Match Report: Division 1B (Round 7)

Dunshaughlin 4-14 (26)   Rathkenny1-7 (10)

With Meath players released to play with their clubs this week, Mathew Costello made his 2022 league debut for Dunshaughlin. Rathkenny also welcomed back two of their Meath contingent, James O’ Hare and Keith Curtis, however Donal Keoghan was unable to tog out, but even if he was available to play it is doubtful his presence would have affected the outcome  as Dunshaughlin’s winning margin was 16 points.

Dunshaughlin led from start to finish with John McDonagh playing at centre forward scoring a point directly from the throw in after 10 seconds. For the second game in a row Dunshaughlin scored four goals and all four goals were well taken low shots giving the Rathkenny goalie no chance. The first goal coming from Aaron Murphy in the third minute, a rebound from his own initial shot which was high and came off the crossbar. Dunshaughlin’s Conor Duke and McDonagh scored further points for Dunshaughlin and they had 1-3 on the scoreboard before Rathkenny scored their first point in the 10th minute. Normal service resumed soon after as Ciaran McCarrick scored a point before Costello got in on the act scoring two points in two minutes just after the 20th minute mark. Unfortunately for Dunshaughlin, Fergus Toolan picked up an injury and had to be replaced in the 23rd minute by Ruairi Kinsella. Kinsella was only on the pitch seven minutes when he scored a wonderful goal after winning a short Rathkenny kick out and spotting the goalie was back tracking and off his line. Dunshaughlin only conceded four points in the first half with the backs doing a great job, none more so than the two corner backs Oisin Foley & Niall Byrne and centre back Niall Murphy. Dunshaughlin led 2-10 to 0-4 at half time with the last four of their points coming from McCarrick, Duke, Aaron Murphy (free) & Costello.

Rathkenny started the second half better and had scored two points before Dunshaughlin’s first score of the half in the 45th minute, a goal from Aaron Murphy which definitely finished the game off as a contest. Rathkenny did get a consolation goal in the 49th minute but it was never going to change the course of the game. Kinsella added another point before substitute Cathal McCormack scored Dunshaughlin’s fourth goal in the 54th minute. Duke, Aaron Murphy and McDonagh got three more points and brought Dunshaughlin’s total to 4-14 before Derek Ryan blew the final whistle. Along with a very strong showing from the Black and Amber defence, the midfield pairing of Conor Gray and Ben Duggan played very well against former Meath star Brian Meade.

With Dunshaughlin’s injury list thankfully getting shorter, the bench was strong and that was especially evident with the substitutes introduced, Kinsella in the 1st half and Fursey Blake, Luke Mitchell, McCormack & James Traynor in the 2nd half. As expected in the coming weeks when a few more players come off the injured list and become available along with players making good impressions on the 2nd team, competition for places will be intense.

Dunshaughlin management can take a lot of positives from this game, the first being that Dunshaughlin’s hopes of making the final are still alive and with two games to go, it is in their own hands, two wins would clinch 2nd spot. Dunshaughlin were dominant in every sector of the pitch, 4-13 of the 4-14 came from play and all of the 4-14 were scored by under 21’s. The future looks bright if all the younger players are brought through successfully, with seven of the starting 15 and eleven of the finishing 15 under 21’s.

Dunshaughlin’s next game on May 31st will be a stern test as they play away to Dunderry, the team who sit just one point above them in the league table.

Dunshaughlin Scorers: Aaron Murphy 2-2 (1f), Ruairi Kinsella 1-1, Mathew Costello, Conor Duke & John McDonagh 0-3 each, Cathal McCormack 1-0, Ciaran McCarrick 0-2.

Dunshaughlin: Adam McDermott, Oisin Foley, Daniel Quinn, Niall Byrne, Ciaran McCarrick, Niall Murphy, Adam Kealy, Ben Duggan, Conor Gray, Fergus Toolan, John McDonagh, Charlie O’ Connor, Conor Duke, Mathew Costello & Aaron Murphy. Subs used: Ruairi Kinsella for Fergus Toolan(inj.) 22nd, Fursey Blake for Adam Kealy(38th), Luke Mitchell for Ben Duggan (45th), Cathal McCormack for Mathew Costello (48th) & James Traynor for Daniel Quinn (55th).