IHC Rd 5: St Peter’s Dunboyne 2-14 Rathmolyon 2-17

St Peter’s Dunboyne’s Intermediate Hurling Championship campaign came to an end in Batterstown on Saturday evening with a narrow three-point defeat to unbeaten group winners Rathmolyon. In truth, the result had little bearing on Dunboyne’s final position by the time the game finished. Their hopes of reaching the semi-finals had already been hanging by a thread and depended on Drumree defeating Clann na nGael in the other group game. Unfortunately for the Black and Ambers, that result went the other way, with Clann na nGael securing the final semi-final place following their late one-point victory over Dunboyne in Round 4. Rathmolyon, meanwhile, completed an unbeaten run through the group stages and now advance directly to the county final. For Dunboyne, however, there was plenty to admire in what was arguably their best performance of the championship. The Black and Ambers were competitive throughout, with the exception of a spell of around ten minutes immediately after half-time when Rathmolyon took control. Dunboyne responded strongly after that and stayed within touching distance right to the final whistle. Dunboyne started brightly and led 0-5 to 0-4 after ten minutes, with Eoghan McCormack contributing two early points alongside scores from Eric Lowndes, Ciaran Lonergan and Jason Gleeson (f). The opening goal arrived in the 14th minute. Conor Murphy launched a long ball towards the full-forward line where Gleeson gathered possession, turned onto his left and showed great composure before dancing around his marker and firing to the back of the Rathmolyon net. Murphy then extended the lead after a superb team move worked the ball up the field and into his path. Rathmolyon responded with 1-2, including two frees, before Gleeson added two more placed balls for Dunboyne. Murphy and Gleeson both added further points as Dunboyne continued to threaten, but Rathmolyon struck for a second goal in injury time to leave the sides level at the break: St Peter’s Dunboyne 1-10, Rathmolyon 2-7. The Village came out strongly after the restart and enjoyed their best spell of the game, hitting six points in the opening ten minutes of the second half while Dunboyne could manage only one response from Eoghan McCormack. Dunboyne refused to let the game drift away from them, however, and after creating a number of goal chances they finally got their second major. Murphy was quickest to react to a loose ball and his ground strike found the net. With three-quarters of the game gone, Rathmolyon led by just two: Dunboyne 2-11, Rathmolyon 2-13. The unbeaten side responded with two further points to restore a four-point advantage, but Gleeson reduced the deficit again with another free. There was further drama when Killian Smith appeared to have found the net for Dunboyne, only for the goal to be ruled out by the referee, who adjudged that there had been a square-ball infringement. Rathmolyon added two more points, one from a free, before Gleeson replied with two more placed balls as Dunboyne continued to chase the game. In the end, Rathmolyon held on for a three-point victory: St Peter’s Dunboyne 2-14 Rathmolyon 2-17 So, similar to their football counterparts last weekend, it is the end of the road for this young Dunboyne side. They miss out on the knockout stages but, importantly, avoid the relegation battle. There is certainly plenty for this group to take from the campaign. Two wins from five may not tell the full story. Dunboyne were involved in a number of extremely tight and competitive games while they also had to contend with injuries to several key players during the campaign, something which inevitably made life more difficult for a relatively young squad. Ultimately, they fell just short of the semi-finals, but there were enough signs throughout the championship to suggest that this is a group with plenty of potential. And against the unbeaten Rathmolyon in their final game, at times they showed exactly what they are capable of. St Peter’s Dunboyne: Shane Nolan; Eoghan Pearl, Fergal Chawke, Rory Callanan; Killian Smith, Diarmuid Delaney, Ciaran Lonergan (0-01); James Lonergan, Evan McCrudden; Conor Murphy (1-02), Eric Lowndes (0-01), Eoghan McCormack (0-03); Sean Cregan, Jason Gleeson (1-07, 4f, 1x65), Niall Smyth. Subs: Peter Connolly (for Eoghan Pearl, 43 mins); Liam Callanan (for Eric Lowndes, injured, 50 mins); Ronan Conheady (for Sean Cregan, 50 mins).

Nallys SuperValu Dunboyne

Report by Eamon Murphy