Donaghmore Ashbourne made the short trip to Ratoath on Monday night and delivered a bit of a trashing to a frankly poor Ratoath team. The fact that Donaghmore Ashbourne were able to replace their centre-half back after twenty minutes and their midfield pairing at half time reflects the one-sided nature of this match. They got a dream start as Matty Devine pounced on a ball that Tadhgh Kelly had struck the upright with and coolly slotted it to the net. This advantage was doubled minutes later when Keith Scally cut through from the left wing and buried the ball past the hapless Ratoath keeper. With Leon Tormey and Eric Callaghan dominating the centre, the Ratoath defence was under constant pressure. A superbly delivered pass from Callaghan set up Cathal Field to fist the ball over and this was swiftly followed by a point from Rory Maguire from another excellent flicked pass from Callaghan. Field then turned provider when after a scything run he set up Paul Gilligan to take a sweet score with his left boot. Another point from distance by Maguire was followed by yet another killer pass from Callaghan to set up Scally for his second score of the evening. Ratoath then recorded their first point after twenty scoreless minutes to trail by ten points. Robert O’Connor replaced Iarlaith O’Donnel in defence after only nineteen minutes. Gilligan drove in two excellent passes to provide points for Maguire and Devine. A silly late tackle saw Ratoath record their second point from the resultant free. Callaghan was rewarded for his work rate in the half when after a series of cross field passes he drove the ball over from forty metres out. Ratoath completed the first half scoring with a free to leave them trailing by eleven points at the break.

Evan Rogers, Colin O’Sullivan and Mikey Gleeson replaced Callaghan, Tormey and Scally during the interval. Whether these changes disrupted the Donaghmore Ashbourne rhythm or the Ratoath manager’s exhortation to his players to “Go out there and give it a go” made a difference the third quarter of the match provided most entertainment for the spectators. Mikey Gleeson was on the score sheet after six minutes but Ratoath pulled one back after nine. Maguire scored yet another top class point from long range only for this to be matched by an equally good score from Ratoath. Then came the score of the game as Martin Lynch broke through the middle and launched a kick from over fifty meters out that sailed between the uprights. Again Ratoath pulled this score back with a point from a free on seventeen minutes. If the second half was to be regarded as a separate contest Ratoath were still on level terms. This parity was not to last for very long, however. Devine pointed again and Kelly finally got his name on the score sheet. Ross Hanway made an outstanding run forward only to carry the ball into contact and have his shot blocked down. Fortunately for him it fell to Maguire who buried the ball in the net.. Ratoath did manage one further point before Hanway finished the scoring when he tapped over after receiving a great pass from O’Sullivan.