Not much football as Trim Celtic crash out of cup

Plenty of incident and only a little bit of football as Dundalk side Woodview Celtic booked their place in the Tully Bookmakers Challenge Cup final at the expense of Trim Celtic at a windswept MDL grounds on Sunday afternoon. The game ended on a negative note following the removal by ambulance of Woodview's Derek Moran with an ankle injury which he sustained in the 90th minute. There was further negativity at the end of seven minutes injury-time when a minor melee erupted at the final whistle and Trim's Mark McCormack was red-carded. The negativity continued and the referee's car was also attacked, apparently the door was kicked and Meath & District League secretary Gerry Gorman confirmed to the Meath Chronicle that an investigation will be launched. As a spectacle, this game wasn't great, but a more streetwise Woodview maximised their chances at the expense of fairly naive opposition. Trim also lost Colm Harte to a second yellow card in the 82nd minute, but he was very unlucky to make an early exit. Harte was trying to take a throw-in, but was prevented by a Woodview player standing in front of him. Under the laws of the game, such tactics are not permitted, but when Harte eventually took the throw-in the referee must have deemed that he threw the ball at his opponent and issued the second yellow card. However, there was no sanction against the Woodview player, but the incident would not have happened only for his deliberate action. Woodview's experience was a vital factor in the match-wining goal also. Midfielder Alan Larkin ran into a Trim Celtic player and promptly crashed to the ground clutching his head, the referee awarded a free about 30 metres out while Larkin duly got to his feet without receiving any attention. Paul Warnock saw his well-hit free carried by the wind to the back of the net as Barry O'Callaghan was left grasping air. It was a goal of the soft variety and was enough to win the game. Derek Donohoe and Harte had chances for Trim which were off target in that opening half. Trim also created openings after the break when David Conway headed off the bar and Paul Gilsenan missed a proverbial sitter after 65 minutes. Woodview included Tiernan Mulvenna who played with Dundalk in last season's League of Ireland and he also showed a smart side to his game. Following a tackle for which he was awarded a free, he stayed down until attention was called on, he then hobbled off the pitch and when play resumed he was ready in an instant to return without having actually received any attention. The Trim Celtic manager also used his experience at one stage to get on to the pitch during a stoppage in play. "Go down, you're injured," he shouted at Cyril Halton, the referee was alerted, the manager ran on and a discussion ensued. Before play resumed the referee told Harte to leave the field as he had received attention - Harte correctly denied this. "One of you got attention, so off you go," said the referee. It was an omen, and it wasn't a good one. Ironically, when Moran sustained his injury and was moaning quite loudly as he lay on the ground, play continued before the Woodview man was actually checked out and was found to have a serious problem. It was that sort of game. Woodview Celtic - P Goram; G Macken, P Warnock, C Caulfield, S English, P McArdle, A Larkin, T Mulvenna, A Reilly, M O'Kane, D Moran. Subs - E Armstrong for English 60 mins, S McKevitt for Macken 73m, R McCann for Moran 90m. Trim Celtic - B O'Callaghan; C Harte, K Jones, C Halton, D Conway, P Gilsenan, P Campbell, M Corrigan, M McCormack, D Donohoe, S McGowan. Subs - D Higgins for McGowan 68 mins, A Douglas for Gilsenan 77m. Referee - Brian Murphy (Louth Branch ISRS).