Village have too much firepower for Dunlavin
RATHNEW had too much class for Dunlavin as they left the west with a comfortable 11-point victory on Sunday morning. THEIR high tempo, fast paced game was too much for their opponents and on the basis of their first half performance in particular it will take a hell of a team to stop them on their quest to reclaim the Miley Cup.
Ironically in a first half which Rathnew completely owned, it was Dunlavin who struck first, Eoin Murtagh finishing off a good move involving Paul Murtagh and Harry Coleburn for a well taken point.
Rathnew were not long in replying. Jamie Snell caught in the middle, calling a mark, before offloading to the onrushing Ross O’Brien who tore through the Dunlavin cover like a knife through butter and gave to Eddie Doyle who struck the ball sweetly through the uprights. From the resultant kick out Rathnew won the breaking ball and James Stafford curled over a beauty to give them a lead they would never come close to relinquishing.
It was clear from an early stage that Dunlavin were coming under severe pressure to retain the ball on their own kick outs. Rathnew seemed to cut off all routes of escape as Dunlavin were pretty much trapped in their own half for the majority of the opening 30 minutes. They had to work incredibly hard to work any sort of scoring chances which, more often than not, Rathnew extinguished and broke devastatingly quickly with their inside forward line and in particular Leighton Glynn wreaking havoc with the space they were afforded from this quick supply.
They went on to kick the next six scores through Jody Merrigan, Glynn (2), Nicky Mernagh, Mark Doyle and Theo Smith before Cian O’Sullivan finally stopped the rot for Dunlavin after a fine ball over the top. James Stafford seemed to have a magnetic field around him as he won ball after ball around the middle and Jamie Snell was showing very well as he attacked from deep at pace.
Dunlavin had to use some, at times, risky kick outs in order to retain possession but more often than not when they tried to deliver the ball long and quick into the full-forward line it was snuffed out by Rathnew sweeper Paul Merrigan who was reading the play very well.
Glynn and Eddie Doyle rounded off the first 30 minutes with two points each as Rathnew took a very commanding 10 point lead in with them.
Dunlavin faced a daunting 30 minutes but to their credit showed great fight in the second half. Harry Coleburn worked his socks off and was rewarded with a point as he found himself unmarked 30 yards out after a lung bursting run up the pitch as Dunlavin opened the scoring once more.
Rathnew were in no mood to have their lead whittled away and three points in succession killed off whatever small glimmer of hope the most optimistic of Dunlavin fans may have held. Two of these were as a directly result of turnovers won as Dunlavin attacked with Theo Smith and Eddie Doyle finishing off the swift breaks up the pitch.
They could have extended their lead further when they were awarded a penalty after a fairly innocuous looking challenge in the penalty area. Justice was probably served when Tom McGuirk, who had a fine game, tipped Jody Merrigan’s effort on to the post before showing lightning fast reactions to smother the rebounded shot as the Dunlavin net remained unmoved.
Dunlavin kept batting away. Aaron Phelan, who finished the game strongly, kicked a great point before Eoin Murtagh and Enda Bowes hit over the black spot. But it was Rathnew who had the final say as Stafford and the Eddie Doyle converted chances to leave 11 points in it at the finish.
Rathnew were a class above but Dunlavin certainly left their shooting boots at home as they kicked a host of poor wides which would have left a less one sided look on the scoreboard.
In truth however, Rathnew were well worth their margin of victory and if the likes of James Stafford, Leighton Glynn, Eddie Doyle and Jody Merrigan are in this sort of form there is very few players or teams in the county capable of living with them.
Dunlavin will look to put this behind them and there were positives with the likes of James Sinnott, Harry Coleburn and Cian O’Sullivan showing very well, and they still have survival in their own hands.
Rathnew on the other hand have left a serious statement for the summer ahead.
Scorers - Dunlavin: Eoin Murtagh 0-2(1f), Cian O’Sullivan 0-1, Harry Coleburn 0-1, Aaron Phelan 0-1, Enda Bowes 0-1.
Rathnew: Eddie Doyle 0-5 (1f), Leighton Glynn 0-5, James Stafford 0-2, Jody Merrigan 0-2, Theo Smith 0-2, Nicky Mernagh 0-1.
Dunlavin: Tom McGuirk; Thomas Whelan, Seán Phelan, Harry Coleburn; James Sinnott, Trevor Birchall, Daryl Huntley; Aaron Phelan, Paul Murtagh; Fionn Deegan, Enda Bowes, Shane Carty; Eoin Murtagh, Thomas Davis, Cian O’Sullivan. Subs: Conor Miley for Shane Carty, Conor Deering for Harry Coleburn.
Rathnew: Peter Dignam; David Jameson, Ross O’Brien, Paul Merrigan; Gary Byrne, Jamie Snell, Chris Healy; James Stafford, Theo Smith; Eddie Doyle, Jody Merrigan, Nicky Mernagh; Leighton Glynn, Mark Doyle, Stephan Byrne. Subs: John Manley for David Jameson, Philly O’Neill for Leighton Glynn, Warren Kavanagh for Gary Byrne, Enan Glynn for Chris Healy.
Referee: Ciaran Fleming (Baltinglass)