Dunboyne fancied to have the edge over Wolfe Tones

Sometimes it's hard to see the wood for the trees and while next Sunday's Meath SFC final is certainly a novel pairing of Dunboyne against Wolfe Tones it is not an unexpected one given both sides amazing consistency over the last 15 years.

In 2003 Wolfe Tones won the JFC, the following year they defeated Duleek to claim the IFC and within two campaigns they were senior champions when they defeated Navan O'Mahonys in the 2006 final.

Even in the year in-between Wolfe Tones reached the quarter-finals where they lost out to Blackhall Gaels, who themselves were beaten by Dunboyne in the 2005 final.

Since then Wolfe Tones and Dunboyne have undoubtedly been the two most consistent teams in the Meath SFC.

In the 15 championships since 2006 Wolfe Tones have only failed to reach the knockout stages on four occasions, while Dunboyne have advanced to the latter stages in 12 of those years - remarkable consistency.

In last year's Covid-hit championship both sides finished second in their group which in 'normal' times would have been good enough for a place in the knockout stages, so that makes their record even more phenomenal.

In those 15 years, as well as winning the title in 2006, Wolfe Tones lost five semi-finals and two finals (2009 and 2012). However in two of the last five campaigns they found themselves embroiled in relegation play-offs, which they obviously survived.

Dunboyne have found getting beyond the quarter-finals much more difficult and apart from winning the title in 2018 they failed to make it to the big day on the 11 other occasions they made it out of their group.

Three semi-final losses in 2007, 2010 and 2015 hurt the St Peter's side, but they finally made it across the winning line in 2018.

Since then their form as been erratic. They failed to qualify out of their group in 2019 and fell just short last year, but such is their wealth of individual talent they are always perennial contenders.

After failing to get out of the group last year and because they had been involved in a relegation play-off the year before few expected Wolfe Tones to be anything other than just a tough side to negotiate - boy were they wrong!

The indications were clear from early on in this campaign that Wolfe Tones could well be a force to be reckoned with.

The held one of the pre-championship favourites, Gaeil Colmcille, to a draw and in round two they stunned another fancied side when they hammered Simonstown by 10 points.

The round three win over Moynalvey ensured top spot in the group and despite losing out to Simonstown in the Feis Cup final they clearly had their eyes on a bigger prize as they saw off Na Fianna in the quarter-final and then produced a stunning display to humble three-in-a-row chasing champions Ratoath.

Their path to the final certainly hasn't been a handy one, but Wolfe Tones have dealt with everything thrown at them. Wins over three of the top four sides in the betting - Ratoath, Simonstown and Gaeil Colmcille - propelled them into the reckoning and now they must beat the other side who were in that top four - Dunboyne.

Because of their remarkable strength-in-depth and obvious outstanding quality Dunboyne were always considered genuine contenders, but when they were held by Skryne in round one the usual questions began to resurface.

Have Dunboyne got what it takes to live up to expectations?

That answer was an emphatic yes when they hammered Seneschalstown by 20 points in round two and in their final group game they saw off Summerhill by 10.

Because they had lost eight quarter-finals or preliminary quarter-finals in the previous 15 years Dunboyne were justifiably nervous ahead of their last eight clash with St Colmcille's, but they survived that potential banana skin to set up the semi-final clash with Donaghmore/Ashbourne.

Again nerves looked to play a huge part in their performance, but semi-finals are all about winning and Dunboyne didn't disappoint as they got over the line to make just their second final in those 15 tries.

So after 30 games in this years championships just two team remain standing, so who will win?

Dunboyne remain favourites because of the players at Conor O'Donoghue's disposal, but Wolfe Tones play with a collective cohesion that, when it comes off like it did in the semi-final against Ratoath, can be difficult to stop.

Dunboyne will look to Donal Lenihan as the main source of their scores and if he doesn't get the supply then they can turn to plenty of others with Cathal Finn proving particularly effect in the semi-final against Donaghmore/Ashbourne.

Defensively Dunboyne are strong. Seamus Lavin, Gavin McCoy and Shane McEntee have all represented Meath at senior level, while Jordan McLoughlin, Sean Ryan and Craig Lowndes are all very safe defenders in front of an excellent goalkeeper in Cian Flynn.

Dunboyne will hope to have Ronan Jones fully fit for the final. The Meath midfielder was expected to miss the semi-final through injury, but he did make a late appearance as a sub and his availability could be crucial.

Wolfe Tones were inspired to their semi-final win by the excellence of Cian Ward. The former Meath star rolled back the years with a display of leadership, cohesion and courage. That performance inspired others and Michael McDermott will look for that again.

The performance of Padraic Diamond and Alan Callaghan is the key to Wolfe Tones’ success. If that pair can get a grip at midfield and provide quality ball into Thomas O'Reilly, Cian O'Neill and Saran O Fionnagain then Wolfe Tones will have every chance.

It really is a tough one to call. You only get splinters from sitting on the fence, so to avoid such unpleasantness Dunboyne get the nod to claim just their fourth Keegan Cup.