Huge gulf evident in Navan tie
Kilmacud Cr 2-17 Dunboyne 0-7
IF anyone needed confirmation of the gulf between Dublin and Meath teams at present, then Pairc Tailteann was the place to be on Sunday for this Leinster Club SFC quarter-final.
With the Dubs on a different level to everyone else and the Royals languishing in the doldrums, there was always going to be just one outcome here and if ever a scoreline told a story this one did.
It was painful at times watching the county’s best being so far off the pace that all that had to be decided from a long way out was the margin of Kilmacud’s victory.
At no stage did Dunboyne threaten an upset or indeed indicate that they would make a game of it. What is more alarming from a Meath viewpoint is that Kilmacud won at their ease, never having to move up the gears, and could afford to leave three-time All-Star Cian O’Sullivan sitting on the bench for the duration of the match, having only returned from his stag in Madrid earlier in the day.
However, four-time All-Ireland winner Paul Mannion did most of the damage, taking his haul to 2-6 before being called ashore in the closing stages. Out of that tally, 1-5 came from placed balls and the back-to-back All-Star looked a class apart every time he gained possession. Seamus Lavin tried his best to curb Mannion’s influence, but with Dunboyne second best in most sectors the odds were stacked against him.
All of Mannion’s three opening-half points came from placed balls as Kilmacud led 0-10 to 0-5 at the break. He then put the game to bed in a five-minute spell in the third quarter with two goals, the first of which came from the penalty spot.
Ironically, both of those goals should have been avoided. Lavin allowed Mannion get goal side of him and he then helped to haul him to the ground for the penalty on 39 minutes. Mannion was then gifted the second goal as Dunboyne lost possession as they attempted to work the ball out of defence.
Dunboyne were without Donal Lenihan, who has gone travelling for the year, and in his absence the Kilmacud rearguard had a comfortable afternoon. The Meath champions led for the only time when Stuart Lowndes shot over from long range on 35 seconds.
Seven points of the winners’ opening-half tally came courtesy of frees, a number of which seemed to be of the soft variety awarded by Laois referee Maurice Deegan. Four of them were converted by corner forward Pat Burke, while Dara Mullin (two) and Andrew McGowan hit points from play.
Dunboyne hopes weren’t enhanced when Sean Ryan was black-carded on 22 minutes after pulling Shane Horan to the ground. Craig Lowndes and Robbie McCarthy both pointed from play before a long-range free from David McEntee left it 0-4 to 0-8.
The sides then swapped points in added time, with captain Cathal Finn on target for Dunboyne.
The hosts missed chances to reduce the deficit at the start of the second half, while Kilmacud’s Conor Casey poked the ball wide after coming under pressure when he looked set to find the net.
Those goals weren’t long in coming, though, and Dunboyne’s only response in the third quarter was a point from Stuart Lowndes.
Three successive points from Mannion left it 2-13 to 0-6 on 51 minutes and Cian O’Connor and Callum Pearson added further scores before Seamus Lavin accounted for Dunboyne’s only other score of the half.
Cillian O’Shea and Stephen Williams rounded off the scoring for Kilmacud, who meet Portlaoise in the semi-finals.
KILMACUD CROKES: David Nestor; Liam Flatman, Andrew McGowan 0-1, Cian O’Connor 0-1; Aidan Jones, Cillian O’Shea 0-1, Ross McGowan; Craig Dias, Conor Casey; Shane Cunningham, Paul Mannion 2-6 (1-0 pen, 5f), Shane Horan; Pat Burke 0-4f, Dara Mullin 0-2, Callum Pearson 0-1. Subs: Ronan Ryan for Jones (40), Kevin Dyas for Horan (44), Stephen Williams 0-1 for Mannion (54), Tom Fox for Cunningham (54), Mark Vaughan for Burke (54), Nathan Nolan for Craig Dias (57).
DUNBOYNE: Cian Flynn; Gavin McCoy 0-1, Liam Byrne, Cian O’Dwyer; Cathal Finn 0-1, Seamus Lavin 0-1, Craig Lowndes 0-1; Shane McEntee, Jack Donnelly; Niall Jones, Stuart Lowndes 0-2, Sean Ryan; Robbie McCarthy 0-1, Ronan Jones, David McEntee 0-1f. Subs: Conor Doran for Ryan (24 BC), Jack Scannell for Donnelly (41), David Gallagher for Niall Jones (46), Michael Dunne for David McEntee (54), Shane Comiskey for McCarthy (54), Stephen Moran for Cian O’Dwyer (57).
REF: Maurice Deegan (Laois)