Dunboyne's Conor Doran and St Colmcille's midfielder Jeff Kavanagh tussle for possession during tonight's game.

O'Donoghue's men secure place in last four

Displaying a combination of power and flair that at times proved to be a potent cocktail indeed Dunboyne booked their place in the last four of the SFC when they defeated St Colmcille's 2-14 to 0-12 in tonight's quarter-final encounter.

Conor O'Donoghue's side travelled to Ashbourne as hot favourites and they lived up to that billing - eventually.

They led most of the way building on a 0-8 to 0-6 interval advantage before pushing on to win in some style.

Their passing and movement was at times impressive indeed and the carved out their opening goal with a super-charged move on 40 minutes with Gavin McCoy taking a pass from Shane McEntee before arrowing the ball low to the net.

The second goal arrived on 51 minutes when Stuart Lowndes fired home from close range to put his team firmly in control.

Donal Lenihan was outstanding for the winners hitting nine points.

James Conlon was St Colmcille's main marksman with six scores with David Bell hitting two and goalkeeper Andrew Beakey three while Matthew Breen also contributed but they needed more.

SCORERS

Dunboyne - Donal Lenihan 0-9 four frees, one '45'; Gavin McCoy 1-0; Stuart Lowndes 1-0; David McEntee 0-3; Conor Doran 0-1; Conor Bradley 0-1.

St Colmcille's - James Conlon 0-6 three frees; Andrew Beakey 0-3 two frees, '45'; David Bell 0-2; Matthew Breen 0-1.

TEAMS

Dunboyne - Cian Flynn; Seamus Lavin, Gavin McCoy, Jordan McLoughlin; Sean Ryan, Craig Lowndes, Shane McEntee; Jack Donnelly, Ronan Jones; Stuart Lowndes, David McEntee, Conor Doran; Cathal Lacey, Conor Bradley, Donal Lenihan. Subs - Jack Scannell for Lavin 18 mins, Michael Murphy for for Lacey half-time; Liam Byrne for Donnelly 41m, Niall Jones for Lowndes 52m, Padraig Cagney for Ryan 53m.

St Colmcille's - Andreaw Beakey; Adam Lynch, Hugo Collins, Tomas O Hoistin; Carl Mullan, Cathal Hilliard, Stephen Breen; Conor O'Byrne, Jeff Kavanagh; Ruairi O'Grady, Ben Brennan, Matthew Breen; David Bell, Graham Reilly, James Conlon. Subs - Godfrey Ehicoya for O Hoistin 26 mins, Adam Daly for O'Grady 41m, Sean O'Donoghue for Brennan 53m, Fearghal Walsh for Mullan, Shane Crilly for Kavanagh both 57m.

Referee - David Coldrick (Blackhall Gaels).

READ MORE ABOUT THE GAME AND SEE PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE MATCH IN NEXT ISSUE OF THE MEATH CHRONICLE