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Junior A Championship

Round 3 – Sunday 14th June 2009
Venue: Ratoath

Full-time; Donaghmore/Ashbourne 2-8 Dunsany 1-11
Half-time; Dunsany 1-7 Donaghmore/Ashbourne 1-4

The 2008 Junior B Champions faced off against the 2008 beaten Junior semi-finalists in this dual as Donaghmore/Ashbourne showed they are adapting to life in Junior A very nicely. The Ashbourne side entered this encounter on the back of a win and a defeat while their opponents have started immaculately with two wins. The setting was idyllic in Ratoath on Sunday evening.

Donaghmore/Ashbourne started off much the better of the two sides enjoying the greater of the early exchanges. There was flowing play and Ciaran Byrne was commanding midfield. This was not rewarded on the scoreboard however as Dunsany opened the scoring with a point on 3 minutes. They added to this with points on 9, 10 and 11 minutes. A further blow was hit to the east Meath side when Dunsany found the net on 12 minutes. Eric Callaghan was dispossessed at midfield and the resulting attack found a Dunsany forward in a one on one situation with Donaghmore/Ashbourne goal tender Padraig Durkan. The goal was taken very well and Dunsany now had a 7 point lead. This ignited the Ashbourne outfit and the response was immediate. Rory Maguire pointed from a free on 16 minutes before the outstanding Keith Scally sprung into action. For the next 7 minutes and the ball barely crossed the halfway line as Donaghmore/Ashbourne pounded the Dunsany defence. Following some dogged work by Ian Dowd he found Scally racing through on goal. Scally had eyes only for goal and he found the back of the Dunsany net on 18 minutes. A minute later Scally had a chance for a point but the ball drifted wide. He made amends a minute later when his shot struck the crossbar and lifted over for a point. The resulting kickout fell to Scally on the right wing and he raced through to slot over for another point. At this stage the Junior B champions were dominating in all quarters. Paul Gilligan drew the teams level on 22 minutes when his deceiving long range effort bounced over the bar. Dunsany regrouped and finished the half the stronger notching on 3 points before the break to lead by 3.

The introduction of Cathal Field at halftime and Ross Hanway 5 minutes later added a new dimension to the Donaghmore/Ashbourne attack. Field raced along the endline on 32 minutes and offloaded to Rory Maguire. Maguire made the net dance with a low shot from the edge of the square. 6 minutes later Hanway had another goal chance but his shot struck the post and was cleared to safety. Dunsany were getting the ball forward and were drawing frees from the Ashbourne defence. They pointed from frees on 33, 40 and 48 minutes. Ross Hanway was also displaying his talent for freetaking as he shot over a brace from 45 metres midway thought the second period.
It was now end to end stuff on the field and it looked like either side could come away with the win. Fiach O’Loinsigh and Ciaran Finn continued to drive forward at every opportunity and Joey Long and Ian Dowd were the metal in the Donaghmore/Ashbourne attack. Hanway brought the teams level with another 45 metre free but Dunsany once again responded with a pointed free. This was Dunsany’s fourth point of the half from a free. The levelling score of the game came from a 45 metre free. Donaghmore/Ashbourne’s Ross Hanway stepped up and with coolness beyond his years sent the ball over the bar. This was an impressive display for Hanway who was playing his first game at this level. There were chances for both sides to win it in the end but the game finished in a draw.
Donaghmore/Ashbourne will be happy to have gotten their Junior A campaign back on track. At the halfway point in this competition they are still firmly in the hunt. They will draw encouragement from the fact they kept their opponents scoreless from play in the second half.

Donaghmore/Ashbourne: Padraig Durkan, Ciaran Finn, Brendan Murphy, Adam Fitzgerald, Michael Gleeson, Padraig Finn, Paul Gilligan (0-1), Ciaran Byrne, Eric O’Callaghan, Rory Maguire (1-1, 1f), Joey Long, Keith Scally (1-2), John Lynch, Ian Dowd, Ross Tormey
Subs: Fiach O’Loinsigh for Fitzgerald (2 mins), Cathal Field for Tormey (30 mins), Ross Hanway (0-4, 4f) for Gleeson (35 mins)
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 16 June 2009 11:01 )