Cumann na mBunscol Finals: Ashbourne survive late rally to claim crown

BOYS DIV 1

Patrick Toth grabbed a hat-trick of goals as St Declan's Ashbourne held on in a nervy finish to claim the Boys Div 1 crown at the expense of unlucky Ratoath SNS at Pairc Tailteann on Sunday.

Trailing by nine points with just 30 seconds remaining Ratoath managed to get back to within three with goals from Cian Flanagan and Conor Doyle, but Ashbourne held to spark wild celebrations.

St Declan's were the better team and deserved their win with Toth excelling, but they had heroes all over the field as they gained revenge for their loss to Ratoath in the group stages

St Declan's were mightily impressive from the off and had a point on the board inside 10 seconds when Conor Beggy won the throw-in and raced through before clipping over.

Ratoath defended stoutly with Corey Lyons impressing, but Ashbourne still created chances with Zach Macken-Doran having a snap shot well saved by Sean Behan.

Boosted by that save Ratoath hit the next two scores with Sam Rogers having a shot cleared off the line and Dylan Eade denied by Jamie Fox before Cian Flanagan converted a free. The second score was much more straight forward with Conor Doyle giving Ratoath the lead for the first time in the ninth minute.

That lead didn't last long as Jude Duggan restored parity from distance and when Donnacha Paget rose highest at the back post to palm Luke Lumley's centre to the net St Declan's were in the driving seat, 1-2 to 0-2.

Patrick Toth stretched that lead with a point and after Sam Rogers pulled one back for Ratoath, Ashbourne moved 1-5 to 0-3 clear with Macken-Doran and Toth on target.

Flanagan had a stinging drive tipped over the bar by Fox before Toth grabbed Ashbourne's second goal when he won a kickout and finished brilliantly.

In first-half injury-time Toth added a super point, which clipped the crossbar on the way over, to secure a 2-6 to 0-4 interval lead for St Declan's.

Cian Ryan's closed the gap with a rasping effort from a difficult angle, but when Liam O'Connell's free fell short Darragh Murphy was on hand to fire the loose ball to the net to extend Ashbourne's lead to 3-6 to 0-5.

That goal knocked the wind out of Ratoath and despite a point from Dylan Eade they fell further behind when Jude Duggan and Beggy (free) extended Ashbourne's lead to 11 points.

Points from Cian Comerford, Jamie Kelly and Flanagan (free) gave Ratoath fresh hope and when Flanagan flashed a brilliant goal to the net it left Ratoath just 1-9 to 3-8 behind.

However that hope suffered a further blow when Toth bagged his hat-trick goal in soccer style and with two minutes remaining Beggy extended the lead out to nine again.

Despite Ratoath's late flourish Ashbourne held on with Beggy closing his side's account from a '45'.

St Declan's NS Ashbourne - Jamie Fox; Darragh Murphy (1-0), Andrew Broughton, Ashton Dillon; Jamie Doyle, Jude Duggan (0-2), James O’Donoghue Hernandez; Conor Beggy (0-4 one free, one '45'), Donnacha Paget (1-0); Danny Crowe, Liam O’Connell, Zach Macken-Doran (0-1); Luke Lumley, Noah Pender, Patrick Toth (3-3). Oliver Conlon, Aaron Nulty, Callum Sloan, Cian Doran, Alex Curran, Danny Stanley, Oisín Paget. Mentors - Michael Lydon, Shane Melia, Shane Barry.

Ratoath SNS - Sean Behan; Lorcan McGowan, Corey Lyons, Conor Eiffe; Conor McElvaney, Harry Lambe, Max Peake; Ollie Milne, Dylan Eade (0-1); Ollie Coulter, Sam Rogers (0-1), Cian Lyons (0-1); Conor Doyle (1-1), Cian Flanagan (2-3 1-2 frees), Jamie Kelly (0-1). Tiarnan O'Connor, Cian Comerford (0-1), Stephen Brady, Adam Lumney, Sam Ryan, Senan Brady, Daire Byrne, Jake Campbell, Brody Monaghan, Joseph Hatch (0-1), Cillian Philips. Mentors - Alan Mulvany, Brian O’Connell.

Referee - Eoin Joyce (St Michael's NS, Trim).