Dunshaughlin ... 1-7 Rathnew ... 0-4: Well what was all that about? A visitor from a far galaxy at yesterday's AIB Leinster club semi-final replay in Newbridge would have had difficulty working out that football had been proving such an ineffective medium for telling these clubs apart in recent years. Seán Moran reports from Newbridge.
Rarely has a team dominated a match to such an extent as Dunshaughlin did yesterday and they were full value for their six-point win.
Certain traditional characteristics of either club did, however, combine to ensure that it wasn't until well into the second half that the match moved decisively against Rathnew. Even then, given the champions' celebrated refusal to leave matches quietly when being ushered towards the exit, no one could be really sure until the match was nearly over.
Whereas the drawn match a week previously had been a good footballing contest, yesterday was an error-strewn and frequently unpleasant affair. Referee Michael Monaghan might have erred on the side of leniency but in general he kept a lid on things despite being sorely tried. In doing so he dispensed 10 yellow cards - eight to Rathnew including the two that saw Richard Dignam sent off in the closing minutes.
It could be that all those dices with death over the past 15 months have finally caught up with the Wicklow side but they also ran into injury problems. Darren Coffey has been injured and another centrefielder Declan Byrne carried an injury into yesterday's match in a gamble that came unstuck after only five minutes when he had to be substituted.
Handicapped around the middle, the Leinster champions were in no position to reproduce the sparkling form that had shot them to a five-point lead early in the drawn match. Instead Niall Kelly and Dermot Kealy took a frim grip and with Michael McHale having an outstanding match at centre back, Dunshaughlin prevented their opponents from establishing any sort of a platform.
For a long time it didn't really matter. The challengers' old failings came back to haunt them. Their build-up was slow and indecisive and good positions were undermined by careless passing and failure to look up and pick out the killer ball. This resulted in hasty shot selection and inaccuracies as chances flew wide, dropped short or got given away.
Rathnew could take heart from this early pattern. They might have been creating hardly anything themselves - or squandering what little they did, as when Leighton Glynn turned a free into a throw-in after charging in after the referee had made his original decision - but they weren't suffering on the scoreboard.
The match had entered the second quarter by the time the first score registered. At half-time Dunshaughlin led by 0-2 to 0-1 having played with the wind and survived a strong looking penalty claim when Mark Doyle looked to have been tumbled by Fergal Gogan when the Rathnew corner forward was clear on goal.
The half ended in controversy with an altercation between Richie Kealy and Anthony Mernagh, which got both of them a yellow card. Just after the break Kealy was lucky to stay on the field after reopening the feud and when Ronan Coffey kicked the equaliser, Rathnew's sense of grievance looked to be fuelling a revival.
In fact it was to be the champions' last meaningful flourish. Tommy Gill, again well-marked, missed two scoreable frees and in the 42nd minute the match lurched away from the Wicklow team.
Dunshaughlin finally put together a quick, penetrative movement with David Tonge and David Crimmins creating the chance for Ray Moloney whose crisp finish pushed his team 1-3 to 0-2 ahead. Minutes later Ronan Gogan pulled off a good save to prevent Trevor Doyle bringing Rathnew back into contention.
Thereafter the winners simply steamed ahead. It wasn't until injury-time that Rathnew managed to add points three and four and by then it was all too late even by the champions' standards of perseverance.
"No disrespect to Mattock Rangers," said Rathnew manager Harry Murphy "but I hope Dunshaughlin go on to win Leinster and the All-Ireland. We struggled at midfield and although we changed things and moved players around, Niall Kelly won a lot of ball for them and their number six was doing well. The goal killed us."
He didn't believe that the long road travelled would bother Dunshaughlin. "We done it last year. The road doesn't matter as long as you steer clear of injuries." He couldn't be tempted into controversy on some of the off-the-ball incidents, the Richie Kealy one in particular. "It got a bit hairy. I didn't see that but they deserved their win and I'm not going into that." Murphy's Dunshaughlin counterpart Eamon Barry was happy.
"I was particularly pleased with the manner of the win, which was comprehensive and no fluke. We did miss a lot of chances in the first half; it was embarrassing at times but we kept at it.
We dominated that first half for 20 or 25 minutes but were only leading by a point at half-time.
"But there was no cup out there today. That's next week." Which it is - in Navan where Louth champions Mattock Rangers have agreed to play.
DUNSHAUGHLIN: R Gogan; F Gogan, K McTigue (capt), D Kealy; R Yore, M McHale, R Kealy (0-2, frees); N Kelly (0-2, one free), D Kealy; M Reilly (0-2, one free), D Crimmins, D Tonge (0-1); T Dowd, R Maloney (1-0), B Kealy. Subs: C Byrne for Yore (61 mins), D Burke for Crimmins (62).
RATHNEW: T Murphy; L Glynn (0-1), E White, B Mernagh; E Franey, M Coffey, C Murphy; J Stafford, D Byrne; R Dignam, T Doyle (0-1), A Mernagh (capt); T Gill (0-1, a free), R Coffey (0-1), M Doyle. Subs: S Byrne for D Byrne (six mins), J McDonald for White (54), N Mernagh for M Doyle (57).
Referee: M Monaghan (Kildare).
