Trim laid down an early marker in this much anticipated Round 1 clash, played on a balmy summer evening at Pairc Tailteann. A mere twenty seconds in from referee Derek Ryan’s opening whistle Mikey Cole flashed in from the right-hand side to open the scoring with a scintillating point. This set the trend for the entire opening half with a dominating team performance which Kildalkey found increasingly difficult to cope with. By the eleventh minute, Trim were full value for their 0-6 to 0-1 lead and it could have been a lot worse for the Village team had Trim not wasted a hatful of chances along the way.

James Murray accounted for three of those points from play and there were also points from Mikey Cole and Dimmy Higgins. Nickey Potterton was having a tough time against Ben Holden but he did account for three points following Paddy Barnwell’s early equalizer in the second minute.

Trim finished the first half with a flurry when, following James Murray’s uncharacteristic penalty miss, Mikey Cole raised a green flag followed in quick succession by points from Daragh Heffernan and James Murray (2). A feature of that opening half was the mid field performance of Mark Molloy and a similar full back performance from Gary Fleming. 

The opening of the second half was not as spectacular as the first but it was Kildalkey, who must have been reeling during the half time break, who registered the first score from a Nicky Potterton free. Trim’s opener was a lovely conversion from Daragh Heffernan’s accuracy from near to the side line.

Kildalkey’s purple patch finally did arrive and they converted three unanswered points from Nicky Potterton (2f) and Brian O’Halloran, who was forced to come a long way out the pitch to escape the tight marking of Danny Coleman. Mark Molloy was then rewarded with a well earned score before James Murray’s effort, which was probably the score of the game, following a pass from Gary Fleming who had won the ball in defence and split the Kildalkey mid field open before laying off to James who made no mistake to take the score.

Kildalkey then came close to raising the green flag but Niall McNally’s run on goal was thwarted by a Danny Coleman block and the winning of a resultant free out. Three more unanswered points from James Murray (f), Mikey Cole, and Josh Harris, Daragh Heffernan being the provider for both scores, left Trim in an almost unassailable position, 1-17 to 0-10, with less than ten minutes remaining.

With the clock ticking down, James Murray converted a brace of Frees and Joey Cole looked like he had completed the scoring deep into injury time. However, a late, late effort from a close in Nicky Potterton free finally eluded the otherwise rock-solid Trim Defence and found it’s way to the back of the net.

This was a very, very good Trim team performance and a worthy start for senior championship debutants Josh Harris, Kyle Ennis, and Darragh Heffernan.