Nolan inspires Dunderry to decider

Dunderry3-19

Longwood1-16

Pain can be a great motivating factor and Dunderry delved deep into their memory banks to recall the anguish of semi-final and quarter-final defeats to Longwood in the past to gain sweet revenge in Dunganny on Sunday afternoon.

Dunderry weren't just hungry to win this SHC B semi-final, they were ravenous, and their levels of intensity and determination were not matched by a Longwood side that failed to capitalise on their wind advantage in the first-half and relied too heavily on the input of the Healy brothers, Anthony and Damien.

Between them the Healys scored 1-11 with only four of those scores coming from play. Damien Healy's goal was a consolation score from a 20-metre free a minute into injury-time.

By that stage Dunderry were well clear and their final spot against Kilskyre/Moylagh was long secured. Indeed the issue was never seriously in doubt from four minutes into the second-half as a hat-trick of Jamie Leavy points and one from Luke Martyn stretched their 2-7 to 0-11 half-time lead to six points, and against the strong wind there was no way back for Longwood.

The foundation for Dunderry's win was their first-half display and in particular that of the outstanding Evan Nolan who bagged two goals, including one that will be a contender for goal of the year.

Luke Martyn was also a major factor in Dunderry's powerful performance, while defensively they were a cohesive, well-organised unit that were tenacious with their tackling and difficult to break down.

Despite playing against the wind Dunderry opened the scoring inside 20 seconds with Nolan on target. A point from the lively Ryan Moore and two from Anthony Healy (one free) from inside his own 65-metre line gave Longwood an early lead, but they were stung by the concession of the first goal in the eighth minute when Jamie Leavy's short point attempt wasn't cleared and Nolan pulled the loose ball to the net.

Adam Kelly added a point a minute later to make it 1-2 to 0-3, but then Longwood hit another burst with Anthony Healy, who missed a 40-metre free seconds earlier, making amends from a similar distance, before Damien Healy (two), Anthony Healy again and Moore arrowed over in a two-minute spell to make it 0-8 to 1-2.

After Nolan and Anthony Healy traded frees, Martyn was denied a goal by a stunning Mark Kennedy save before Nolan converted the '65'.

Martyn did find his range in the 21st minute to close the gap to the minimum, but Longwood replied with a sublime sideline cut from Moore and another Anthony Healy free to make it 0-11 to 1-5.

However, every time Longwood threatened to pull away, Dunderry struck back. After a poor scrambled clearance the ball made its way out to Nolan outside the 20-metre line, he gathered under little pressure and fired a bullet-like shot into the top right corner through a crowd of players.

Longwood heads dropped and they lost focus as Nolan followed up with two frees to ensure a 2-7 to 0-11 half-time lead.

Boosted by their strong finish against the wind, Dunderry blitzed Longwood in the opening four minutes of the second period to take a firm grip on proceedings.

Longwood did hit three of the next four points with Kevin Heagney and two from Anthony Healy (one free and one '65') in response to a Nolan free making it 0-14 to 2-12.

However, that was as close as they got. Two points from Ciaran O'Brien followed one from Martyn and in the 49th minute Nolan landed another free to make it 2-16 to 0-14.

An Anthony Healy free was wiped out almost immediately when Mark Leavy's speculative point attempt dropped to the net for Dunderry's third goal and the remainder was academic.

Malachy Fisher pointed and Damien Healy blasted a goal for Longwood, but Dunderry cruised with two Nolan frees sandwiching a Martyn point as they eased into the final.

Dunderry: Jack Fagan; Darragh Fay, Conor Leavy, TJ Loughran; Niall O Laoire, Fionn McHale, Rian Fay; Adam Kelly (0-1), Jamie Duffy; Cathal Barron, Luke Martyn (0-4), Ciaran O'Brien (0-2); Evan Nolan (2-9 seven frees, one '65'), Jamie Leavy (0-3), Harry Crinion. Subs - Mark Leavy (1-0) for Crinion 44m, Niall Darcy for O'Brien 55m, Padraic Stephens for Duffy 57m.

Longwood: Mark Kennedy; Ronan Greene, Sean Sheridan, Tomas O'Brien; Joey Stenson, Billy Hogan, Bob Maguire; Ryan Moore (0-3 one sideline), Gavin Griffith; Conor Dixon, Kevin Heagney (0-1), Conor M Dixon; Sean Coloe, Damien Healy (1-2 1-0 free), Anthony Healy (0-9 six frees, one '65'). Subs - Malachy Fisher (0-1) for Griffith 34m, William Phillips for O'Brien 37m, Ben McLoughlin for Conor M Dixon 52m, Ross Healy for Maguire 58m.

Referee: Conal O'Sullivan (Drumree).