Super Simonstown show the mark of champions

CHAMPIONS Simonstown had their credentials tested to the limit but they came through this SFC quarter final with flying colours at Pairc Tailteann on Sunday.

Outplayed by a much hungrier and sharper Dunboyne outfit throughout the opening half, Simonstown had loosened their grip considerably on the Keegan Cup as they trailed by 11 points at half-time.

However they showed the mark of true champions as they staged a remarkable second half recovery to book a semi-final spot against their near neighbours Wolfe Tones.

This was a thrill-a-minute contest with two contrasting halves, Dunboyne totally dominant in the first before Simonstown eventually came alive in the second.

And even when Simonstown cancelled out that 11 point deficit and went a point clear Dunboyne hit back with the next three scores to regain the lead. The concession of a fourth goal, scored by Pauric McKeever, had the champions back in front but again Dunboyne responded with a point to level.

Then in a pulsating last six minutes McKeever (free), Mark McCabe and Brian McGrath all pointed for Colm O’Rourke’s side, while a Robbie McCarthy point was Dunboyne’s only score in the same period.

Youth and experience were central to Simonstown’s revival. Conor Nash, back home from Melbourne at the end of the AFL season, entered the fray before half-time and demonstrated throughout the second half that he has lost none of his Gaelic skills since switching codes. At the other end of the scale veteran Seamus Kenny made an appearance at the start of the second half and he too contributed enormously to his sides success, with his guile and

Simonstown 4-12 Dunboyne 2-16

experience proving a major factor.

Simonstown were ahead following a Nathan O’Brien point on 30 seconds. However the game wasn’t yet two minutes old when Donal Lenihan had the ball in the Simonstown net. The county player repeated the act after Stephen Moran squandered possession to ease his side into a 2-2 to 0-4 lead on 14 minutes.

The Navan side’s last score of the first half came from McKeever on 19 minutes and the holders were completely outplayed from there to half-time as Dunboyne, with McCarthy and David McEntee prominent, hit seven unanswered points.

The sides exchanged points at the start of the second half and the first indications that a revival was on the cards came when Nathan O’Brien set up Mark McCabe for Simonstown’s opening goal.

McCabe struck again, this time from the penalty spot, and that goal left just three points between the sides, 2-11 to 2-8 after 42 minutes. Seamus Kenny reduced the lead further with a point and when Nash producing a penetrating run the move was finished to the net by McKeever.

That left Simonstown a point ahead, but Dunboyne responded with points from Stuart Lowndes, McEntee and Lenihan to regain the lead.

Just six minutes of normal time remained when Dunboyne failed to clear their lines and McKeever side-footed to the net. McCarthy hit back with an equaliser, but Simonstown had the momentum in their favour and they hammered home their superiority in the closing minutes.

SIMONSTOWN GAELS: DUNBOYNE: REF: