Ballymacnab 2-15 Shamrock Gaels 3-9
Ballymacnab held on to secure the Division Four Minor Championship crown, defeating Shamrock Gaels on Wednesday evening. Three-points was ultimately the difference between the teams but the result hung in the balance late on.
Shamrock Gaels hit 1-4 on the bounce to reduce the gap to the minimum of margins with ten minutes left to play. But two scores from James McParland gave the Nab some breathing space at the end.
Ballymacnab got off to an excellent start with scores from the lively Enda Smyth and McParland. Zach Hughes raised the first green flag of the night while McParland pushed them four ahead.
Sean Sands got Shamrock Gaels end of the scoreboard operating before Peter Keegan fired over a two-pointer. Noel McCann hit back with a goal at the other end while McParland and Aaron Murtagh swapped scores.
Smyth added to his tally before Eoin Murphy floated over a score from outside the 40m arc. That gave Ballymacnab a seven-point lead when the sides swapped ends for the second period, 1-9 to 1-2.
Turnaround
Evan McElvanna netted inside the first two minutes of the second period to close the gap. Smyth and Hughes tagged on further scores for the Round Towers while McElvanna slotted over a free and a two-pointer.
Two more from Smyth were split by a second from Murphy before James Tipping raised another green flag for Shamrock Gaels to kickstart their scoring spree. McElvanna (2), Joe Gorman (free) and Sands made it a one-point game.
McParland notched a score to claim Ballymacnab’s first score in 17 minutes. He added another from the dead ball with the final action of the game, seeing his side over the line with three to spare.