Senior Championship
Donaghmore / Ashbourne vs Dunshaughlin

Venue:   Páirc Tailteann
Time:  8:00 PM
Date:  13 May 2011

HT Donaghmore / Ashbourne 0-6 Dunshaughlin 0-6
FT Donaghmore / Ashbourne 0-14 Dunshaughlin 0-8

Friday the thirteenth didn’t bring bad luck to Donaghmore / Ashbourne – in fact, luck had nothing to do with their well-deserved victory over Dunshaughlin in Pairc Tailteann. The scoreline, particularly in the first half, didn’t accurately reflect the Donaghmore / Ashbourne dominance.

Dunshaughlin won the throw-in, and followed up an initial wide with a point within the first minute. Donaghmore / Ashbourne won their kick-out, and Ciaran Ellis cut a path through the field to score a fine individual point a minute later. Colm Ó’Mealóid was imperious in defence, and his distribution got the ball upfield where the lads in green registered a wide, against a strong wind. The returning ball was driven back in by Ciaran Ellis, to Colm Ó’Mealóid, to Eoin Reilly who pointed on 7 minutes. We had an interval of good possession in midfield, with Eoin Reilly catching some great ball and Eoighan Riordan and Sean Curran working hard to get the ball to the forwards. We clocked up another wide before Dunshaughlin scored a brace of points, on 3 and 4 minutes repectively. A good passing move involving Eoin Reilly and Ciaran Beirne, resulted in the Don/ Ash number 11 pointing on the 11 th minute. A pointed free from Dunshaughlin cancelled this score out, before another slick passing move resulted in Ciaran Beirne being scythed down in the square, resulting in a penalty decision to Donaghmore / Ashbourne on 13 minutes. Kevin Lanigan struck the penalty solidly but his attempt on goal unfortunately hit the base of the post and was swiftly cleared. A well- weighted pass from Ciaran Beirne to Bryan Menton got the number 8 onto the scoresheet on the 17th minute. The Dunshaughlin No. 6 attracted a booking on 19 minutes, and we then had a period when the battle raged in midfield, but possession see-sawed between the sides. The deadlock was broken by John Broderick, who put a brace on the scoreboard, both scores coming on back of Ciaran Beirne passes.  Dunshaughlin’s last score of the half was a pointed free on 24 minutes, but Tony Morgan levelled the sides at 6 points apiece, just before the break.

Dunshaughlin conceded a free almost straight away after the throw-in, and the resulting free was converted by Ciaran Beirne. A minute later, the sides were again level with a pointed free from Dunshaughlin. Good defending from Cormac Mc Gill and Joe Finnegan led to a frustrated foul from the Dunshaughlin no 15, who was booked to boot, and Eoin Reilly made no mistake by converting the free on 7 minutes. Eoighan Riordan registered on the scoresheet on 10 minutes, following up by turning provider for Tony Morgan’s second point of the evening after a through ball from Kevin Lanigan. Eoin Reilly scored a fine point from distance on the half-way mark, but then the initiative changed to Dunshaughlin. Our defence had maintained their sharpness however, with Colm O Mealóid getting in a pivotal block on goal, but the attack was maintained. Dunshaughlin had their no 9 booked on 20 minutes, and within two minutes Eoin Reilly had scored a magnificent point from the ’45 metre line. Another Donaghmore / Ashbourne free ricocheted back off the woodwork, and the attempt came to nothing. Ciaran Ellis went in the book with 6 minutes to go, and followed this up with a well-taken point, on foot of a great ball in from David Morgan. Dunshaughlin managed to get their second score of the second half on the 27 minute mark, with a pointed free. The last score of the encounter was another well-taken point from Tony Morgan, on the receiving end of a beautifully weighted pass from brother David. The final score was 0-14 to 0-8, to the boys in green.

Team and Scorers

Andy Colgan, Joey Finnegan, Cormac Mc Gill, Sean Curran, Ciaran Ellis(0-2), Colm O’Mealóid, Eoighan Riordan(0-1), Bryan Menton(0-1), Kevin Lanigan, Eoin Reilly(0-3), Ciaran Beirne(0-2), John Broderick (0-2), Tony Morgan (0-3), Ian Dowd, David Morgan