Three one-point losses halt 'new look' Dunshaughlin
November 27, 2010A 19-point success over struggling St Ultan's was more than enough to enable the black and ambers to avoid going into the relegation play-offs. In their other outings they lost three times by the minimum margin and went down by four points to neighbours Blackhall Gaels in their last game.
Dunshaughlin had Cavan-native Gary Farrelly (formerly with Denn) in charge for the first term and back in April they were tipped to extend the record of advancing to the knockout phase for the 11th time in 12 years. They had only missed out on qualifying in 2006 and the narrow defeats led to a repeat four years on.
Dunshaughlin's campaign began against a rejuvenated Walterstown side at Pairc Tailteann and the Blacks, with former successful manager Mick O'Brien back at the helm, gained a first group stages championship win in four years on a scoreline of 2-11 to 2-10.
In that game Dunshaughlin started with just four of the players from the glory era of 2000 to 2002 in Ronan Gogan, Ray Maloney, Martin Reilly and David Crimmins although Denis Kealy and Ken McTigue joined the action inside the last 10 minutes.
Another long-serving stalwart, the influential Niall Kelly, missed that opener after incurring a broken nose in the club's fundraising boxing tournament.
At the opposite end of the age scale the black and ambers had three members of the team which won the 2009 MFC title with a thrilling final victory over Donaghmore/Ashbourne in Conor Devereaux, Eoin Hegarty and Niall Murphy.
Dunshaughlin were in arrears for much of the encounter and trailed by 0-1 to 1-4 after 24 minutes before reeling off four successive points to get back into contention. Ray Maloney, Caoimhin King, Conor Devereaux and Martin Reilly put over those scores and it was 1-5 to 0-5 at the break.
The difference was increased to five points early in the second half but with Cathal O'Dwyer and Conor Staunton working well in attack, Dunshaughlin clawed their way back into contention. A goal from Staunton left it a one-point game.
Then Ray Maloney netted their second goal following an assist from Conor Devereaux to leave Dunshaughlin leading by 2-9 to 1-9 at the start of the final quarter. However, they were outscored by 1-2 to 0-1 after that and the losers finished the tie with 14 players, Staunton being shown a second yellow card on 58 minutes.
Dunshaughlin's second round outing saw them make the short journey to Ratoath to face defending champions Seneschalstown who won out by 0-11 to 1-7, courtesy of a late clinching point shot over by Shane Clarke.
Another of the heroes of the early part of the previous decade, Niall Kelly, returned to championship action, coming on at the halfway stage but was dismissed following two yellow cards in quick succession at the end of the game. The black and ambers were desperately trying to take something from the tie after being in arrears by four points early in the second period.
Dunshaughlin were behind by 0-3 to 0-6 at the break before responding to lead by 1-5 to 0-7 after 37 minutes. Earlier their full-back, Anthony Johnson, was forced to go off in the 24th minute with a knee injury and county player Caoimhin King went in to fill the number three position.
A goal and two points in a four-minute spell enabled Dunshaughlin to edge into a narrow lead. Niall Murphy flicked in the goal following a delivery by Martin Reilly and John Crimmins and Conor Devereaux soon followed with points. But the latter effort turned out to be the eventual losers' last score from play and they were left to regret a total of 12 wides.
Dunshaughlin went on a scoring spree in their third round outing against St Ultan's in a Friday evening clash at Pairc Tailteann, romping to a 3-13 to 0-3 success over opposition badly hit by injuries and suspensions.
County minor Conor Devereaux took the individual scoring honours with a total of 2-3. His goals came in the 12th and 27th minutes to boost his side to a 2-7 to 0-3 interval advantage.
Conor Staunton netted the third goal early in the last quarter but immediately after that score play was held up for around 10 minutes following a clash of heads between Dunshaughlin midfielder Ray Maloney and opponent Kevin Galligan, who were eventually removed to hospital in ambulances.
Although reviving their prospects of qualifying for the last eight, Dunshaughlin could have learned little from the win in an encounter in which the Bohermeen parish side actually led by two points in the early stages but failed to register from open play.
It was back to losing ways for Dunshaughlin when one of the big surprise packets of the 2010 Meath SFC, Rathkenny, defeated them by 1-7 to 1-6 at Pairc Tailteann. The black and ambers were tipped to win that tie but a third loss meant they could not reach the closing phase.
Dunshaughlin starting promisingly to go into a two-point lead in the early stages, courtesy of a brace of converted frees by Conor Devereaux. They were still ahead by that margin until Rathkenny scored 1-2 in a decisive spell to lead by 1-5 to 0-3 at break.
It took Dunshaughlin 12 minutes to register in the second half but with the two Conors, Staunton and Devereaux, prominent, the deficit was soon reduced to a goal. A Brian Meade point steadied Rathkenny and although Niall Murphy fired to the net, it didn't get any better for Gary Farrelly's charges as Devereaux kicked a late free outside the uprights.
After their third loss from four starts, fourth was the best placing Dunshaughlin could achieve in Group A of the SFC. But in the end, they had to settle for fifth after Blackhall Gaels outscored them by 1-10 to 0-9 in a Friday evening tussle at Summerhill in which little was at stake.
Dunshaughlin were forced to play more than half of the match with 14 players after veteran Richie Kealy picked up two yellow cards.
Points from Niall Murphy (two) and Cathal O'Dwyer helped Dunshaughlin into a narrow lead with eight minutes left but their numerical shortage took its toll and a Mark Ferris goal proved decisive.
Looking back at the 2010 SFC campaign, Dunshaughlin's long-serving goalkeeper Ronan Gogan described it as disappointing. "After being beaten at the quarter-final stage in each of the previous three years, we were hoping to go at least one stage further but missed scoring chances in some games proved costly," he said.
"With some of the stars of last year's minor championship success coming up, there was an extra bit of hope. The younger lads did well but one-point defeats in three games shows how thin the line can be between being successful and unsuccessful.
"Our first championship outing was against Walterstown whom we had earlier beaten in the league. But they improved a lot from last year and just got the better of us. Niall Kelly was a big loss that day but he was back for the next game, against defending champions Seneschalstown.
"We would have got back into contention had we won that game and we could have won it. But a big number of wides proved costly and a late point sent us down to a second defeat. It was going to be difficult to qualify after losing the first two games," said the man who has been his club's number one netminder since 2000, the year of their first SFC triumph.
Gogan praised the efforts of first year team boss, Gary Farrelly, who had Richie Kealy and Michael McHale as selectors. "Gary had a good record in his native Cavan and he did well with us, I hope he will be there next year. After the easy win over a weak St Ultan's side, we again lost by one point, this time to Rathkenny, who like Walterstown, improved a lot from last year.
"The last round game against Blackhall Gaels meant nothing to either side and that is something we certainly did not anticipate before the start of the championship. But, despite the disappointing year, there is reason for optimism regarding next year.
"The three youngest lads on the team will be that bit more experienced and other minors like Fergus Toolan and Alistair Doyle are likely to be challenging for places in 2011.
"There isn't much between any of the teams in the senior grade and seeing
Rathkenny, Walterstown and Duleek/Bellewstown reach the quarter-finals after being in relegation play-offs last year, should give encouragement to other sides. That proves that every team has a chance and I'm hopeful that we can do a bit better next year," concluded Gogan. Tweet
