Close but just not close enough
December 31, 2003
Following the bitter disappointment of losing the final to Nobber the previous year, Dunsany wanted to bounce back quickly and win the Junior Football Championship in 2003.
But things didn't quite work out as they would have hoped and, though they made it through the group stages and won their quarter-final against Ballinabrackey, Dunsany bowed out at the semi-final stage to eventual champions Wolfe Tones.
Dunsany are the proud possessors of one of the finest grounds in the county and they would dearly love it to be the home of a team playing intermediate football, if not senior, in the not too distant future.
After going so close in 2002, hopes had to be quite high that they would make the step up to the intermediate ranks.
With three second string teams in their group, namely Dunboyne, Dunshaughlin and Skryne, as well as Drumbaragh and a Moynalvey side that was demoted from the intermediate grade the previous year, Dunsany looked fully capable of making it to the knock-out stages, and that's how it worked out, though it wasn't exactly all plain sailing.
Drumbaragh provided the opposition in the opening round at Martry and, despite performing below their best, Dunsany managed to start on a successful note when winning by 2-13 to 2-7. Dunsany held a double-scored 0-8 to 0-4 interval advantage and Conor Brennan was the star of the show, scoring 1-9 over the hour.
Moynalvey, a team with the experience of playing at higher levels in recent years, were always going to provide a very stern test of Dunsany's championship credentials when they met in the second round at Trim and that's exactly how it turned out as Moynalvey finished strongly to earn a 1-9 to 2-3 victory.
Dunsany missed a lot of chances in the opening half and trailed by 0-2 to 0-4 at the interval, but they were revived in a big way by a two-goal salvo at the start of the second-half as Anton O'Neill, from a penalty, and Charles Keena both found the net to earn them a 2-2 to 0-4 advantage.
They were ahead by 2-3 to 0-7 with 11 minutes remaining, but failed to score subsequently as a goal from a Paul Weldon penalty with five minutes to play set Moynalvey up for a three-point victory.
Dunsany needed to bounce back after that setback to their qualification prospects and they did so when beating Dunshaughlin by 1-10 to 1-6 at Bellewstown. Dunsany led by 0-8 to 0-1 at half-time after playing with the wind, but Dunshaughlin closed the gap to the minimum, before Anton O'Neill's goal with 13 minutes remaining secured the win for Dunsany.
Another second string team, Dunboyne, provided the opposition in the fourth round and Dunsany secured their easiest victory of the championship when winning by 2-10 to 0-8 at Dunshaughlin. It was a very encouraging performance as Sean Stephens set the perfect tone with a goal inside the first five minutes and Anton O'Neill got a second from a penalty to earn a commanding 2-6 to 0-3 half-time advantage. They could afford to ease up after that and were still eight points to the good at the final whistle.
Skryne were overcome on a 0-13 to 1-6 score line in the concluding group match and Dunsany had achieved mission number one and were through to the knock-out stages.
Ballinabrackey provided the quarter-final opposition at Longwood and gave the Dunsany supporters plenty to be concerned about in the early stages as they edged into a 1-4 to 0-1 lead after only 12 minutes. But Dunsany gradually found their feet and scored five of the last six points of the opening half to trail by 0-6 to 1-5 at the interval.
A good start to the second period was clearly vital to Dunsany's cause and they got it when they scored 3-2 in the third-quarter. Paul Faherty had made a brilliant save to deny Ballinabrackey a second goal and that save proved inspirational as substitute Conor Brennan netted twice and Sean Stephens also found the net to put Dunsany into a winning position. They could afford not to score in the final 10 minutes and had three points to spare at the end (3-8 to 1-11).
Dunsany had come through a searching test and were just an hour of football away from a second successive appearance in the junior final.
Wolfe Tones were the fancy of many to win the title and, despite making a brilliant start and again scoring three goals over the hour, Dunsany had to give way to a side that went on to beat Ratoath in the final.
Dunsany could hardly have asked for a more productive start to the match against Wolfe Tones as Emmet Ferguson and Sean Stephens scored goals inside the first 10 minutes, but Tones recovered well and were on level terms (0-7 to 2-1) at half-time.
Stephens edged Dunsany ahead with a point at the start of the second-half, but boosted by a goal from Aidan McKeever three minutes into the half, Tones pushed ahead. However, Dunsany were on level terms with 13 minutes to play after substitute Conor Power had netted and Mark Brennan and Ger O'Neill both pointed, but Tones scored two late points to secure their place in the final.
Nicky Horan, who had earlier captained Meath to win the All-Ireland Junior Football Championship, was as disappointed as any Dunsany player after that defeat.
"Losing the semi-final was a big disappointment for the club," he said. "After losing the final in 2002 we thought we would give it a real lash this year, but it just didn't work out. That's the way it goes.
"In fairness to Wolfe Tones, they had been there or thereabouts for three or four years and they probably deserved to win it more than ourselves. I certainly wouldn't begrudge them their success.
"But going into the match I felt we could have beaten them. We were playing well and were good against Ballinabrackey in the quarter-final. We just didn't play well on the day against Tones and they held our forward line quite well."
Horan certainly had a busy year, lining out with the county senior hurlers and junior footballers, the Kilmessan senior hurlers and the Dunsany junior footballers. Being a dual player must pose a certain amount of problems on the club scene.
"It wouldn't be a problem if you were told
at the start of the year that this would be a hurling Sunday and the next would be a football Sunday, and vice versa," Horan added. "But that's not the way it is. We have seven or eight lads who are important to both the hurling and the football end of it. It's hard to keep both sides happy."
Captaining Meath to their All-Ireland junior success brought plenty of personal satisfaction for Horan.
"I enjoyed that," he said. "They were a great bunch of players to be involved with. They were serious when it came to training and matches, but we enjoyed ourselves after that.
"Martin Barry did a great job with the team. He concentrates on a plain, simple brand of football and that did the trick for us."
Dunsany also enjoyed a good run in the Junior D Championship, before eventually bowing out of the title race at the semi-final stage after a replay.
They came through a group that also included Bective,
Dunderry and Drumree and then edged out Trim by 1-7 to 0-8 in the quarter-final at Summerhill.
Dunsany looked all set for a place in the decider when they held a comfortable lead in the semi-final against Seneschalstown at Skryne as the clock ticked down to full-time. However, the Yellow Furze side pounced with a goal and a point at the death to force a draw (1-7 each).
The replay was also played at Skryne and was a different type of game as Seneschalstown led all the way to win by 1-9 to 1-5, before going on to beat Summerhill in the final.
Dunsany won the Under-16 Div. 4 Football Championship for the second successive year when they scored a comfortable victory over Castletown in an entertaining final at Pairc Tailteann in late June.
A strong first-half showing was crucial to Dunsany's success and they were ahead by six points at the interval (2-5 to 1-2).
Their lead was rarely threatened in the second period and they were eight points to the good at the final whistle, winning on a 4-8 to 2-6 score line.
Diarmuid O'Donoghue was one of the stars of the show for Dunsany and finished the hour with a very impressive personal tally of 3-1, while Joey Keena, Simon Kennedy, Niall Brennan, Dermot Ryan and Sean Maguire were others to show up to particularly good effect for the winners.
The honour of captaining the victorious team went to Joey Keena, the scorer of 1-3, who received the shield from Minor Football Board chairman Eugene Comaskey.
The Dunsany team and scorers in the final were - M. Rogan; D. Ryan (0-1), C. Irwin; I. Brennan, S. Maguire, N. Clarke; J. Keena (1-3), N. Brennan; M. Munnelly, S. Kennedy (0-3), P. Farrell; D. Maguire, D. O'Donoghue (3-1). Subs - P. Higgins for Farrell, D. Parnell for Kennedy, M. Lynch for Maguire, W. Gilmartin for Munnelly, G. Sheridan for O'Donoghue.
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