Premier Championship Division 6

Ballinlough 2-17 Dunshaughlin 2-08

Those in attendance witnessed an end-to-end encounter on an excellent surface in Ballinlough on Saturday evening. Dunshaughlin played with the aid of the breeze in the first half and looked the better team for long periods, with Colm Keane dominant in midfield and the evergreen Cathal O’ Dwyer posing a constant threat up front. Unfortunately, two first half goals from Jack Hetherington and Darragh Byrne were cancelled out the other end in clinical fashion by the home team. Both teams put together several good passages of play with debutant Donagh McCarrick running himself to a standstill and the fullback line of Paul Kean, Kenny McTigue and John Muldoon putting bodies on the line throughout. With Dunshaughlin trailing by five points at half time there was a tough second half ahead for the Black and Ambers playing into the breeze.

The second period saw the away side dominate the possession stats but despite an early clinically taken point by Darren Murphy, Dunshaughlin failed to score for nearly 20 minutes thereafter. However, during this time Dunshaughlin custodian, Andy Smith, was rarely troubled and got his kickouts away with relative ease. Surging runs from returning Mayo native and newlywed, Sean Gaughan, piled on the pressure but an experienced Ballinlough outfit kept many of Dunshaughlin’s efforts to just outside the scoring zone. The sustained running from Padraig Clinton, Murphy, Ódhran O’ Riordan and Seamus Doyle should’ve led to a couple of goals with plenty of time on the clock. Alas, as the home side emptied the bench the fresh legs led to a couple of deadly counter attacks resulting in some good scores. A couple of well-taken points from Darragh Byrne and Cathal O’ Dwyer were all Dunshaughlin had to show for a monster second half effort. Astute use of the subs bench saw the welcome introduction of Ciaran Clusker, back after a short sabbatical, while the arrival of the ever-reliable Marty Reilly wasn’t quite enough to turn the tide.

Overall, a lot of good football played and great to see such a good blend of youth and experience. Well done to all who made the trip and to management for getting numbers out on the Saturday of a bank holiday.

Dunshaughlin Scorers: Colm Keane 0-4, Darragh Byrne 1-1, Jack Hetherington 1-0, Cathal O’ Dwyer 0-2, Darren Murphy 0-1

Dunshaughlin: A. Smith, P. Kean, K. McTigue, J. Muldoon, Ó. O’ Riordan, S. Gaughan, L. Reilly, D. McCarrick, C. Keane, D. Byrne, P. Clinton, D. Byrne, J. Hetherington, D. Murphy, C. O’ Dwyer, S. Doyle, C. Clusker, M. Reilly

Ballinlough: M. Farrelly, B. Jordan, E. Smith, N. McDonnell, J. Lynch, P. Muldoon, L. Finnegan, P. Byrne, H. Ryan, S. Tunney  R. McGuinness, J. O’Reilly,  K. Óg Lynch, S. Deevey, D. Shine ,

Subs: J. Smith for D. Shine H/T, T. Shine  for R. McGuinness 41’, C. Briody  for S. Tunney 41’, O. McDermott  for H. Ryan 46’, C. Cunning for K. Óg Lynch 46’

Ballinlough Scorers: D. Shine 1-02(1f), H. Ryan (0-03) K. Óg Lynch (0-03), S. Deevey (1-00), P. Byrne (0-02), S. Tunney (0-2(1f)), T. Shine (0-2), C. Briody (0-01), O. McDermott (0-01), J. O’Reilly (0-01).