Jubilant Dunboyne get over the ‘Hill
Dunboyne Summerhill 1-11 0-9
THE Meath SFC Final was high on statistics but low on quality, with Dunboyne continuing their impressive record in finals as they completed a senior and junior double at Pairc Tailteann last Sunday.
It was Dunboyne’s third senior title and they have yet to taste defeat in a Keegan Cup decider following this latest victory. Veteran David Gallagher had the unique distinction of playing in all three finals in different decades, having been part of the successes in 1998 and 2005.
The former Meath netminder returned from injury to take his place at midfield and played his part until his withdrawal on 52 minutes.
And there was a special mention for club member and former chairman Sean Cox from captain and man-of-the-match Cathal Finn in his acceptance speech.
Cox was the victim of a brutal attack by Roma fans outside Anfield as he attended a Liverpool Champions League match last April and suffered life changing injuries. He was recently transferred to the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dun Laoghaire.
The game itself was a slow burner, though the closeness of the exchanges made it an interesting spectacle.
A goal from Stuart Lowndes on 54 minutes proved the decisive score in a match where opportunities were at a premium.
The brother of Dublin All-Ireland star Eric crashed the ball to the net after a high delivery from Donal Lenihan bounced around the goalmouth before falling kindly into his path.
That score propelled Dunboyne into a 1-10 to 0-9 lead and there was no way back for a disappointing Summerhill who were tasting defeat at the ultimate stage for the second successive year.
Overall Dunboyne deserved their success as they upped the tempo significantly in the second half following an indifferent opening-half display. The eventual winners enjoyed an abundance of possession throughout the first half but it wasn’t reflected on the scoreboard and after hitting seven wides they trailed by the minimum at the break, 0-4 to 0-5.
Summerhill were the championship top scorers going into the final and had notched an impressive 20 goals in their seven matches to get to this stage. However they again posted a very poor return when it mattered most, faring only marginally better than 12 months ago when they hit just seven points in the defeat to Simonstown.
They did threatened to add to their goal tally in the early stages, but after that they lacked a cutting edge in attack and were well contained by a well organised winners’ defence.
Dunboyne registered the opening three points inside 13 minutes from Robbie McCarthy (free), Liam Byrne and David McEntee. However they failed to build on that promising start and only added one further point for the remainder of the half, from a McCarthy free.
A promising run from Kevin Ryan ended with his shot being blocked on two minutes and then Barry Dardis flashed an effort wide of the posts when he should have done better.
Dardis eventually got the ‘Hill off the mark from a free on 15 minutes and they enjoyed their best spell in the second quarter, with David Larkin’s point leaving the sides level on 20 minutes.
Sean Dalton pointed Summerhill ahead a minute later and it was a pointed free from Dardis which eventually separated the sides at the break.
Dunboyne were much more prolific in front of the posts at the start of the second half and with McCarthy (two) and Lenihan on the mark they went 0-7 to 0-5 clear by the 35th minute.
They were still two points ahead heading into the final quarter, but scores from Padraig Geraghty and Dardis had the sides level on 49 minutes.
Substitute Cathal Lacey edged Dunboyne ahead before Lowndes struck for that goal to eventually put daylight between the sides.
McCarthy then fisted over for his seventh point to leave his side five clear and give Dunboyne only their third ever senior crown. DUNBOYNE: Cian Flynn; Cian O’Dwyer, Seamus Lavin, Gavin McCoy; Cathal Finn, Shane McEntee, Sean Ryan; David Gallagher, Niall Jones; Stuart Lowndes 1-0, Ronan Jones, Liam Byrne 0-1; David McEntee 0-1, Robbie McCarthy 0-7 (5f), Donal Lenihan 0-1f. Subs: Craig Lowndes for Ryan (44), Cathal Lacey 0-1 for D McEntee (44), Conor Doran for Byrne (47), Shane Comiskey for Gallagher (52), Jack Donnelly for N Jones (58), Jack Scannell for O’Dwyer (63).
SUMMERHILL: Tony McDonnell; Iarla Hughes, Caolan Young, John Lavelle; Padraig Geraghty 0-1, Willie Ryan, Ross Ryan; Michael Byrne 0-1, John Keane; Kevin Ryan, David Larkin 0-2, Cian Devlin; Sean Dalton 0-1, Barry Dardis 0-4f, Davy Dalton. Subs: Ronan Ryan for Lavelle (37), Ciaran Gillespie for Keane (44), Stephen Husband for Devlin (50), Paul Larkin for S Dalton (55), Liam Shaw for K Ryan (56).
REF: Colm McManus (Gaeil Colmcille)