly, Mal Doyle; Cian O’Sullivan, Joe Kenna; Kris Gorman (0-2), Declan Smyth (0-4 one free), Darragh Horan (0-3); Sean Doyle (1-1), Mark Horan (0-3 two frees), Eoin Harkin (3-0). Subs – Lorcan Byrne for Kenna HT, Paddy Lally for M Doyle 37m, Kevin Keena for S Doyle 50m, Darren Reilly (0-1 one free) for M Horan, Jack Cotterall for Cian O’Sullivan both 57m.

Trim – Charlie Ennis; Danny Coleman, Gerry Dwane, Ben Holden; Dimmy Higgins, Eoghan Ryan, Conor Quigley; Joey Cole, Mark Molloy; James Andrews, James Murray, David Murtagh; Conor McKeown, Josh Harris, Mikey Cole. Subs – Cian Lee for McKeown 56m.

Referee – Kevin Brady (Louth)