It was heartbreak for the Dunboyne minor footballers last night as a 2-pointer in the 8th minute of the second half of extra-time proved to be enough for St Colmcille’s to get over the line. In atrocious conditions all through, the large crowd enjoyed a humdinger between two well drilled and coached sides. There was never going to be much between the two sides and so it proved at the final whistle with the Seasiders nudging it by 1 point, and with it claiming the 2025 League and Championship double over Dunboyne.

With the rain lashing down both sides struggled to get a grip on the game early on, and it was the Dunboyne side that dominated the possession during this stage. But they struggled to convert this possession into points on the board with a number of wides in these early minutes. Indeed, the game had to wait until the 12th minute before the opening score from a Charlie Gallagher free following overcarrying. Colmcille’s equalised 2 minutes later from play before Gallagher replied again from a brilliantly executed ’45 in the 16th minute. In an almost replica of their first score the ‘Cilles wing back popped up again to knock over another from play to draw his team level. Gallagher was to whip over another free in the 23rd minute only for ‘Cilles once again to snuff this out with a third from play. This was to be the last score of the first half leaving the scores at the break on Dunboyne 0:03 (2f 1’65) St Colmcille’s 0:03.

The rain showed no sign of letting up as the second half started and Colmcille’s were dealt a hammer blow in the 1st minute when a Charlie Gallagher strike from 30 yards ended up in the back of the net to push Dunboyne 3 up. Cilles pulled one back a minute later before Sean Delaney registered his first score of the game following a great move up the pitch. In the 5th minute Colmcille’s closed the gap again with their first point from a placed ball, leaving the score 1:04 to 0:05. They were to bring it back to a one-point game 4 minutes later, again from play, before Gallagher restored a 2-point lead one minute later from another placed ball for the Dunboyne men due to a 3-up excursion by Colmcille’s. Dunboyne were well in the game at this stage, while Eoghan MacDonald covered every blade of grass in Ashbourne and was the games stand out player over the course of the evening. In the 16th minute the Colmcille’s midfielder made it a one-point game with a sweet strike. Shortly after, the Bettystown team brought the game back to parity and then nudged ahead for the first time in the game, with three quick fire points (1f) from their corner forward in the 20th, 22nd and 24th minutes, 1:05 to 0:10. Gally pinched another from a placed ball after Evan Murphy was brought down in the 27th minute to bring it back to the minimum. As the clock edged towards the 60th minute Colmcille’s nicked another point to push it back to 2 again. To their credit this Dunboyne team never gave up and were rewarded for this with a goal in the 1st minute of injury time, a well taken goal from Joel Mangan, to put them one up. It all came down now to the referee and how much additional time he might play. Unbelievably Colmcille’s were to score with the last kick of normal time to leave the teams deadlocked at 2:06 to 0:12.

The first 8 minutes of the opening half of extra time were to go along similar lines to the previous 60 minutes of action, with two Gallagher frees being cancelled out by two from play from the team in white. (2:08 to 0:14). But Dunboyne were to finish the first ten minutes strong with a Joel Managan point followed by a Delaney 2-pointer, leaving the Dunboyne lads 3 up at the turn (2:11 to 0:14) and very much in the driving seat. But Colmcille’s are an excellent side and were never going to lie down and had brought it back to a one-point game again by the 6th minute following two unanswered points (1f). Then in the 8th minute they were awarded a free outside the 2-point arc which was expertly dispatched, to put Colmcille’s one point up. Though the St Peters lads battled right to the end it proved a bridge to far with time running out and shortly after the referee sounded the final whistle with Colmcille’s the victors. Final score: St Peters 2:11 St Colmcille’s 0:18 (3f, 1x2pf)

It was a gut-wrenching way to lose a county final, but the Dunboyne lads gave it everything and credit to the management team of Denis Gallagher, Dave Gallagher, Ian Kennedy, Mika Reilly, Oran Boylan, Michael Dunne and Paddy Gallagher, who left no stone unturned in preparations all season for both minor football teams. In fact, credit to all the mentors and coaches of the 2008 lads down though the years from the nursery to the present day. Next year they will dip their toes into adult leagues and championships and history over the last two years tells us that they will fit right in! Best of luck lads and thanks for all the great memories over the last 12 years.

Team: Sean Doyle; Calum Gray; Paul Magee; Shay Coone; Owen Townsend; Noah Whitton; Andrew Norman; Eoghan MacDonald; Charlie Gallagher (1:07, 6f 1x’65); Rory Callanan; Alfi Lonergan; Tadgh Brennan; Ryan Monaghan; Sean Delaney (0:03, 1x2p); Joel Mangan (1:01).

Bench: Normal time: Charlie Mangan for Rory Callanan; Evan Murphy for Alfi Lonergan; Tom Hanway for Owen Townsend; Extra time: Shea Mooney for Tadgh Brennan; Jack Gallagher for Andrew Norman.

Thank you to Eamon Murphy for the excellent match report