Definite Dunboyne improvement
November 27, 2010They achieved two victories in the second half of the group stages in 2009, against Walterstown and Blackhall Gaels, having earlier lost heavily to Skryne and drawn with St Ultan's, but when it came to the knockout action Tones pushed them aside by 1-18 to 0-9.
Robbie Brennan took over the managerial duties this year and with Wolfe Tones and Skryne joining them in group B when the championship draws were made there was clearly plenty of incentive for revenge. Also in the mix were Simonstown Gaels, St Patrick's and Trim.
There were undoubtedly opportunities to pick up points, but could they get enough to secure a place in the business end of a competition they last won in 2005? The answer was yes as they won their first three games and could afford the luxury of losing the other two.
Last year's quarter-final was a bad day at the office for Dunboyne as Wolfe Tones won by a dozen points, but when they met in the opening round of the 2010 title race it was the St Peter's men who made better use of their opportunities to record a morale-boosting 1-10 to 1-8 victory at Skryne.
Dunboyne had Craig Berrigan sent off at the three-quarter stage, but held on valiantly to claim the points on a day when Tones, and particularly Cian Ward, struggled for accuracy. The 2009 runners-up goaled through Darren McGrath after 12 minutes, but Nigel Crawford replied with a brilliant goal soon after and the teams were level (1-5 each) at the interval.
As Tones wasted chances Dunboyne won the second half by 0-5 to 0-3 and had made the ideal start to their bid for a qualification place. It got even better when they returned to Skryne for a meeting with Simonstown and a hugely encouraging performance yielded a 2-13 to 1-11 victory.
Simonstown opened the scoring with a Wayne McCarthy pointed free, but Colm Brennan goaled after three minutes and Dunboyne led by seven points at one stage in the first half, before being ahead by 1-7 to 0-5 at the break. Michael Reilly scored their second goal near the end of the third quarter and while the Navan men got the last five scores, including a Joe Lyons goal, the outcome was rarely in doubt.
Ger Robinson scored five points, two from frees, and Reilly and Brennan contributed 1-1 each to a victory which suggested they were fully capable of emerging from the group. A narrow victory over Trim in the third round at Summerhill copper-fastened their strong position.
Darren Fay's team made a great start and boosted by a Derek Donohoe goal they led by 1-2 to 0-1 after 11 minutes. They were ahead by 1-4 to 0-5 at the interval, but Dunboyne upped the tempo in the second period to edge to the front and left Trim chasing an equaliser which never came despite a couple of decent chances. Crawford and Robinson shared the scoring honours with three points each in the 0-12 to 1-8 win.
Dunboyne were without the injured Crawford for their fourth round meeting with St Patrick's at Ratoath and were in trouble at the break when trailing by 0-5 to 1-8 after Donal Landy had goaled for the outsiders. Robinson scored two second half goals, including one from a penalty, but a second Pat's goal from Niall Mooney proved crucial as his side pulled off a 2-14 to 2-11 victory. Robinson contributed 2-5, but it wasn't enough.
Despite that defeat Dunboyne were through to the quarter-finals, but it was a completely different situation for Skryne when the teams clashed in the last round at Walterstown. They needed to win and they managed it with a 2-10 to 2-6 success.
Liam Harnan's improving team led by 0-8 to 0-5 at the change of ends, but Gerry Gallagher reduced the deficit with a point on the restart and two goals followed in quick succession as Ian Davis found the net from a penalty for Skryne and McGarrell netted for Dunboyne. The Taramen were ahead by 1-8 to 1-6 at the three-quarter stage and when Davis goaled again they were well on their way to the last eight. Robinson netted from a late penalty for the losers.
Wolfe Tones and Skryne both finished on seven points and Dunboyne were one behind them on six and would face group A runners-up Walterstown in the quarter-final at Ratoath where it took a trojan effort to secure a 0-13 to 0-11 victory.
Mick O'Brien's team scored the first three points, but McGarrell opened Dunboyne's account after seven minutes and they led by 0-6 to 0-5 at the interval after Denis Gallagher, Ger Barry, Berrigan, David Clarke and Stephen Moran had scored the other points.
The second half remained tight and Walterstown twice led by a point, before scores from Moran and Robinson edged Dunboyne ahead again. Clarke, Crawford, Moran and Donal Lenihan all hit the target in the last quarter and those scores were sufficient to earn a semi-final ticket.
Skryne demonstrated considerable improvement as the championship progressed and they maintained it when ending Dunboyne's title ambitions at Pairc Tailteann where they deservedly won by 2-9 to 2-8. The St Peter's men were flattered by the final score line as they notched 1-1 in injury time.
Skryne made a bright start when Mark Battersby goaled on two minutes and with Dunboyne tallying seven first half wides they trailed by 0-5 to 1-4 at the interval. They had claims for a penalty turned down late in that half and the superbly accurate Paddy O'Rourke stretched Skryne's lead early in the second period.
Moran revived Dunboyne's hopes with a 48th minute goal which had them level and they should have gone ahead when Crawford's effort fell short eight minutes from the end. Skryne raided upfield and Battersby restored their advantage with a point, before O'Rourke pushed them two clear.
When Battersby goaled again it looked like the end of the road for Dunboyne and Skryne led by 2-9 to 1-7 with normal time up. That reply of 1-1 in injury time, including a Robinson goal from a penalty, came too late and Dunboyne were out.
"This year has to represent progress for the team," said Dunboyne coach Robbie Brennan. "I don't think the Wolfe Tones' game last year was a true reflection of where we were. A lot of things didn't go right on the run-up to that game.
"When I saw the draw for this year's championship and we had Tones first I was nearly laughing. But you might as well get one of the best teams first. The victory set the season up nicely for us. Our fitness levels weren't great at that stage. We were aiming to peak in October! We changed our style a bit this year with more movement and it was good to see it working.
"We had a tough week leading up to the Simonstown game. Tommy O'Connor's father Frank died and we didn't train as a mark of respect. But the lads did what was asked of them. We were moving well at that stage.
"It was no surprise to me that Trim pushed us so close. They had already beaten us in the league. Darren Fay had them set up well. We were expected to win that game and won by only a point, but I thought it was one of our most encouraging performances. I was delighted with the win.
"We had already qualified when we played St Patrick's, but we still wanted to win. We were missing one or two lads, including Nigel Crawford, but we had no excuses. We fell behind and left ourselves with too much to do. Nigel was back for the last group game against Skryne. That was only a week after Meath's defeat against Kildare. Skryne had to win and we probably lacked a bit of urgency. They had greater tempo than us."
Dunboyne were through to the quarter-finals and received a stern test from Walterstown.
"I had watched Walterstown playing Seneschalstown and knew we would have it hard against them," Robbie added. "There's never much between us and I was delighted to get out with a win. We had lost quarter-finals the previous two years and it was great to get to a semi-final.
"We kicked far too many wides against Skryne. We fell behind, but got back level with a goal. Nigel's kick then fell short into Felim O'Rourke's hands and Skryne went up the field and scored a point. The momentum was with Skryne after that. They deserved to win.
"It was disappointing, but this was a year of progress. The potential is there. We still have enough of the 2005 team there to compete. They'll still be there next year. We will try to do a few things differently. I'm optimistic."
Minors
secure title
Dunboyne claimed the MFC Division 2 title with a thrilling victory over St Vincent's/Curraha in the final which went to extra-time at Ashbourne.
The St Peter's lads led by 1-5 to 0-4 at the interval in normal time, but a strong comeback enabled St Vincent's/Curraha to force the added time, during which Dunboyne did enough to earn a 3-10 to 1-14 victory.
Niall Connellan was Dunboyne's leading marksman with 1-4 and Cillian Thompson contributed a brace of goals. Patrick Gallagher, Cathal Finn, John Meehan, Shane McEntee and Andrew McWeeney were others to impress.
The Dunboyne team in the final was - Noel Carolan; P Gallagher, A Hynes, J Scannell; C Finn, J Meehan, S McEntee; D Griffin, N Jones (0-1); R Howard (0-1), A McWeeney (0-2), Niall Carolan (0-1); K Carey, C Thompson (2-0), N Connellan (1-4). Subs - C Boylan (0-1) for Niall Carolan, A Hannigan for Carey, Niall Carolan for Howard, S O'Connor for Hannigan.
Dunboyne hurlers' wait goes on
Dunboyne's seemingly endless search for a first Meath SHC title since the time of the First World War goes on after they failed to reach the last four this year, losing to Kiltale in a quarter-final replay. By Noel Coogan.
Having finished second best to Kildalkey in the 2009 Jubilee Cup decider, they were drawn in the same group as the defending champions along with Killyon, Longwood, Clann na nGael and Navan O'Mahonys. Although a win was recorded over the title holders, such form was not maintained into the closing stages where a heavy defeat spelled the end of the challenge.
Former county senior manager Johnny Murray was again in charge - but only for one championship game - and the SHC campaign did not get off to the expected start for Dunboyne as the team suffered a surprise 0-13 to 1-12 defeat to Killyon on their return to Pairc Tailteann. The opening round loss was a complete turnaround on a league result at Killyon a couple of weeks earlier when the visitors won with 32 points to spare.
Although Neil Hackett raised the white flag three times in the early stages, Dunboyne were unable to pull clear like in the previous clash and they held a minimum margin (0-8 to 0-7) at the break.
However, Dunboyne went into arrears early in the second period and when former county goalkeeper Mark Gannon fired past Christopher Kane with eight minutes to go, the score left the board reading 1-12 to 0-9. The side in black and amber replied with three converted frees by Hackett to bring his match total to seven points and Michael O'Grady got on target from play, but some sound defending enabled Killyon hold out for the win.
Dunboyne recovered from that reversal to record a 13-point success over Longwood in Trim with the board reading 1-23 to 0-13 at the end of a Saturday evening tussle with former Rathmolyon SHC winning boss Dave Foley stepping as after Johnny Murray stepped out.
Again Neil Hackett slotted over seven points, five frees and two 65s, and Stephen Moran and the Watters trio of Gary, Barry and Johnny also figured prominently in the scoring. Michael Dunne netted the goal and it was 1-8 to 0-7 at the interval.
Dunboyne made it two wins from three outings when defeating Clann na nGael by 1-17 to 1-10 at Kilmessan, having hit the front in the early exchanges and led by 0-12 to 1-3 at the break.
A total of eight players got on target for the winners whose goal was scored by Stephen Moran. Dunboyne gained a comfortable despite having Michael Dunne sent off on receipt of second yellow card in the second half.
Dunboyne's best SHC win of 2010 was the 2-11 to 0-13 victory over Kildalkey in Longwood on the first weekend of July when the result of last year's final was reversed with 1-6 from Neil Hackett and substitute Niall Smyth bagging 1-2.
Smyth did not join the action until the 52-minute mark after his side had a lead of five points wiped out as Kildalkey drew level at 0-12 to 1-9. Smyth shot two points before firing to the net to ensure that Dunboyne would finish in front and repeat a group stages win over the same opposition of the previous year.
The Dunboyne full-back trio of Stephen Moran, Paul Gannon and Paul Fagan impressed and the first goal in the 10th minute was a fortunate score with a free by Hackett from inside his own half winding up in the net to give his side a 1-2 to 0-4 lead. It was 1-7 to 0-6 at the break.
Dunboyne completed their group schedule with a narrow 1-13 to 1-12 win over Navan O'Mahonys at Ratoath. Neil Hackett shot 11 points and Michael O'Grady netted the goal. It was 1-7 to 1-5 at the break and Ger Barry and Alan Watters were others to show good form.
Finishing second to Kildalkey on score difference in Group B, Dunboyne qualified to meet Kiltale in a quarter-final clash. The umpires and score recorders were kept very busy in the Pairc Tailteann encounter in which Dunboyne finished up with 3-17 to 1-23 for the 2007 champions.
The teams were on equal terms 13 times over the 80 minutes and Kiltale hit the last leveller in both regulation and extra-time. The respective sides' sharpshooters also finished with equal scores, Neil Hackett getting 2-8 and Peter Durnin putting over 14 points.
Dunboyne were just off the pace at 1-6 to 1-7 at the first break, Neville Reilly scoring their first goal following a through ball from Barry Watters. Boosted by a Hackett penalty goal, the black and ambers were four points to the good in the fourth quarter before the first hour's play ended on 2-13 to 1-16.
Kiltale led by four points in the first period of extra-time before Hackett's second goal and a Niall Smyth point had the sides level again (3-15 to 1-21) at the next break. Just after a Stephen Moran point appeared to earned Dunboyne a place in the final when Mark O'Sullivan, as he had done at the end of normal time, shot a spectacular equaliser to send the tie to a repay in Trim six days later.
As sometimes can happen, the replay was surprisingly one-sided with Kiltale running out 5-12 to 1-11 victors. The teams were level twice in the opening eight minutes but Dunboyne never got into the lead.
Dave Foley's charges had plenty of possession but they hit a total of 14 wides, eight of them in the first half, to just six overall by their opponents. Dunboyne looked to be in trouble at half-time when trailing by 0-7 to 2-8 and their situation was more dire when Mark O'Sullivan netted immediately after the restart.
Hopes of a last four place were gone when Brendan Dixon shot past Stephen Reilly on 40 minutes to leave the board reading 4-8 to 0-9. A Stephen Moran goal near the end was no more than a consolation score.
Experienced Dunboyne full-back Paul Fagan, who has also worn the county colours with distinction, feels his side was strongly hit by an improving Kiltale team and they just had no answer on the day. "Six days brought about a big change and we couldn't match their intensity in the replay," he said.
"We had a shaky start to the championship when losing to Killyon and then our manager, Johnny Murray, left. We were lucky to get Dave Foley, who was also involved with St Peregrine's in Dublin and came to us after John Reilly phoned him looking for a challenge game.
"He brought a lot to us, the first championship game under him was against Longwood and we got over them. Then we defeated Clann na nGael and although we had seven points to spare, it was not as easy as the scoreline might suggest and we lost Michael Dunne to a second yellow card in the second half.
"Our best display of the year was against Kildalkey. Winning that game enabled us to get a monkey off our backs and we were determined to show that we were not as bad as we showed in last year's county final when losing to them by eight points. Niall Smyth came on and scored a goal and two points in that game," Fagan reflected on the group games. .
"After Kiltale levelled with us at the end of the hour and then at the end of extra-time, we may have gone into the replay as slight favourites. However, nothing went right on the day and a goal conceded before half-time and another early in the second half made it difficult for us.
"Three weeks before the drawn championship clash we beat Kiltale in the league but they looked like a coming team then and they then took the extra step. Like Galway in the All-Ireland under-21 final, we didn't get the breaks but Kiltale were the hungrier side and outplayed us in the middle third of the pitch.
"It was disappointing to bow out at that stage. We have lost four SHC finals since 2002 and the toughest loss was the defeat in the 2006 final when Rathmolyon won with a late goal.
"All we can do now is regroup and hopefully we can move on from the latest disappointment. Hopefully our turn will come and finally we will do it on the big day. Losing can be demoralising but we will have to try that bit harder to atone for past losses.
"The team is young enough with most of the older players with a few more playing years left in them. Also there are a few promising young hurlers on the way up and they can challenge for places on the senior team.
"The team is not over the hill just yet. Winning the championship which has eluded us for the last eight years will not be easy with so many strong sides to contend with but the success is well within our grasp," Paul Fagan optimistically looked ahead.
Dunboyne's second hurling team reached the semi-finals of the JHC where they lost out to Kilskyre. In their group they opened with a 1-5 to 1-6 defeat to Kiltale before just getting the better of Navan O'Mahonys by 1-11 to 1-10 and then outscoring Donaghmore/Ashbourne by 1-13 to 1-7.
After finishing second to Kiltale in Group B, Dunboyne faced Kilskyre who recorded a 2-5 to 1-5 victory. Brian Watters netted the losers' goal, Adam Hynes put over three points and Kevin Carey had two white flag efforts. Sean Callanan, Kevin Fagan and Darren Dunne also battled well for Dunboyne. Tweet
