Opening Day Frustration for Dunboyne as Drumree Finish Strong
IHC Round 1: St. Peter's Dunboyne 1-14 Drumree 1-21 Venue: Ratoath St. Peter's Dunboyne suffered a disappointing defeat in their opening Intermediate Hurling Championship fixture, going down to Drumree on a scoreline of 1-21 to 1-14 in Ratoath. Dunboyne made the brighter start and raced into a three-point lead inside the opening six minutes thanks to three points from Sean Quigley, two of which came from placed balls. Drumree responded, hitting three points of their own, including a free, to draw level. Jason Gleeson was unlucky not to find the net in the 11th minute when his effort rattled the side netting, but he quickly made amends by pointing after excellent work from Conor Murphy, who claimed a clean catch from a Dunboyne puck-out. Drumree levelled again from a '65 before Niall Smith also hit the side netting after breaking through on goal. Smith eventually got the breakthrough. A superbly struck sideline from Ger Murphy found Eric Lowndes, whose excellent cross-field delivery picked out Sean Cregan and it was Cregan's clever pass that released Smith, who finished confidently from 21 yards to the net. First Half Water Break: St. Peter's Dunboyne 1-04 Drumree 0-04 While Dunboyne had edged the opening quarter, Drumree took control after the water break. They reeled off five unanswered points, three from frees, before Smith halted the run with a point in the 28th minute. Drumree added two more scores, including another '65, before late points from Gleeson and Quigley (free) kept Dunboyne within touching distance at the interval.
Half-Time: St. Peter's Dunboyne 1-07 Drumree 0-12 The Black and Ambers began the second half positively. Conor Murphy opened the scoring before Sean Quigley added three more points, two from frees, while Drumree replied with two of their own. Quigley continued his excellent scoring form with another placed ball before producing the score of the game, splitting the posts from almost 90 yards to put Dunboyne two points in front. However, Drumree responded well and hit two points from play to draw level by the second-half water break. Second Half Water Break: St. Peter's Dunboyne 1-13 Drumree 0-16 As had happened in the opening half, Drumree dominated post the water break. They outscored Dunboyne by 1-05 to 0-01, with Quigley's late free proving the home side's only response as Drumree pulled away to secure a deserved seven-point victory. It was a disappointing start to the championship campaign for St. Peter's Dunboyne, but there is still plenty of hurling to be played. The squad will now regroup, learn from this performance and turn their attention to their next group game in two weeks' time against Gael Colmcille. With several rounds still to come, there is every reason to believe there will be plenty more twists and turns before the group stage concludes. Team St. Peter's Dunboyne: Shane Nolan; Jamie McCormack; Evan McCrudden; Eoghan Pearl; James Lonergan; Diarmuid Delaney; Alan Watters; Ferghal Chawke; Ger Murphy; Conor Murphy (0-01); Eric Lowndes; Sean Quigley (0-10, 7f); Sean Cregan; Jayson Gleeson (0-02); Niall Smith (1-01). Subs Used: Rory Callanan (for Sean Cregan), Simon Cunningham (for Alan Watters).
Report by Eamon Murphy
