Duleek facing real dogfight to avoid drop

RATOATH DULEEK/B’STOWN 4-14 0-10

DULEEK/BELLEWSTOWN had their worst fears confirmed as they were condemned to the relegation dogfight following this heavy defeat in their final Group B SFC match at Skryne last Friday evening.

The east Meath outfit needed nothing less than victory to leapfrog their opponents and escape the clutches of the relegation playoffs. However they never threatened to do that and now have a real battle on their hands against Wolfe Tones and Ballinlough to preserve their senior status.

Right from the start Ratoath looked the better drilled and much slicker outfit. They moved the ball with lightning speed at times, and while they didn’t always find the target they did create an abundance of opportunities.

Duleek/Bellewstown, on the other hand, were their usual hard-working selves throughout but were always struggling to stay in contention and were second best in too many positions to make a game of it.

Graham Geraghty’s side could never get to grips with the dominant Cian O’Brien, who was ably assisted by Darragh Kelly, and the big midfielder strolled through to hit four points, including three in the second half.

The Ratoath midfield was well supported by a solid half back line of Gavin McGowan, Conor McGill and Keith McCabe and this trio completely snuffed out the threat of their opposite numbers.

Neither Eamon or Joey Wallace managed to get on the scoresheet but contributed plenty of hard graft in the Ratoath attack, while Bobby O’Brien, Bryan McMahon and Conor Rooney were very much on song in the scoring stakes.

Bobby O’Brien in particular caused the Duleek/Bellewstown rearguard endless headaches even though Robin Clarke, Shane Crosby and Kevin McCann worked tirelessly to stem the tide.

The eventual winners were much more economical in the early stages as the east Meath side’s finishing proved erratic.

The score that set Ratoath on their way arrived on 10 minutes and it proved a fortuitous one as an Eamon Wallace point effort rebounded off the woodwork and Bobby O’Brien pounced to drill to the net.

That left it 1-3 to 0-1 and O’Brien struck again for his second goal on 19 minutes, this time a simple tap-in following good approach play by Jack McGowan and Darragh Kelly. Ratoath eventually led 2-8 to 0-6 at half-time.

O’Brien also accounted for two points in that opening half, while Bryan McMahon hit three points, two of which came from frees.

Ratoath led by 11 points at one stage in the half before Graham Geraghty’s charges hit a good spell during which they notched four successive points through Anthony Burke, Steven Nolan, Conall McGinley and John Flood.

The Duleek/Bellewstown inside trio of Burke, McGinley and Nolan were always threatening, but they had to work much harder than their opponents to create scores.

Cian O’Brien increased the Ratoath lead within 10 seconds of the restart, but they managed only one further point in the third quarter, also from O’Brien.

Nolan pointed for Duleek/ Bellewstown when he might have found the net after slipping inside his marker on 34 minutes, and there was still eight points separating the sides after Anthony Burke hit his third score of the hour.

Duleek/Bellewstown never managed to get closer than that and Ratoath were well out of sight when Conor Rooney found the net to leave it 3-11 to 0-9 on 49 minutes. Seconds earlier substitute James Murphy had denied McMahon with a goal-line block.

A dominant Ratoath tagged on points after that from Rooney, McMahon and Cian O’Brien before duel star Gavin McGowan blasted goal number four on 60 minutes. Anthony Burke completed the losers’ tally with a pointed free in added time.