DULEEK/BELLEWSTOWN…2-17
NAVAN O’MAHONYS…1-10
Mention of professionalism – even in terms of preparation – and most certainly at club level – is generally enough to send conservative traditionalists recoiling behind the nearest couch. Whether they like it or not, though, that such is a reality. No doubt there may those who will eye role at the following given the entities involved, but what I am about to divulge here is utter truth.
A woman known to yours truly got a rather snotty rebuke from one of the most high brow wedding venues in the country that her wedding party of the previous night had been very disruptive to the inter county GAA team staying at the venue the same night. No, it wasn’t Limerick in Adare Manor, before you ask!
It’s hard to know where to begin pulling that apart. My own initial reaction to being enlightened about the matter in question was to wonder whether she (bride) reminded them that they (couple) had spent in excess of €30K at the hostelry and were surely entitled to considerably more courtesy.
However, in relation to the remainder of this piece, the first mention of professionalism relates to the fact that the team in question were staying in said location for the two nights before a big championship match. If that’s not a professional approach I don’t know what is.
There are other ways in which individuals or entities can display professionalism in how they go about their work and it’s for that reason we arrive at mention of professionalism in regard to Saturday’s Meade Farm Meath IFC Final at Devenish Park, Dunganny.
Particularly relating to the manner in which Eamonn Armstrong put his experience of being party to a professional environment with St Kilda in the AFL to optimum use as Duleek/Bellewstown closed out the deal from their perspective. Winning the county title at the grade in question for the first time in 21 years and a fifth occasion overall.
Of course the flip side of that coin is that Navan O’Mahonys will have to spend at least one more season away from Meath football’s top table. And, though the ten point difference at the end might suggest a lopsided encounter, the Brews Hill club will in some ways wonder how the match got away on them.
If for no other reason than the fact that for large parts of the encounter they were the more economical and efficient outfit with the ball. But then, I suppose the fact that overall the east Meath side had the biggest percentage of possession would decree them to be deserving winners.
That said, you did wonder had Anthony Malone’s team assembled enough of a war chest when leading by 0-09 to 0-05 after playing with what seemed a considerable wind.
Their scores coming via two Shane Crosby two pointers, and follow up efforts from Tom Bowden, Oisin Niland and Robin Clarke.
At the other end, a brace of Cormac Nugent points got the hoops going before Duggie Dillon, his brother Paddy and Aodhan Mallon kept Darren Clarke’s charges just two kicks of the ball off the leaders with wind advantage to come.
Mind you, even had they been allowed to script their own beginning to the second half it couldn’t have gone any better. As firstly Paddy Dillon drove forward and pointed and, seconds later, Ivo Fitzherbert engineered a turnover of a Ryan Lynch kick out and the ball found its way to Evan Coffey who duly buried it and, astonishingly those from the county town were level.
Then Niall McGrane drove forward from centre back to put the 20 time Keegan Cup winners and, when a Mallon two pointer quickly followed it appeared the script was about to be flipped on its head.
Though amazingly, Mallon’s 41st minute double turned out to be O’Mahonys last score as the earlier referred to influence of Armstrong slowly but surely swung the tide in his side’s favour. That they would go on to hit 2-7 without reply for the remainder of the day is truly flabbergasting.
And, though – somewhat surprisingly – he didn’t disturb the umpires himself, Armstrong’s fingerprints were all over a devastating closure of business. However, for this observer, even the most burgeoning talent in the county could only share the Illumination with stars such as Cianan Byrne, Miland, Crosby, Clarke, Sam O’Leary and most especially of all, the introduced Alan Bowden.
The latter was a key part of a John McCarthy managed side which ended the county’s wait for a Leinster MFC title in 2020 but suffered a chronic leg injury earlier this season.
One can only speculate as to the fortitude it took to get back with such relative rapidity. What needed no further articulation, mind you, is just how important the availability of the gifted forward would turn out to be.
Last time out against Walterstown they were definitely in trouble until he was introduced and – while the same could never be said on the biggest day of all is impossible to overstate.
Within seconds of being introduced he’d pointed and when his second touch was also a point it gave you some indication of why guts were busted in order to get him back.
In all the older Bowden brother would contribute four points – the first three coming within about two minutes of each other but in the end it was probably fitting that it was after a lung bursting run from Clarke the industrious Sam O’Leary buried it past a defiant James O’Reilly in the O’Mahonys goal to remove whatever semi molecule of doubt there was about the outcome.
Then again, if Shane Crosby was Batman to Duleek/Bellewstown’s Robin wasn’t it only right that he got to put his own exclamation mark on things when he cooly deposited a late penalty.
For O’Mahonys, of course it will be disappointing, especially having come up short two years ago and – even more so – because of the way in which they dominated the third quarter. Not to mention the fact that they were without their nominated captain, Brian Dillon, for the entire season and lost another key player (whose name currently escapes me) in the warm up)
However, they must surely take solace from knowing that they still have an experienced nucleus comprising of Niall McGrane, Mallon, Niall Higgins, Robbie Keelaghan and Duggie Dillon, which, blended with the likes of Sean Betson, Paddy Dillon, custodian O’Reilly, Ronan Clarke and, most especially, the very promising Cormac Nugent, they undoubtedly have the necessary hardware to be chief among the contenders for Mattie McDonnell once again when 2027 rolls around.
Duleek-Bellewstown: Ryan Lynch; Cillian Kirwan, Colm Regan, Glen Callaghan; Cianan Byrne, Tom Bowden (0-1 free), Oisín Miland (0-2); Shane Crosby (1-4 two two-pointers, 1-0 penalty), Robin Clarke (0-1); Kyle Doherty, Eamonn Armstrong, Sam O’Leary (1-2); Johnny McDonnell (0-1), John Flood (0-1), Joe Hartford. Subs: Alan Bowden (0-4) for Hartford half-time, Eoghan Heeney (0-1) for McDonnell 47m, Kyle Callaghan for Doherty 53m, Elliot Lenehan for O’Leary 60m, Robert Caffrey for Miland 63m.
Navan O’Mahonys: Jamie O’Reilly; Darragh Murphy, Paddy Dillon (0-3 one two-pointer), Conor Brady; Darragh Maguire, Niall McGrane (0-1), Sean Betson; Niall Higgins, Aodhan Mallon (0-3 one two-pointer); Ivo Fitzherbert, Jack Quinn, Duggie Dillon; Ronan Clarke, Evan Coffey (1-0), Cormac Nugent (0-2). Subs: Robbie Keelaghan (0-1) for Nugent half-time, Eoghan Nugent for Maguire 44m, Christy Dillon for Quinn, Conor Finnegan for Fitzherbert both 50m, Shane McCarthy for Dillon 59m.
Referee – Andrew Smith (Dunshaughlin/Royal Gaels)
FOGRA: Teams and scorers taken from Meath Chronicle. Mile Buichos.
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