St Peter's Dunboyne 0-21 Blackhall Gaels 1-15

In what was effectively a semi-final, St Peter's Dunboyne secured their place in a third consecutive Division 2 league final, where they will now face Rathmolyon. The final league game was played on Sunday morning under a blazing sun at Rooske Road in what was a shoot-out with the winners advancing

Playing with the aid of the breeze in the opening half, the home side made the most of the conditions and led 0-08 (3f) to 0-03 (1f) after 12 minutes. Blackhall Gaels raised their game for the remainder of the half, narrowing the gap with three excellent long-range frees.

Dunboyne were guilty of several wides during this period, but Liam Callanan ended the scoring drought on the half-hour mark. Blackhall Gaels responded with another free deep into injury time to leave just two points between the sides at the break:

Half-time: St Peter's Dunboyne 0-09 (3f) Blackhall Gaels 0-07 (5f)

Dunboyne made another fast start to the second half, outscoring the visitors by 0-05 to 0-01 in the opening 11 minutes. The highlight of that spell came from Jason Gleeson, who sold two superb dummies before splitting the posts, while minor, Rory Callanan, announced his introduction with a fine score from a tight angle out on the right-hand side. At that stage, Dunboyne held a six-point advantage, 0-14 to 0-08.

Two further Sean Quigley frees were matched by a brace from Blackhall Gaels before the visitors struck a major blow in the 48th minute. Their midfielder burst through the heart of the Dunboyne defence and finished emphatically to the net, reducing the deficit to four points, 0-17 to 1-10.

The lively Shane McCormack added his second point of the afternoon in the 51st minute, but Blackhall Gaels mounted a strong comeback, registering the next three scores in succession (including one free) to leave the minimum between the teams at 0-17 to 1-13.

With the game hanging in the balance, the Dunboyne bench made a decisive contribution in the closing stages. All three substitutes chipped in with valuable points, while the impressive Conor Gilmartin produced the score of the match to help Dunboyne regain control and steer the hosts safely into another Division 2 final.

St Peter's Dunboyne:

Team: Shane O'Brien; Ciaran Lonergan, Fergal Chawke, Simon O'Keeffe; James Lonergan, Diarmuid Delaney, Killian Smith; Niall Smyth, Conor Gilmartin (0-02); Liam Callanan (0-01), Sean Quigley (0-09, 2f), Jason Gleeson (0-04, 1f); Conor Murphy, Sean Cregan, Shane McCormack (0-02).

Subs: Rory Callanan (0-01) for Liam Callanan (40 mins); Jason Nolan (0-01) for Conor Murphy (50 mins); Neil Hackett (0-01) for Niall Smyth (58 mins).