Lenihan leads Dunboyne in Shels rout

DUNBOYNE cruised past Shelmaliers with a comfortable 10-point victory in this opening round Leinster Club senior football championship game at Innovate Wexford Park yesterday.

Two early points from the dangerous Donal Lenihan inside the opening three minutes set the tone for what was to follow.

The Meath champions were ahead 0-6 to 0-1 after 20 minutes, with the home side’s point a 10th-minute Eoin Doyle effort.

A dominant Dunboyne continued to lay siege to the Shels goal, although in truth the Wexford champions kicked some dreadful wides both from play and frees.

Led by a dominant midfield pairing of Gavin McCoy and Stuart Lowndes, Dunboyne – with Robert McCarthy kicking four excellent points from play – had cruised into a 0-10 to 0-1 lead when a Ross Banville goal gave the home side a lifeline, despite trailing 0-10 to 1-1 at the interval.

However, Shelmaliers’ struggles were to continue right through the second 30 minutes.

As the second-half progressed the game deteriorated, as both sides failed to score through the third quarter, with the opening score of the second-half on 50 minutes a Cathal Finn point to extend Dunboyne’s lead.

Led by Lenihan in attack, it was the corner-forward who set up sub Shane Comiskey for a fine goal four minutes from the end, before the Shels were reduced to 14 players with Dan Campbell sent off on a straight red following an off-the-ball incident.

The Shels’ solitary second-half score after a hugely disappointing performance came from a Brian Malone point in additional time.