Dunboyne can advance to decider

This week a great deal will be written and spoken about Mayo's long-suffering, despair-filled quest for an All-Ireland SFC title.

However, in the context of Meath hurling one team has endured an even longer search for redempion - Dunboyne.

They must be sick and tired at this stage hearing that it's 1914 since they last bagged the SHC; sick and tired of hard luck stories and near misses 

Yet they come back year in, year out and here they are again, having topped their group and now ready to take on Kildalkey in the last four - a game they can win.  

Some of the victories they have carved out so far in their campaign suggest Dunboyne have hit on a groove that can carry them all the way to the final. 

Like Kildalkey they didn't exactly make a brilliant start to their campaign.

They were defeated by Trim (2-15 to 3-17) in the opening round. Next time out they overcame Ratoath (2-27 to 0-13) before pushing on to get the better of Kilmessan (3-13 to 1-16), Longwood (3-18 to 2-16) and Clann na nGael (4-18 to 0-13).

The scorelines are included to illustrate that in every game Dunboyne have racked up a decent score.

It wasn't so much that they won most of their games it was the way they did it, producing some fine hurling that included a firm first touch, an ability to create and take scores with a confidence that bodes well for them as the business end of the season approaches.

They have a group of still youthful players such as Niall Smyth and Ger Murphy, who have also garnered considerable experience by now and are well capable of ransacking any defence or causing problems further outfield. Smyth, for instance, helped himself to 3-1 against Longwood.

There is experience there as well in players such as Stephen Moran and the Neil Hackett who continues to clock up scores.

This eagle-eyed sharpshooter is a huge plus for Stephen Reilly's side and Kildalkey will have to be mindful about giving away frees close to their own posts; they will be translated into scores with Hackett around.

Kildalkey manager Johnny Greville admitted after their quarter-final victory over Ratoath that his team didn't play as well as they can and promised that, in the lead up to the Dunboyne game, they will be working on sharpening up on a things - as they will need to do.

Against Ratoath they looked lethargic and struggled to make an impact in attack until shortly before the interval when the indomitable Sean Heavey stole in behind the defence to find the net.

Kildalkey were better in the second-half, their passing was more accurate, their shooting carried more conviction, yet they still struggled to put Ratoath away.

He talked of the team's "missed chances" about not reaching the level of performance they had aspired to, but also adding how his team displayed a maturity by not "panicking" when the flow was going against them.

Certainly when the Kildalkey defence came under sustained pressure from Ratoath the influence of the likes of Enda Fitzgerald and Mairtin Doran was crucial when the storm was at its most intense.

Similiar calmness and awareness will be required by the Kildalkey backs against a Dunboyne attack that has displayed a powerful potency in this campaign.  

Kildalkey have looked vulnerable at times this year and struggled to find the fluency of old, and it's difficult to say why. 

Greville was rightly proud of the composure his team needed to overcome Ratoath, but the game wasn't put to bed until Paddy Potterton got Kildalkey's second goal late in the contest.

The Village men have a formidable strength-in-depth, they have youth and experience, they have a wealth of talent yet somehow they just haven't sparkled yet.

Dunboyne are showing the kind of form that suggests they will win this contest and continue their quest to end their long exile from the winners' enclosure.