They keep knocking, but the door seems increasingly reluctant to open. Dunsany have been one of the most consistent teams in the Junior Football Championship in recent years, yet that much sought after title remains frustratingly elusive and their supporters must be starting to wonder if it will ever arrive. By Paul Clarke. Dunsany's recent tale of woe in the championship has included final defeats at the hands of Nobber in 2002 and Ratoath two years later, meaning that surely nobody would begrudge them the title at this stage. It was a similar story of disappointment back in 1972 when they were beaten by Ballinabrackey at the last hurdle. And there was further disappointment in the campaign gone by when Dunsany shaped quite promisingly in the group stages, winning six of their seven matches, but bowed out at the quarter-final stage when they went under to a strong St. Michael's side, boosted by the return of county player Daithi Regan, after a replay. It brought further frustration for the club's supporters who so dearly want to see a Dunsany player lift the Matthew Ginnity Cup, but the championship went along planned lines in the first half of the group stages when they won their opening four matches to sit at the top of their section and leave themselves in a strong position to reach the last eight. Dunsany's first outing last April was against Dunboyne's second string at Dunshaughlin and the anticipated victory was achieved, though there was a bit of a stutter before they won very comfortably on a 2-9 to 0-6 score line. Dunboyne made the early running and led by 0-4 to 0-1, but the introduction of former All-Ireland hero Jimmy McGuinness inspired Dunsany to greater things and they were on level terms (0-4 each) at the interval. Goalkeeper Paul Faherty saved a penalty from Dunboyne's Michael Reilly in the early stages of the second half and that was one of three penalties awarded by Dunshaughlin referee Jim Smith in that period. The other two went to Dunsany, with Anton O'Neill missing the first, but slotting home the second to put his side firmly on the road to victory. Another second string side, Skryne, were Dunsany's second round opponents, also at Dunshaughlin, and the venue again proved a happy hunting ground as they made it back-to-back wins thanks to a 1-14 to 1-8 success. However, Skryne managed to lead by 0-6 to 0-4 at the interval and when they goaled from a penalty after the change of ends the 2004 runners-up looked to be in serious trouble. But O'Neill led a Dunsany recovery with a goal and a flurry of five points followed which turned the tide in favour of the men in red. Curraha proved far tougher opponents than might have been anticipated when Dunsany made the short trip to Skryne to face them in the third round. The underdogs led by 0-3 to 0-1 early on, but they missed subsequent chances and Dunsany were on level terms (0-3 each) at the break. They settled down in the second half and pushed ahead, but a late goal from Curraha's Noel Keogh led to a less than comfortable finish for the winners who were three points ahead at the final whistle (0-11 to 1-5). It was back to Dunshaughlin for a meeting with Kilbride in the fourth round and Dunsany achieved their third win of the championship campaign at the venue when they scraped through by 1-8 to 0-10. Aided by a goal from Mark Brennan, Dunsany led by 1-6 to 0-7 at half-time, but they managed only two points in the second period from Sean Stephens and Ger O'Neill. However, that proved sufficient as Kilbride did only marginally better with three. Dunsany had been less than impressive in those matches against Curraha and Kilbride and must have been very wary when they travelled to Walterstown to take on a useful Simonstown side in the fifth round. And they had every reason to be wary as the Navan men won by 3-7 to 0-9 after leading by 2-4 to 0-5 at the interval. Stephen Clynch was magnificent at midfield for Dunsany, but they wasted too much possession and when Simonstown struck for a third goal early in the final quarter the issue was beyond doubt and Dunsany had suffered their first group defeat. They needed to bounce back positively after that reversal and they certainly did as Clann na nGael were easily beaten by 2-13 to 0-2 at Bective, a win that secured Dunsany a place in the quarter-finals. They were well on the road to victory when they led by 0-7 to 0-0 at the interval and second half goals from Andrew Keena and Andrew Duffy completed a runaway success. Dunsany made it six wins from seven outings in group B when they defeated St. Mary's by 0-13 to 0-8 at Skryne and they now faced the prospect of a tough last eight confrontation with St. Michael's at Walterstown as they attempted to keep their bid for that eagerly awaited junior title on track. Daithi Regan had worked very hard to get himself back into action following injury and it paid off for the ace attacker and St. Michael's - but to Dunsany's cost - when he got the all-important score which deprived Dunsany of victory and secured a replay for the Carlanstown/Kilbeg combination. Mark Brennan scored a brilliant goal for Dunsany after 15 minutes, but they trailed by 1-3 to 0-8 at half-time. But further goals from Brendan O'Brien and Ger O'Neill appeared to leave Dunsany in a very comfortable position as they led by all of seven points at the three-quarter stage. But St. Michael's never stopped battling and they were rewarded when Regan capped a superb recovery by slotting over a difficult 40-metre free to force a draw (St. Michael's 1-15, Dunsany 3-9). The fear after surrendering such a healthy advantage must have been that Dunsany had missed a golden opportunity to book a place in the semi-finals and that's exactly how it worked out as Michael's got the better of them in the replay to scupper their prospects of Junior Championship glory once again. Both sides made changes from the drawn match and the replay was a close affair throughout as Michael's worked their way into a slender 0-6 to 0-5 lead at the interval. JB O'Reilly was in brilliant form for the Carlanstown/Kilbeg team in the second half and that was significant as they finished with a flourish to win by three points (0-15 to 0-12). Regan contributed six points for the winners, while the best efforts of Nicky Horan, Anton O'Neill and Conor Brennan just weren't enough for Dunsany. PLENTY OF PROMISE Playing in Pairc Tailteann is an extra special thrill for any young player and the Dunsany juvenile footballers experienced it back in late June when they contested the Under-14 FC Div. 2 final against Drumconrath/Meath Hill. Unfortunately, they didn't manage to lift the title, as the north Meath combination won by 3-12 to 2-6, but getting to the decider was an achievement in its own right for this talented group of players and suggested that the future of the Dunsany club is bright. Drumconrath/Meath Hill notched an impressive 1-8 with the wind at their backs before Dunsany managed to get on the score board and the advantage stood at 1-9 to 0-3 by half-time. Padraig Burke scored two points in the first period for Dunsany and Eoin March got the other after a goal-bound shot from Niall Flynn was saved. Dunsany, to their great credit, never gave up the battle and were back in contention within three minutes of the restart when Eoin Cahill found the net after a shot from Scott Bagnall had come back off the crossbar. Darren Clynch and Kevin Keena added points and the deficit was down to just four at 1-5 to 1-9. Drumconrath/Meath Hill responded to the potentially dangerous situation by scoring their second goal, but Dunsany came back again as Keena goaled to reignite their title challenge. However, a third goal meant that the Div. 2 title was safe in the hands of the combined side. But the Dunsany players had contributed to an entertaining final and their battling qualities had to be admired as they fought their way back into contention in the second half. The Dunsany panel and scorers in the final were - M. Farrell; B. Gaffney, N. Cleary, C. Flaherty; K. Harlin, B. Meehan, S. Bagnall; P. Burke (0-3), D. Clynch (0-1); E. Cahill (1-0), K. Keena (1-1), D. Thynne; E. Marsh (0-1), N. Flynn, K. Harlin. Subs - S. Brennan, E. Hogan, D. Pleavin, D. Smyth, S. Power, T. Brennan, K. Smyth. Tweet

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