Momentum comes to a shuddering halt
November 30, 2007
Beforehand, it was probably the most talked about fixture since the same two teams met at the same stage of the same competition two years previous. But, as Brendan Boylan recounts, there was no disputing the issue this time as the momentum which the Dunboyne footballers had built up mid season came to a shuddering halt as Navan O'Mahonys ran out comfortable victors in the SFC semi final.
The thing is, Dunboyne's good run of form actually began after a horrendous run of results in the league and Feis Cup, with things really coming to a head when they were knocked out of the Feis Cup by St Ultan's on a scoreline of 1-11 to 0-05.
They had actually started the season well, earning a creditable league draw against Trim before recording a comfortable win over their Navan adversaries. All of which left confidence high going into the opening round of the championship against reigning county kingpins Wolfe Tones.
That confidence seemed to count for very little in the opening period of that game however as, with the aid of a Cian Ward penalty, Tony Kearney's side held a lead of 1-7 to 0-4 at the break.
When the Kilberry outfit embellished their position with two further points on the restart, the chances of Dermot Morris' men getting anything from the game looked impossible. Then again, nothing is impossible!
Inspired by Colm Brennan, the black and ambers set about a remarkable recovery mission, as, coinciding with the introduction of Meath U21 player Gerry Gallagher, they reeled off seven points in a row, and it was indeed fitting that it was dashing wing forward Brennan that had the last say when he curled over a magnificent equalizer from under the Pairc Tailteann scoreboard to leave the scores 0-12 to 1-09.
And then came the game that everyone wanted to see, Dunboyne v O'Mahonys, in the first championship clash between the sides since the now infamous semi final encounter of two years before.
Rarely has such tension been seen before a game, or such an atmosphere during a game, it really was a classic, as would be expected when these two collide.
It's funny how history has a history of repeating itself and in a prelude to what would unfold in early October it was Paddy Smyth who pulled the strings for the hoops as last terms beaten finalists led by 0-06 to 0-03 at the midway point.
The gap was 0-10 to 0-06 before Dunboyne, for the second game on the bounce, hit a burst of unanswered scores which culminated in Stephen Moran giving them a somewhat unlikely 0-11 to 0-10 advantage with time running out.
Though then came the major turning point in the game when Stephen Bray was rather harshly dismissed, and, strange as it might sound, from that point on, Michael Downes' men assumed total control.
Niall McKeigue ended up being relocated to centre back and as the county corner back began to push further and further upfield and firstly engineered an equalizer before an attacking Dunboyne player was dispossessed deep in O'Mahonys territory before the hoops worked the ball the length of the field ended up grinding out a free which Henry Finnegan calmly slotted over for the winner.
Now, it's hard to know whether it was coincidence or not, but in the aftermath of the defeat to O'Mahonys, Dunboyne's form took a serious nosedive as they suffered heavy league defeats to Wolfe Tones, Duleek and Seneschalstown before the Feis Cup defeat to St Ultan's as mentioned earlier.
In a way however, the latter was something of a turning point in their season as, in the outings that followed they recorded impressive league wins over Blackhall Gaels, Summerhill and St Patrick's having already accounted for Kilmainhamwood in the SFC in the meantime.
Having led by 1-05 to 0-05 at the interval, a goal from Ger Grehan, home from Kansas for the summer, immediately after half time left them in an unassailable position and with Nigel Crawford in the sort of form that saw Meath make it all the way to an All Ireland semi final, a 2-14 to 1-09 win was recorded which set a do or die encounter with Skryne in the last group game.
This really was a ding dong encounter, with the sides level at 0-06 apiece at the interval before Skryne raced ahead as Kevin Mulvany goaled within seconds of the second half beginning.
Though not for the first time this season, Dunboyne dug in and with the returning David Gallagher exerting an ever greater influence on proceedings, a burst of scores from Ger Robinson and Stephen Moran restored parity before an astute switch with the moving of Colin Clarke to wing forward and James Rafter going in the opposite direction paid off when the former drove over a sensational winner deep into stoppage time and sealed a knock out spot.
Rathkenny were undoubtedly the surprise packets of the 2007 SFC but in the last eight joust county panellist Dave Donegan opened the scoring for Eamon O'Brien's charges but with David Gallagher and Nigel Crawford in fine form Dunboyne soon settled and opened a lead of 1-05 to 0-03 with Stephen Moran netting after a superb pass from Denis Gallagher.
Though a lapse of concentration at the back allowed the impressive Richie Timmons in for a handy goal on the call of half time.
In the second period however Dunboyne were far more dominant as a brace of well taken goals from Ger Robinson left them well clear but spirited Rathkenny kept plugging on and were denied a second goal thanks to a magnificent save by Johnny O'Connor right at the end.
And so, came a serious sense of déjà vu, Dunboyne and O'Mahonys at loggerheads in the last four of the SFC. True also that, as stated earlier, as in the May 5th clash, it was the red marauder, Paddy Smyth did most of the damage for the Brews Hill outfit.
After a very tentative opening which saw O'Mahonys register seven wides, they eventually opened up a three point cushion before their opponents hit back in blistering fashion with a smashing David Clarke goal before team captain Robinson gave the 2005 winners a slender lead.
That was as good as it got for Dunboyne however as Tommy Loughran netted twice in a matter of seconds, both orchestrated by Smyth, who then passed up a chance it harder to miss than score, so the eventual losers were lucky to be only 2-05 to 1-04 in arrears with half an hour left.
Ger Robinson did reduce the gap to a single score within seconds of the second half starting but, like top class teams do, O'Mahonys killed the game off in a few seconds as Smyth and Loughran combined again to complete the latter's hat trick before Stephen Bray added a fourth 'major' to complete the rout, though Robinson did net a late penalty for Dunboyne.
It was a very disappointing end to their campaign, for a variety of reasons, but they are still a relatively young side and with the amount underage talent coming through in the club they are bound to be a force to be reckoned with for many years to come.
The Dunboyne side that lined out in the county final was - J. O'Connor; S. McKenna, D. Sweeney, C. Clarke; J. Rafter, David Gallagher, G. Watters; N. Crawford, A. O'Connor; C. Brennan, Denis Gallagher (0-1), D. Clarke (1-0); G. Robinson (1-2, 1-0 penalty, 0-1 free), C. O'Donoghue, S. Moran (0-3 frees). Subs - G. O'Toole for Sweeney, S. McGarrell (0-1) for Denis Gallagher, G. Gallagher for Brennan, G. Timoney for Watters.
Good beginning 'Peter's' out
It is a feeling that has become all too familiar to the hurling folk of Dunboyne during this decade. Yet again, after things looked very promising early in the season, all that seemed possible failed to materialise when John Gorry's side were comprehensively beaten by Kitale at the penultimate hurdle.
During Gorry's near decade tenure with the Dublin border club, they have been there or thereabouts at the business end of affairs in Meath hurling, picking up eight trophies along the way, though ultimately suffering heartbreak in three Jubilee Cup showpieces.
Such was the devastating nature of the last such reversal thanks to Gary Cole's last minute winner in the 2006 decider, it was going to be difficult to assess where Dunboyne stood regarding the following renewal.
Well, if actions really do speak louder than words, their demolition of Trim in the opening round was obviously a statement of intent. Neil Hackett may have ended up stealing the headlines with his seven point haul, but it was skipper Stephen Moran who opened the scoring after eleven seconds. The exchanges were then tit for tat as a Thomas Farrell goal gave Trim a lead of 1-06 to 0-05.
However, it was Dunboyne who dominated the remainder of the half as two inspirational points from Hackett were sandwiched in between the first of a brilliant brace of goals from Moran after an exceptional ball from Barry Watters before Neville Reilly doubled on an excellent centre from that man Hackett, for their second goal in a matter of minutes. All of which meant that last term's runners up led by 2-08 to 1-06 at half time.
Again, it was nip and tuck after the restart but with Hackett continuing to hit inspirational scores Dunboyne always held the edge and the issue was sealed when Moran and Hackett combined again as the former netted for the second time, though it was fitting that the last score came from the best player on view as the latter pointed a free from the sideline.
If the performance in the opening round was encouraging, anything must have seemed an option after they emphatically turned the tables with Rathmolyon in the second round encounter. Neil Hackett put 1-8 to his name as Dunboyne put down a large deposit on a knockout spot. His only score from play, a 44th minute goal, a speculative effort from out on the right wing left it 2-11 to 0-5 and ended any hope of a Rathmolyon recovery and sealed Dunboyne's revenge for last term's two Championship defeats by Mike Cole's charges.
Cormer-forward Niall Smyth opened the Dunboyne account within 40 seconds of the off and it was 0-5 to 0-0 after 12 minutes with Sean Moran and Michael Dunne also getting off the mark. The latter pointed a free from his own '45' in the fourth minute.
Former O'Mahonys player Padraig Coone was also impressive for Dunboyne in the early stages and along with Paul Gannon limited the impact of player-manager Mike Cole, who was outstanding in both of Rathmolyon's wins over Johnny Gorry's charges in last year's campaign.
The outcome of this fixture is sweet revenge for those defeats but more importantly it sets down a marker for this year's campaign as Dunboyne bid to bridge a 93-year gap since their last SHC success.
Despite not being as influential as he was in last year's meetings between the sides, Mike Cole had a hand in all of his sides scores in the opening-half setting George Bagnall up for Rathmolyon's opener to leave it 0-1 to 0-5 after 15 minutes.
He also landed a brace of points himself including the final score of the half when beginning and ending a move that also involved Gary Cole and Kevin Fagan.
There was a glimmer of hope for the champions when they trailed by just four points, 0-2 to 0-6, after 25 minutes before a goal from Neville Reilly and a Niall Smyth point doubled Dunboyne's advantage.
Rathmolyon trailed by seven points during the second-half of last term's corresponding meeting between the sides but never looked like overturning a 0-3 to 1-7 interval deficit. The gap might have been greater but Dunboyne shot ten wides in the opening half.
Within 40 seconds of the restart, the gap was up to eight points when Hackett landed a free from distance and as the wind eased with the arrival the rain the champions challenge petered out.
Hackett's speculative effort from out on the right wound up in the Rathmolyon net to leave it 2-11 to 0-5 after 44 minutes. Ten minutes earlier Dunboyne's top marksman had a penalty stroke saved by a combination of defender Eamonn Regan and goalkeeper Stephen Ennis.
So it couldn't possibly have been any better after two rounds, and in their next outing Dunboyne did exactly as would have been expected by recording a comprehensive win over Na Fianna who, to be fair, up that point had been performing creditably enough, being somewhat unlucky to lose to the outgoing kingpins in their opening fixture before gaining a draw with O'Mahonys.
However, mention of O'Mahonys also signifies the first signs that the wheels were coming off the Dunboyne wagon. So often the tormentors of Dunboyne football teams over the years (and indeed they would be later in the year as it happened), Niall McKeigue and Tommy Loughran did the detrimental damage as the black and amber brigade were left stunned by a 0-11 to 2-16 scoreline in the unusual surroundings of Dunshaughlin.
If confidence was rattled by that reversal, God only knows what state it was after the clash in the next round, the final group game, against eventual conquerors Kiltale. Now, in recent years, clashes between the sides at various grades have been fairly plentiful, invariably close ones too. And by the end of the mid September clash at Ratoath one suspects Dunboyne were extremely relieved to have achieved parity thanks to two late 'majors' from Neil Hackett after Kiltale had led by exactly that margin, helped in no small part by a ten point haul for ace marksman Peter Durnin, nine from placed balls.
Results between the sides in recent years have been fairly evenly split, and after Paddy Kelly's side overcame Kildalkey in a quarter final, the two familiar rivals would face off again in the last four. A close encounter was expected and that's how it began as a Durnin free was the score that enabled the maroons lead by 0-07 to 0-06 at the break.
Given the close nature of clashes between the sides, it was always going to take something special to swing it one way or the other. And it may have been the fact that many of the Kiltale players suffered heartache while on duty for Moynalvey against Clann na nGael a week earlier in the JFC final. For it was the contributions of the likes of Padraig and John Donoghue, Damien Dixon and, in particular, Cathal Sheridan, who scored the all important only goal, that swung a rather comfortable 1-14 to 0-10 success for the champions of 1982 and '83.
It was yet another bitterly disappointing end to a campaign that held so much promise for Dunboyne, but, given the amount of underage success enjoyed by the Club in recent times, surely it won't be that long before one of the longest gaps in Meath GAA is at last bridged.
Dunboyne win U13FL
Dunboyne deservedly won a well contested U13FL Division 1 final and will go forward to represent the county in the All Ireland Feile competition, which will be held in Cavan on 4/5/6 July 2008.
Dunboyne 1-10
Ratoath 1-6
Dunboyne played against the strong breeze in the first half and did well to go in at half time only two points down (1-2 to 0-3). All Dunboyne scores came from frees converted by full forward Darragh Lenihan. The Dunboyne defence were coping well with the Ratoath attach and wingback Gary Harper had a particularly good first half.
Ratoath started strongly in the second half and scored the first point. However Dunboyne started to take control of the game around the middle and scores from Lenihan (free), Ciaran Boylan and Niall Carolan brought matters level. Both teams then exchanged points with Jason Daly getting on the scoresheet for Dunboyne.
Then came the turning point of the game with 12 minutes remaining. Following a period of sustained pressure on the Ratoath defence, the Ratoath keeper touched a long high ball on to the crossbar and Jason Daly reacted quickest to slide the ball into the net.
The game swung then from end to end and Daly converted two frees for Dunboyne to cancel out two scores for Ratoath. During this period, Dunboyne were awarded a penalty, which was brilliantly saved by the Ratoath keeper.
In the closing minutes, Dunboyne were awarded a free on the fourteen-yard line close to the sideline. Up stepped Darragh Lenihan to strike one of the best scores ever seen at a juvenile game to leave four points between the teams. Moments later the referee blew the final whistle which sparked off scenes of great jubilation for the large Dunboyne contingent who had travelled to see the game.
Dunboyne last won the U13 Feile competition in 2002 when they went on to represent the County with distinction and won the All Ireland Division 2 title.
The Dunboyne squad on the day was 1. Conor McGrath 2. Gary Harper 3. Padraig Gallagher 4. Mark Sheridan 5. Seamus Lavin 6. Shane McEntee 7. Josh Gough 8. Gavin McCoy 9. Conor Doran 10. Niall Carolan 11. Ronan Dunne 12. Ciaran Boylan 13. Jason Daly 14. Darragh Lenihan 15. Andrew Creevey 16. Stephen Browne 17. Sean McGrath 18. Brian McCrossan 19. Ben Carolan 20. Cathal Meehan 21. Luke Harte 22. Eamon J Gilligan 23. Sean O'Neill 24. Ian Hughes
Mentors Kieran Carolan, Alan Daly, Andy McEntee
Most Read Stories