If trophies were handed out for consistency, Dunsany would have collected a cabinet full of them in recent years. When they got the better of St. Vincent's in the sixth round of group matches in the 2006 Junior Football Championship it represented the ninth successive year that they advanced to the business end of the title race. That's some level of consistency, but there are no awards for that particular quality unless, of course, it provides the foundation stone for outright success in a particular competition. And sadly for Dunsany that hasn't been the case in their ongoing pursuit to lift the Matthew Ginnity Cup, with defeats in quarter-finals, semi-finals and even finals being the order of the day on more occasions than they would wish to remember. There can be no denying that Dunsany deserve to make that breakthrough, but what you deserve and what you get can be different things completely, and there was further disappointment for the reds in the Junior Championship gone by when, as is the norm, they successfully negotiated the group stages. They then took a big step in their pursuit of silverware with a comfortable quarter-final win over Moylagh, but were decisively beaten by Kilmainham at the penultimate hurdle. Dunsany, with Gay Kennedy, Vincent Brennan and Conor Boyle looking after the management of the team, were drawn in Group A and had to fancy their chances of emerging from a section that also included title favourites St. Ultan's, reigning Junior B champions Boardsmill, St. Mary's, Clann na nGael, St. Vincent's, Moynalvey and Dunboyne's second string. Dunboyne provided the first round opposition at Dunshaughlin and Dunsany secured their anticipated win when goals early in each half proved decisive. Mark Brennan notched the first in brilliant fashion after 10 minutes and points from Sean Stephens and Anton O'Neill followed to push them five clear. However, that's where Dunsany's first half scoring ended and Dunboyne recovered well to trail by the minimum (0-4 to 1-2) at the break. Another superb Dunsany goal followed four minutes into the second period when Andrew Keena found the net and that propelled them in the direction of a comfortable 2-8 to 1-5 success. Skryne was the venue for a second round outing against St. Ultan's and with Kevin Lawlor goaling twice in the first half Dunsany had every chance to make it back to back group wins. But St. Ultan's still managed to lead by 1-6 to 2-1 at the interval and a productive opening to the second period helped them to a 1-11 to 2-5 victory. Neighbours and keen rivals Moynalvey provided the third round opposition at Trim and it took a late point from Andrew Keena, which many people felt had gone wide, to earn Dunsany a share of the spoils on a 1-10 to 2-7 score line. Anton O'Neill goaled for Dunsany after a brilliant move in the first half, but Moynalvey held a 2-2 to 1-3 interval advantage. Dunsany looked capable of pushing clear after the change of ends, but the accuracy of Cathal Sheridan proved a huge asset to Moynalvey as they held a narrow lead with the final whistle approaching. However, Keena had the last word with that controversial equaliser and after three rounds of group matches Dunsany had a mixed bag of results with a win, a defeat and a draw. Their easiest victory of the campaign followed at Kiltale when Boardsmill were overcome with a considerable degree of comfort (3-17 to 1-6), but the final three group assignments were significantly closer, though each of them brought victories. The teams were level (0-3 apiece) at half-time when Dunsany met Clann na nGael in the fifth round at Trim, but Dunsany made a great start to the second period when Sean Stephens netted the decisive goal and they never looked back subsequently, winning by 1-9 to 0-9. Stephens contributed 1-2 and Mark Brennan rowed in with five points. St. Vincent's were struggling down near the bottom of the section, but they certainly made Dunsany work for their victory when the teams met at Dunshaughlin. It was a second win in the space of five days and it looked likely to be a comprehensive one when Dunsany moved into a double scores (0-10 to 0-5) lead at the interval, thanks to a scoring blitz in the latter stages of the half. However, the Ardcath side battled back very well to draw level (1-9 to 0-12) and it took a brace of late points from Conor Brennan to edge Dunsany to a victory by the minimum margin on a 0-14 to 1-10 score line. St. Mary's, who were taking the A League Div. 4 by storm while also struggling big time in the Junior Championship, were Dunsany's opponents in the seventh and last round of group matches at Skryne and the Donore/Lougher combination looked capable of securing the victory when five points (0-7 to 0-2) ahead at the interval. But they managed to add only a point to their tally in the second period as Mark Brennan's goal proved vital for Dunsany en route to a 1-7 to 0-8 win. Dunsany hadn't exactly finished the group campaign in impressive fashion, struggling to get the better of the two teams that ended up bottom of the section, and their prize for finishing second to St. Ultan's was a quarter-final meeting with Moylagh who had enjoyed a very encouraging run in Group C. And the Dunsany display certainly represented a considerable improvement as they won by nine points (2-11 to 0-8) at Martry. Goals from Sean Stephens and Mark Brennan midway through the first half earned Dunsany a 2-3 to 0-6 interval advantage, before they shut up shop at the back in the second period and conceded only two further points, while adding eight themselves. That comprehensive and impressive success appeared to represent the ideal tonic for Dunsany as they prepared for a semi-final meeting with Kilmainham at Walterstown, but that's not how it worked out as the concession of three goals in the opening half dealt hammer blows to their prospects of reaching another junior decider. The highly talented Michael Newman netted twice for the Kilmainham men inside the opening 10 minutes and that provided them with the ideal platform for success and left Dunsany playing a game of catch-up that they never appeared likely to win. A third goal from Shane Butler left Kilmainham ahead by 3-3 to 0-5 at the break and Ger O'Neill's second half goal for Dunsany proved insufficient as the Kells parish side won with ease on a 3-9 to 1-6 score line. It was a very disappointing conclusion to the championship campaign for Dunsany who, once again, demonstrated their consistency by reaching the knockout stages for the ninth year on the bounce. This year they fell at the Junior Championship's penultimate hurdle, so the search for that elusive title goes on. Few would bet against them being involved again when the competition reaches the home straight next year. ANOTHER SEMI-FINAL LOSS Another semi-final defeat was Dunsany's lot in the Junior D FC when they went under to Moylagh's second string who, in turn, got the better of Walterstown in the decider to claim their first adult championship title since the IFC triumph all of 31 years earlier. Dunsany had gone very close to winning this particular competition in 2005 when they went all the way to the final and looked capable of clinching that much sought after adult championship title when holding a 1-2 to 0-3 advantage at the interval against Blackhall Gaels. However, they managed to add only three points to their tally in the second period and the Kilcloon/Batterstown combination recovered to win by two points (1-7 to 1-5). This year, Dunsany were drawn in Group A, a section that also included Drumree, St. Paul's, Bective, Ratoath and St. Vincent's. They opened up with a draw against neighbours Drumree (0-9 to 1-6), but it wasn't exactly a satisfactory group campaign from there on as they also received a couple of walk-overs from teams that couldn't fulfill their fixtures and that's a situation that suits nobody. When they did head into the knockout stages of the Junior D Championship, Dunsany came face to face with the Athboy/An Gaeltacht combination, Clann na nGael, at Summerhill and came through by four points, scoring by 1-10 to 0-9 to set up a meeting with Moylagh in the semi-finals. And that's where Dunsany's title bid came to an end as Moylagh won comfortably by 0-13 to 1-5 at Martry on the same afternoon that Dunsany won the Junior Championship meeting of the same clubs. Dunsany didn't exactly make the most encouraging of starts to the match and it wasn't until Mark Ryan found the net from a penalty in the 22nd minute that they opened their scoring account. Moylagh held a 0-7 to 1-1 interval advantage in what was very much a tale of two penalties for Ryan, who top-scored with an impressive 1-4. Unfortunately, he failed to repeat his first half achievement when he missed a second half penalty and with Moylagh adding six points to their tally in that period they were decisive and worthy winners at the final whistle. Tweet

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