Dunboyne disappointed not to go further
November 27, 2011When Robbie Brennan looks back on his two years as Dunboyne manager, his biggest regret was the failure to build on last year's exciting run to the last four of the Keegan Cup.
While most clubs would gladly settle for a place in the quarter-finals of the SFC - and Dunboyne were one of only four from 2010 to reach that stage again this year - Brennan was disappointed not to go further. In hindsight, he felt the black and ambers didn't hit the same heights as last year, but they could still take some positives from the campaign nevertheless.
"Our aim at the start of the year was to go one better than last year when we lost the semi-final to Skryne," he says.
"We only lost that game by a point, Skryne went on to win the final, so we knew we weren't too far off the mark. But for some reason we didn't catch fire this year. While it was a good achievement to finish top of a group that also had Skryne and Walterstown in it, we were only scraping through games and not playing the football I know we are capable of playing.
"Our last group game against Skryne showed up a few weaknesses which were further exposed by Donaghmore/Ashbourne in the quarter-final. We probably lacked a bit of firepower and that came back to haunt us in the end."
The former Kilmacud Crokes player continues: "The positives I would take from the year was our achievement in topping the group, our solid league performances and the emergence of young players like Shane McEntee and Cathal Finn, who were on this year's Meath minor team, and Donal Lenihan, who is just out of minor. The team needed an injection of new blood and it will be needed again next year."
Brennan, who headed up a management team that also comprised Ger McGovern, Fiachra Kirwan, Niall McKenna and Paul McKeown, guided Dunboyne to a 1-9 to 1-8 win over Duleek/Bellewstown in their Group C opener at Ashbourne. Ger Robinson gave St. Peter's a dream start when he netted straight from the throw-in, but Duleek/Bellewstown recovered from that early setback to trail by two points, 1-3 to 1-5, at the break.
Dunboyne continued to hold the edge for most of the second half, but it looked like they would have to settle for a draw when their opponents levelled with four minutes remaining. However, a late Stephen Moran free gave the black and ambers the narrowest of victories.
Brennan's charges had another close call in their second outing against Walterstown at Ratoath. With Gary Watters hitting 1-4 from play, they appeared to be coasting to victory when leading by 1-10 to 0-5 after 47 minutes. But an unanswered 1-3 for Walterstown in the time remaining - the goal coming from Tom Walsh in the final minute of normal time - left Dunboyne hanging on for a 1-10 to 1-8 win.
St. Peter's staged a fine second half recovery to make it three wins from three against St. Patrick's at Pairc Tailteann. St. Pat's played all the football in the opening half and were full value for their 0-9 to 0-3 interval lead. But the switch of the towering Gerry Gallagher from midfield to the edge of the square had the desired effect as Dunboyne stormed back to claim a 0-12 to 0-11 victory, with late points from Nigel Crawford and Ger Robinson proving decisive.
With qualification for the knockout stages assured, Dunboyne hadn't much to play for in their final group against champions Skryne at Pairc Tailteann, but they would still have hoped to finish off their Group C campaign with a better performance.
Barney Rock's Skyrne side ran out comfortable 0-13 to 0-7 winners, but they still missed out on a quarter-final place on scoring difference to Walterstown. The Tara men led by 0-9 to 0-4 at the break and had extended their advantage to 0-13 to 0-5 with 13 minutes to go. But former International Rules goalkeeper David Gallagher broke their hearts when he took over from Padraig Curran between the posts to save a Paddy O'Rourke penalty in the 56th minute. It was probably the difference between Skryne going through and not going through.
In 2009, Wolfe Tones brushed Dunboyne aside by 1-18 to 0-9 in the quarter-final and, unfortunately for the Dublin-border outfit, there were shades of that again this year when a high-flying Donaghmore/Ashbourne triumphed on a 3-14 to 2-6 scoreline. The writing was on the wall for Robbie Brennan's men after just 15 minutes when they trailed by 0-1 to 2-2, with John Broderick and Ciaran Ellis rattling the net for the winners.
Andy McEntee's Donaghmore/Ashbourne team had extended their lead to 2-8 to 0-2 by half-time and the game was as good as over. Dunboyne supporters were finally given something to cheer about when David Clarke pulled back a goal to make it 1-3 to 2-10 early in the second half. But within a minute, Broderick struck his second goal to stretch out the winners' lead to 13 points again.
Donaghmore/Ashbourne led 3-14 to 1-3 before St. Peter's put a more respectable look on the scoreboard late on when Ger Robinson slotted a penalty and David and Gerry Gallagher added points.
That proved to be Robbie Brennan's last championship game in charge of Dunboyne.
"I had two very enjoyable years, but I feel I've taken the team as far as I can go and it's time to give someone else a crack at it," explained the affable Dub, whose father Paddy played for the old St. John's club in Kilberry (now Wolfe Tones) and who also has strong Ballinlough connections.
An All-Ireland club winner with Kilmacud Crokes in 1995 (they beat Seneschalstown in the Leinster final), Robbie actually played against Dunboyne in the 1998 Leinster club championship. After moving to Dunboyne, he threw in his lot with the locals and won a Keegan Cup with them in 2005.
Robbie reckons the Meath SFC is harder to win than its Dublin counterpart because there is so little to choose between many of the teams.
"In Dublin you could pick out the championship winner at the start of the year. But it's not like that in Meath. There are at least five of six clubs who are genuine championship contenders every year. Navan O'Mahony's have the best players on paper, but they've only won two championships in the last 20-odd years. The Meath championship is very competitive and is hard won."
St. Peter's finished well up the table in Division 1 of the All-County 'A' League, and were in contention to win the league title up until their defeat to St. Patrick's, two days after their championship exit. Their second team also had a successful Division 2 All-County 'B' League campaign. In the JFC, they beat Duleek/Bellewstown by 1-11 to 0-7, drew with Curraha 2-7 to 0-13, but losses to Drumbaragh (0-7 to 2-11) and Kilmainham (0-6 to 4-13) saw them miss out on qualification for the knockout stages.
With a strong underage structure in place, Brennan predicts a bright future for St. Peter's. However, he fears the senior footballers may not be as competitive if some of their longest serving players decide to call it a day.
"There's question marks over the futures of Denis Gallagher, Ger Robinson and Nigel Crawford. They have been three marvellous servants to the club over the years and won't be easily replaced when they decide to finish up.
"Nigel is living in Ballinteer, he's finished with Meath and I would certainly hope that he's not finished with Dunboyne as well. There has been talk of him joining a club in Dublin, but I don't think that will happen at this stage of his career. When he finishes with Dunboyne, that'll be it for him I'd say."
The Dunboyne team which lost the SFC quarter-final to Donaghmore/Ashbourne was: J O'Connor; S McKenna, David Gallagher, S Hogan; C Brennan, G Barry, G Watters; G Gallagher, C Berrigan; G Robinson, N Crawford, C Finn; S McGarrell, D Clarke, S Moran. Subs used: G Timoney, C Clarke, D Lenihan, D Sweeney and Denis Gallagher.
Hurlers still searching for breakthrough
As the centenary of their last Meath SHC triumph fast approaches, Dunboyne are becoming more and more desperate in their quest for Jubilee Cup honours. County star Paul Fagan insists he or any of his team-mates won't feel contented until they end the club's senior hurling famine.
It's astonishing to think that Dunboyne haven't won a SHC since 1914 when Sean Boylan Snr guided them to the last of their five titles. They've come tantalisingly close to ending their long wait over the past decade, having contested four finals between 2002 and '09, but still the breakthrough continues to elude them.
After losing to Kiltale after a replay in last year's quarter-final, St. Peter's had high hopes of making a bigger impact this year. But much to the disappointment of everyone involved with the Dublin-border club, they failed to qualify for the knockout stages.
"Our aim was to reach a semi-final or final, so you could imagine how disappointed we were not to come out of the group," full back and county player Paul Fagan ruefully reflects.
"We were the only team to beat the champions (Kildalkey) last year and felt we had a decent chance of winning this year's championship. But we only won two games and that wasn't good enough to get us beyond the group stage. It was very disappointing and we have a lot of work to do to get back up to the standard we should be at next year."
Fagan, who missed the second round win over Drumree after fracturing his knuckle in a challenge match against Westmeath club Castlepollard, attributes Dunboyne's disappointing season to the loss of key players through retirement and the demands on the club's dual players.
"The retirements of Neville Reilly, Stephen Reilly and Paul Gannon have hit us hard. They were three of our best players and we've struggled to replace them," he explains.
"Because we're a dual club, we're always competing with football. This year we had seven lads who were starters on both the senior hurling and football teams. It's very hard to give the full commitment to both. You nearly have to choose between one or the other at this stage."
Paul Reilly's appointment as senior hurling manager (Ciaran Clince and Jim Watters were his selectors) was warmly welcomed by the players. After all, he had worked with many of them at underage level and served as a selector under Enda McManus when they lost the 2008 SHC semi-final to Kilmessan.
Drawn in Group A, St. Peter's suffered an early setback when they lost their opening game to Trim by 0-14 to 3-9 at Pairc Tailteann. An Alan Douglas goal gave the winners a 1-6 to 0-4 lead at the interval and when Neil Heffernan added a second major three minutes after the restart, Trim were 2-7 to 0-5 to the good.
With Neil Hackett notching 0-6, however, the black and ambers fought back and had cut the deficit to the minimum before Heffernan bagged his second goal to give Trim the win.
Dunboyne beat Drumree by 2-14 to 1-12 in their second outing at Boardsmill, but failed to impress. It was nip and tuck during the first half, at the end of which the sides were level on 0-8 apiece. With the injured Paul Fagan watching on from the sidelines, St. Peter's fell 0-11 to 0-12 in arrears with 10 minutes remaining and looked to be staring at another defeat. But a late scoring burst, which yielded goals from Michael O'Grady and Niall Smyth, got them out of trouble.
A 0-11 to 2-12 loss to an unbeaten Navan O'Mahony's left Paul Reilly's charges facing an uphill battle to reach the quarter-finals. O'Mahony's had opened up a 1-8 to 0-4 advantage by half-time, but Dunboyne started the second half strongly and two points each from Neil Hackett and John Watters left just a goal in it, 0-8 to 1-8. However, that was as close as they got as Mikey Kelly's goal at the end of the third quarter handed the initiative back to the winners.
Dunboyne made it two wins from four when they overcame Gaeil Colmcille by 1-10 to 1-6 in Trim. Once again they were slow to settle and trailed by 1-4 to 1-6 at the break with Barry Watters accounting for their goal. But they shot six unanswered points in the second period to get their campaign back on track.
A place in the quarter-final was the prize on offer for both Dunboyne and Na Fianna when they met in their final group game at Pairc Tailteann. The Dublin-border club were quickly in their stride, and with Barry Watters, Stephen Moran, Michael Dunne, Paul Fagan and Niall Smyth all finding the target, they led by 0-8 to 0-4 after 20 minutes. But a Barry Slevin-inspired Na Fianna hit the last three scores of the half to go into the break just a point down.
With John Watters, Mark Finlay, Gary Watters and Stephen Moran raising white flags, Dunboyne led by 0-12 to 0-10 after 42 minutes. However, Na Fianna had edged in front for the first time five minutes later and when Sean Griffin pounced for the only goal in the 56th minute, they were five points to the good.
Niall Smyth pulled back a point before Dunboyne were awarded a late, late penalty. County player Neil Hackett, who was unable to start due to injury, was handed the task of taking the penalty, but his powerful shot flew inches over the crossbar and the final whistle sounded moments later with Na Fianna ahead by 1-15 to 0-15.
"I don't think we were as hungrier as they were. We've had a lot of disappointments in big games over the past few years and maybe they've taken their toll. But we won't lose heart. We'll come back next year and give it another go. We won't rest until we get our hands on the Jubilee Cup," Fagan says defiantly.
Dunboyne's second team also failed to qualify for the latter stages of the IHC. A first half goal from full forward Matt Dwyer paved the way for a 1-12 to 0-11 victory over Kildalkey in their opening game, but they only managed to win one more game against Kiltale (2-15 to 1-13) as defeats to Kilskyre (0-11 to 1-10), Ratoath (0-13 to 1-15) and Donaghmore/Ashbourne (1-12 to 2-12) put them out of the running.
For many Dunboyne hurling fans, the year's highlight was the under 14 team's participation in the All-Ireland Feile na nGael finals in June. As winners of last year's county under 13 championship, John Delaney's charges earned the right to represent Meath in Galway. After drawing with Kilimordaly and beating Kilconieron in their first two matches, they bowed out after putting up a brave performance against Wicklow champions Carnew Emmetts.
"John Delaney, who is a brother of the Kilkenny hurler PJ, did great work with those lads. It was a great experience for them to play in the Feile na nGael and will stand to them in the future," Paul enthuses.
A mainstay of the Meath senior team since he made his debut as a 17-year-old in 2003 (he wasn't involved in 2006 and '07 when he was living in London and represented the Exiles in both hurling and football), Fagan feels the Royals should be doing better than they are, though he concedes a hectic schedule of away games did them no favours in this year's Christy Ring Cup.
"After winning the Kehoe Cup down in Wicklow at the start of the year, we expected to challenge strongly for the Ring Cup, but we had three games in 18 days in Armagh, Killarney and Portaferry, and I think all the travelling go to us.
"Even though some results went against us, I was very happy with the set-up this year and would like to see Cillian Farrell given three or four years in the manager's job. He needs that amount of time to build a team that can compete at a high level.
"Meath are capable of better in hurling. In 2002 and '03 we lost All-Ireland minor 'B' finals to Carlow. Most of those Carlow players have gone on to play in the Leinster championship and Liam McCarthy Cup. Meath won the All-Ireland minor B' title this year and hopefully we'll be able to build on that success in the same way."
Paul's most successful year to date was 2005 when he helped Meath to win an All-Ireland under 21 'B' title, played for the Ireland under 21s against Scotland in the Shinty/Hurling International in Inverness and was a sub on the Dunboyne team which won the Keegan Cup. He also won a Nicky Rackard Cup medal with Meath two years ago and is hoping 2012 will bring further success.
Dunboyne lined out as follows in their SHC defeat to Na Fianna: C Kane; Shane Moran, P Fagan, G Murphy; N Watters, A Watters, C O'Shea; G Watters, M O'Grady; Stephen Moran, M Dunne, J Watters; M Finlay, B Watters, N Smyth. Subs used: C McKay, N Hackett and D Buggle.
The St. Peter's team that defeated Kildalkey in the first round of the IHC was: S Clince; M O'Connor, D Watters, C Hutton; A McWeeney, K Fagan, C O'Shea; C McKay, D Kane; F O'Neill, D Moran, S Moran; J O'Connor, M Dwyer, M Reilly. Sub used: J Croft.
Late Dunboyne goal earns U16 Division 1
summer title
O'Mahony's led by 0-3 to 0-0 after 10 minutes. Robert Kelleghan and Dunboyne's Simon Clarke swapped points as the quarter ended. A Shane Comiskey free narrowed the gap and then Dunboyne took the Lead as Keith Doyle bundled home and soon after Clarke pushed them two points ahead.
This seemed to spring O'Mahonys into the game again and two scores had the game level at half time.
O'Mahonys took off where they left off with two points but Dunboyne just would not go away and Daire Boylan did well to pull one back. The second half was a much more open affair but both sides hit some poor wides.
Both goalkeepers made some very good saves to keep the gap varying between one and two points as the half wore on. It was 0-13 to 1-7 as the 59th minute approached. Creevey narrowed the gap to the dreaded two but it still looked like O'Mahonys had done enough to win.
Shades of 1991 came into play as first Simon Clarke finished a good move to the net and then Dunboyne won the resulting kick out worked the ball to Boylan and he tapped over for a 2-9 to 0-13 win. Simon Clarke with that goal would have won player of the match while he got good support from Boylan, Creevey, Seamus Lavin and captain Eamon J Gilligan, as all six starting forwards scored for Dunboyne.
Dunboyne - Andrew Markey; Sean O'Neill, James Hogan, Liam Kane; Eamon J. Gilligan, Seamus Lavin, Gavin Ryan; Mark Sheridan, Cathal Meehan; Simon Clarke (1-2), Keith Doyle (1-0), Daire Boylan (0-3); Killian Smith (0-1), Shane Comiskey (0-1 free), Andrew Creevey (0-2). Subs; Jordan McLoughlin for Ryan, Ryan for Markey, John Finnerty for Smith, Andrew Hemryck for O'Neill. Tweet
