Byrne on fire as Kilmessan secure second U-21 title in a row

Kilmessan outscored Trim by 0-5 to 0-1 in the final fifteen minutes to secure victory

Kilmessan 0-13

Trim 0-12

Kilmessan fought back valiantly to edge out Trim in the U-21 Div 1 hurling final at Kiltale on Saturday afternoon. Kilmessan were second best for the first 40 minutes of the clash but the young men in blue and white timed their run to perfection. Kilmessan went two points to one up early on but they didn't hit the front again until the 56th minute. Trim on the other hand had looked very sharp up until the last quarter where they looked void of ideas on how to curb the momentum shift. During that vital last quarter, Kilmessan outscored Trim five points to one as Kilmessan hung on by the narrowest of margins

Kilmessan had some fantastic performances all over the pitch. Kris Gorman led by example and marshaled his fellow defenders quite well.

Mark Horan and Darragh Horan were heavily involved in proceedings but the standout hurler for Kilmessan was without a doubt, Lorcan Byrne. Byrne secured some vital scores and finished with a nice tally of six points.

A long-range free from the halfway line courtesy of Kyle Ennis got the scoring underway but that was soon cancelled out by a Mark Horan short-range free.

A slight flick of the hurl from Finn Conroy set up Lorcan Byrne who put Kilmessan ahead after five minutes. Almost immediately, Trim responded with another Ennis score, and from the resulting puck out, the men in red turned the sliotar over which led to Cormac Slattery regaining the lead for the Reds.

Byrne got in on the action once more with a lovely turn and strike to level the contest before Trim rattled off three points in quick succession, which included two more long-range efforts from Ennis. At this point, Ennis' work-rate and accuracy was causing Kilmessan a lot of issues.

Byrne secured his second when he brushed off his marker with a hefty shoulder and split the posts from distance. That score was cancelled out though when a move that started with Daniel Murray led to a long ball in from Padraig Walsh which found Ian Byrne. Byrne then set up Slattery for his second. A fantastic Joey Cole point put Trim up by four with five minutes left in the half.

Mark Horan hit two frees in quick succession before George Douglas pointed from a tight angle to leave Trim with a 0-9 to 0-6 advantage at the break.

Byrne, who was having a fantastic outing, got proceedings underway for Kilmessan in the second half. A few minutes later, Eoin O'Reilly pucked the ball out long and found Douglas who then struck the sliotar over the black spot to restore Trim's half-time advantage.

Byrne and Douglas then traded scores once more and with 15 minutes left, Trim still led by three. Momentum started to shift when Mark Horan secured his fourth free before setting up Kris Gorman and Gormans strike from distance left only a single point between the sides.

With eight minutes on the clock, Byrne levelled the contest with his fifth point, and soon after Mark Horan put Kilmessan in front, much to the delight of the Kilmessan faithful.

Trim had plenty of chances but made some silly errors and they were wasteful with the opportunities that were presented to them. Kyle Ennis reduced the gap back to one late on but there wasn't enough time for an equaliser as Eamonn Barry's final whistle confirmed Kilmessan as champions for the second year running.

Kilmessan- Kevin Horan; Cian O'Sullivan, Harry Cahill, Ben McGovern; Padraig Horan, Kris Gorman (0-1), Noah Conroy; Chris Greene, Cormac Swan; Lorcan Byrne (0-6), Alex Brady, Darragh Horan; Finn Conroy (0-1), Mark Horan (0-5, four frees), Adam O'Neill. Subs - Harry Cassidy for O'Neill 43m, Senan Connell for Padraig Horan 51m.

Trim - Eoin O'Reilly; Harry Cottrell, Padraig Walsh, Ben Gaffney; Eoghan Ryan (0-1), Alan Costello, Aaron O'Rourke; Joey Cole (0-1), Darragh Heffernan; Daniel Murray, Cormac Slattery (0-2), Kyle Ennis (0-5, two frees); Ian Byrne, Josh Harris, George Douglas (0-3). Subs - Daniel Fox for Heffernan 56m.

Referee - Eamonn Barry (Walterstown)