O'Mahonys survive as Dunshaughlin drop out

Shortly after 9.30pm tonight Dunshaughlin's 24 year stay in senior football was ended by a hugely impressive Navan O'Mahonys side that saved their best performance of the year until last to score as 1-13 to 0-4 victory in the SFC relegation final at a packed Dunganny.

Dunshaughlin's agony was prolonged by an extra 15 minutes as throw-in had to be delayed because of the massive crowd that made their way to the Meath GAA Centre of Excellence outside Trim, but it was the O'Mahonys supporters who left with their senior status intact.

When these sides met in Group A of the SFC on Sunday 29th August Dunshaughlin coasted to a 4-11 to 2-8 victory. O'Mahonys second goal in Dunsany that day came with almost the last kick of the game and reduced their losing deficit from 12 points to nine.

Tonight they completed a 21-point swing and while Dunshaughlin did play most of the game with just 14 men after captain Ben Duggan was sent-off for picking up two yellow cards in less than 90 seconds in the first quarter, they were outplayed by a superior and more composed O'Mahonys.

Backboned by the brilliance of veteran Niall McKeigue O'Mahonys hardly put a foot wrong.

In Jake Regan they had a man on fire in attack and he was well-supported by the evergreen Stephen Bray and the dangerous Duggie Dillon.

In midfield Ruairi Smith did a superb job snuffing out the threat of Matt Costello, while on the wings James O'Reilly and Aodhan Mallon caused mayhem with their storming runs from half-back.

However it was McKeigue who provided the inspiration as he covered almost every blade of grass. He swept up superbly in defence and was on the end of a long probing ball to claim a mark and a point just before half-time.

The former Meath player was the type of inspirational leader O'Mahonys needed and Dunshaughlin lacked.

Martin Reilly's men worked hard, but little came off for them. Niall Murphy and Fursey Blake were the pick of their players, but they were second best all over the field after their bright start which saw Costello open the scoring inside 30 seconds.

Regan (free) and Conor Finnegan pushed O'Mahonys ahead once they settled, but after Cian Gallogly restored parity in the ninth minute Dunshaughlin lost their way as they failed to score for another 25 minutes and lost Duggan to a red card after he was involved in off the ball tussles with Duggie Dillon and Paddy Dillon.

As Dunshaughlin toiled O'Mahonys opened up a 0-7 to 0-2 interval lead with four successful frees from Regan and that mark from McKeigue.

Indeed that half-time lead could have been greater, but for a superb double save from David Jennings which denied Regan and Bray.

Dunshaughlin ended their barren spell in the third minute of the second-half when Luke Mitchell converted a free, but they scored just once more as O'Mahonys put the game beyond doubt when Regan reacted quickest to Brian O'Hanlon's point attempt which came back off the upright and he punched to the net.

Duggie Dillon added a point from the kickout to make it 1-8 to 0-3 and although Niall Murphy did pull one back for Dunshaughlin it proved to be their last score as O'Mahonys cruised to safety with O'Hanlon pointing three times (two frees) and Darragh Maguire and O'Reilly also on target to complete a good night's work.

SCORERS

Navan O'Mahonys - Jake Regan 1-5 five frees; Brian O'Hanlon 0-3 two frees; Conor Finnegan 0-1; Niall McKeigue 0-1 mark; Duggie Dillon 0-1; Darragh Maguire 0-1; James O'Reilly 0-1.

Dunshaughlin - Matt Costello 0-1; Cian Gallogly 0-1; Luke Mitchell 0-1 free; Niall Murphy 0-1.

TEAMS

Navan O'Mahonys - Mark Brennan; Mikey O'Reilly, Conor Brady, Paddy Dillon; James O'Reilly, Darragh Maguire, Aodhan Mallon; Conor Finnegan, Ruairi Smith; Niall McKeigue, Stephen Bray, Sam Formosa; Jake Regan, Duggie Dillon, Brian O'Hanlon. Subs - E Brady for P Dillon 23 mins, Evan Coffey for Mallon 43m, Ronan Clarke for D Dillon 55m.

Dunshaughlin - David Jennings; Oisin Foley, Alastar Doyle, David Dunne; Fursey Blake, Niall Murphy, Tadhg O Dushlaine; Adam Kealy, Matt Costello; Ben Duggan, Matthew Moyles, John McDonagh; Cian Gallogly, Ronan Geraghty, Luke Mitchell. Subs - Aaron Murphy for Geraghty 30 mins, Ciaran McCarrick for McDonagh half-time, David Fildes for Moyles 35m, Sean Gaughan for Dunne 43m, Fergus Toolan for Gallogly 54m.

Referee - David Coldrick (Blackhall Gaels).