Meehan on fire as Cill Dara advance in Towns Cup

Cill Dara produced a powerful all-round display to book their place in the second round of the Bank of Ireland Provincial Towns Cup with a deserved 41–12 victory over Balbriggan at Silken Thomas Park.

Despite Balbriggan enjoying early territorial advantage through a tactical kicking game, it was the Kildare men who struck first and took control of the contest.

The opening ten minutes were cagey, with little separating the sides, but the breakthrough arrived on 11 minutes when Conor Smyth burst through the visitors’ defensive line before slick handling down the blindside sent Adam Meehan over in the corner. Bryn Moore was narrowly wide with the difficult conversion attempt.

That score injected confidence into the home side and four minutes later Meehan crossed again in the same corner. This time it was Stephen Walsh who made the initial incision, surging off the back of a lineout before off-loading to the winger. Once again the conversion drifted wide into a stiff breeze.

Cill Dara continued to press and moments later struck for a third try when Moore finished off a fine interchange with Senan Brannock following a clean restart, touching down in the opposite corner.

However, some indiscipline and loose play allowed Balbriggan back into the contest. The visitors capitalised from a five-metre lineout to score a deserved try before a quick tap penalty on 33 minutes saw their second row power through the defence for a second score.

Ryan Hogg was shown a yellow card for an off-the-ball tackle in the build-up, and the conversion reduced the deficit to just three points at the interval.

Half-time: Cill Dara 15 Balbriggan 12

Cill Dara emerged with renewed intensity after the break and were rewarded almost immediately. Three minutes into the half Balbriggan were reduced to 14 men when a deliberate knock-on denied what looked a certain try. From the resulting pressure, Conor Smyth crashed over following an excellent backs move, with Moore converting to restore a ten-point cushion.

The decisive moment arrived shortly afterwards. Balbriggan opted to tap and go from a scrum penalty but were driven back by outstanding defence. Their out-half attempted a speculative cross-field kick which was calmly gathered by Meehan, who raced the length of the pitch, exchanging passes with Colin Maloney to beat the final defender and complete a superb hat-trick. Moore added the extras before leaving the field injured, making way for debutant Mark Talbot.

Cill Dara were forced into further changes as injuries mounted, including a reshuffle in the half-backs, but their defensive resolve never wavered. A spell of sustained Balbriggan pressure inside the five-metre line was repelled with determined tackling, relieved only by a timely hack clear from Brannock.

With the visitors tiring, Cill Dara struck again when man-of-the-match Meehan turned creator, breaking two tackles after a strong run down the wing before off-loading for Chris Cousins to score under the posts.

The scoring was completed five minutes from time when Meehan once more provided the final pass for Smyth to claim his second try.

Cill Dara will now travel to Dundalk in early March for a second-round clash, while attention turns to a mouth-watering home league fixture against leaders Coolmine in a fortnight’s time.

Cill Dara: Bryan Moore, Senan Brannock, Jimmy O'Loughlin, Ryan Hogg, Adam Meehan, William Doran, Sean Behan, Aaron Kane, Oisin Carroll, DJ Brannock, Chris Walsh, Stephen Walsh, Ross Dooley, Conor Smyth, Chris Cousins. Replacements: Louis Venter, James Dempsey. Billy O'Shea, Colin Maloney, Tadhg Doyle, Mark Talbot, Robin Dempsey.

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