Dunsany just won't give up
November 27, 2010Older supporters of the team in red and white could ruefully recall their first JFC final back in 1972 when a Peter Moore-captained Ballinabrackey side thwarted title hopes in the Trim decider. Thirty-eight years later the venue was the same as the Offaly border opposition again proved a bogey.
Donegal-native Conor Boyle, who lives in Kilmessan, was again in charge and was hoping to go one better on the previous year's campaign when losing out to Longwood in the final.
In the 2010 Teach an Teamhrach-sponsored JFC the Group A opposition included four second string sides in Duleek/Bellewstown, Gaeil Colmcille, Simonstown Gaels and Skryne plus St Brigid's.
The opening game was against local rivals Skryne at Seneschalstown and five successive points in the last quarter boosted Dunsany to a 0-9 to 0-6 winning start.
The 2009 beaten finalists were in arrears by 0-3 to 0-4 at the break but with county hurler and Meath junior footballer Stephen Clynch showing up well at midfield and Paul Kennedy, Emmet Ferguson and Mark Brennan, who sent over five points, also impressing, they had the better of the second half.
Dunsany's second round opponents were St Brigid's from Ballinacree and again they had to come from behind to claim the spoils by six points (1-13 to 0-10) in a Friday evening tussle at Moynalty.
The team from the north-west were ahead by five points at one stage in the first half but there was just in it (0-9 to 0-7) at the interval. Mark Brennan scored 1-6 for Dunsany with the goal being netted soon after the restart and goalkeeper Niall Flynn, Paddy McGovern, Stephen Clynch and Donie Clynch also showed up well.
Then they made it three wins from three starts with a 2-11 to 1-6 success over Gaeil Colmcille at Dunderry in a game which was more or less decided at the halfway stage when the difference was 12 points, 2-8 to 0-2.
Mark Brennan scored his second goal of the campaign and Barry O'Donnell also finished to the Kells net. Former county hurler Ger O'Neill and Conor Brennan also proved their worth in attack with four and three points respectively.
Dunsany's next JFC outing was a good bit closer but a 0-12 to 0-10 success over Simonstown in a Friday evening clash at Skryne was enough to put them through to the last eight.
There was also two points in at half-time and the Navan side could have sneaked a win but for reliable netminding by Niall Flynn. There were sound outfield displays from Paul Kennedy, Emmet Ferguson, Paul O'Brien and county under-21 hurler Eoin Marsh.
Dunsany were back at Skryne a few weeks later to clinch the top spot in their group with a 2-13 to 1-12 victory over the 2009 junior B winners, Duleek/Bellewstown, in a game which they led by 1-6 to 0-5 at half-time.
Bernard Gargan netted the goal in the first period. When Barry O'Donnell shot Dunsany's second goal in the third quarter, they were six points to the good. The lead was reduced to the minimum but Dunsany finished with four points from substitutes with Sean Stephens putting over two and Charlie Keena and Paul O'Brien also on target.
That win meant that Dunsany (10 points) finished on top of Group A from fellow qualifiers St Brigid's (8) while Duleek/Bellewstown (6) missed out with Dunsany earning a quarter-final meeting with Donaghmore/Ashbourne.
Dunsany carved out a remarkable victory in that last eight tie, recovering from arrears of nine points with 12 minutes to go to win by 1-11 to 1-10 at Skryne. They managed to score just two points in the first half at the end of which their dominant opponents had 0-8 on the board.
It got even worse for the men in red and white as they trailed by 0-4 to 1-10. But Donaghmore/Ashbourne did not register again as Dunsany staged an astonishing comeback.
Substitute Alan Hogan set the recovery in motion with a point which was followed by a goal from another replacement, Sean Stephens. Two converted long-range frees by Mark Brennan followed and white flags from Ger O'Neill and Conor Brennan levelled matters before Mark Brennan shot a dramatic winner from a free in added time.
However, a couple of weeks after the euphoria of that victory, Dunsany experienced the other side of the coin when Ballinabrackey defeated them by 2-7 to 0-12, the sides having been on level terms (1-4 to 0-7) at the break.
Dunsany led by three points in the first half before conceding the first goal and after that Conor Brennan had a chance to find the net only to finish wide. Conor Boyle's charges were playing catch-up again after conceding the second goal in the third quarter and even though Ballinabrackey only added two points after that, they were enough for them.
Two fine scores by Mark Brennan to bring his total to 0-7 had the sides on level terms with three minutes to go. However, Dunsany, who had former Meath player Kevin Cahill, who gained All-Ireland club honours with Nemo Rangers, at midfield, were unable to push on and Damien Carroll shot the winner at the other end.
Dunsany's second string enjoyed a good run in the Sheridan Plant Hire Junior D FC, winning five games out of five before also losing at the semi-final stage where Ballinlough proved too strong.
In their group Dunsany defeated Bective (4-14 to 0-3), Ballinabrackey (1-11 to 0-7), Blackhall Gaels (2-10 to 1-8) and Summerhill (2-14 to 0-9) to qualify to meet Meath Hill in a last eight tie at Kilberry.
In a close contest Dunsany held a slender 0-7 to 0-6 interval lead and although scoring for 20 minutes in the second half, they finished with a flourish with a goal from veteran substitute Anton O'Neill proving decisive. Paul O'Donnell, Kevin Keena and Danny Thynne also got vital scores to earn a 1-11 to 0-11 win.
However, like the junior A side, the junior D team's winning run came to an end in the semi-final tussle at Cortown as Ballinlough won by 2-5 to 1-3. In a low-scoring encounter the eventual winners led by 1-5 to 1-2 with Brendan O'Brien netting the goal.
There were only two scores in the second half but a second goal kept Ballinlough comfortably clear as Dunsany initiated the first part of an unwanted double on the first weekend of September.
Emmet Ferguson, who has been part of Dunsany's junior football squad for 14 years, felt the disappointment of again missing out on championship success "because expectations were high and we prepared really well, even better than other recent years."
Defender Ferguson has a strong hurling background - his father Liam, along with brother Dessie, was on the Dublin team which lost narrowly to Tipperary in the 1961 All-Ireland SHC final - but after playing the game at underage level for Kilmessan, concentrated on football and has been assisting his club at adult level since the age of 16.
"We played well enough in most of our championship games this year. We started slowly against Skryne but won out in the end and then we were five points behind in the St Brigid's game before turning things around to win by six.
"The game against Gaeil Colmcille wasn't much of a contest because they provided very weak opposition on the day and in the next round Simonstown ran us close and a couple of good saves by Niall Flynn helped us to a two-point victory. We finished the group phase with a good performance against Duleek/Bellewstown but we were through to the quarter-finals before that game.
"In the game against Donaghmore/Ashbourne we were not tuned in for most of the way before wakening up for the last 12 minutes to gain what looked an unlikely win. Sean Stephens came on and made an impact for us in that match, one which we probably didn't deserve to win.
"However, the semi-final against Ballinabrackey which wee lost by one point was one we should have won. Even though Stephen Clynch was coming back after suffering a broken finger and I had been troubled by a hamstring injury which forced me to retire in the previous outing, we played quite well that day.
"We missed a few scoring chances in the first half, especially when we failed to convert a goal opportunity. Even allowing for the two goals conceded, we had chances at the end to go ahead before Damien Carroll put over the winner," said Ferguson.
Despite all the disappointments, Emmet is not too downhearted and has not given up hope of the long overdue JFC being delivered sooner rather than later.
"The feeling is that we have to keep going, our manager, Conor Boyle, has put in a huge amount of work over the last couple of years and hopefully he will be with us again next year, especially as there is unfinished business to be done.
"The second team also reached the semi-final stage of the junior D championship and hopefully at least one or two of that side can come on and strengthen the first team. Dunsany are obviously long overdue the junior championship but titles are not won on sympathy alone and we will have work even harder to try to make the dream come true," he concluded. Tweet
