Trumera secure the bragging rights against Colt-Shanahoe

Trumera won the local derby, beating Colt-Shanahoe on Saturday evening to secure their place in the quarter-finals. Goals from Cathal Brophy and Dylan Lalor, as well as seven frees from Niall Sinnott helped Trumera to an all-important victory.

With two wins from two, Colt-Shanahoe came into the game in total control of Group B. Having already booked their place in the semi-finals, they could have been forgiven for taking their foot off the accelerator here - but nothing could have been further from the truth.

Trumera 2-15 

Colt-Shanahoe 1-15 

Trumera, meanwhile, knew they needed a win to guarantee themselves a place in the quarter-finals, and they showed tremendous grit to secure the result. Friday night's torrential rain gave way for a beautiful, sunny evening in Colt, as the hosts put on a show early on. Trumera went two points up inside three minutes, but their ill-discipline proved costly for much of the opening quarter.

Colt-Shanahoe went on a tear, scoring 0-8 without reply in a superb 12-minute spell. Nathan Dunne hit three frees in a row followed by two good scores from Josh Hickey. Conor Hiney slotted a nice score before Dunne landed two more from placed balls.

But Trumera showed their resilience and clawed their way back, starting with three scores on the bounce including two Sinnott frees. The sides traded scores as Trumera got themselves back to within two points; and they took the lead then in the 29th minute when Brophy hit the back of the net.

The hosts found two scores in stoppage time, however, to lead 0-12 to 1-8 at half time.

Trumera came out in the second half and had 1-1 inside 60 seconds, with Dylan Lalor raising the green flag to put his side ahead. Then, with 40 minutes gone, Colt-Shanahoe got a goal of their own to level the tie.

Half-time substitute Ben McDonald brilliantly charged through the defence; he could not get the shot away, but Cian Moffit was on hand to get the vital touch. Trumera landed the next three scores without reply, keeping the home side scoreless for a full ten minutes.

With the visitors three points up heading into the final five minutes, Colt-Shanahoe could only go score-for-score towards the end, suffering their first defeat of the championship. Nevertheless, they now join Mountmellick in the semi-finals, while Trumera will face Abbeyleix in the quarters. 

Sinnott was fantastic for the visitors and landed free after free to keep the scoreboard ticking for Trumer at vital times, keeping them in the game in the first half as well as pushing out the lead in the second. He landed some high-pressure scores as well as covering a serious amount of ground in open play.

Trumera will be disappointed to find themselves in this position, having just come down from Premier Intermediate, but showed signs of a return here.