Solid display earns facile victory for Kilmessan

Anton O"Neill"s three goals provided the platform for Kilmessan"s comprehensive victory over Dunboyne in the first of the SHC semi-finals at Pairc Tailteann on Sunday. Martin Curran"s team is back in the decider a year after their shock loss to Kiltale, but such was the weak resistance provided by Dunboyne in this encounter that it"s difficult to assess their prospects in the final against Kildalkey. Kilmessan were well on their way to a facile success when they led by 2-9 to 0-5 at the interval and although the intensity of their performance dipped in the second period, Dunboyne simply didn"t have what was required to mount a meaningful revival. Niall Hackett did give them a boost with a goal six minutes into the second-half, but Kilmessan were always able to tag on points to keep their lead safe and had their final ticket booked long before O"Neill completed his hat-trick of goals five minutes from the end. After suffering so many disappointments this decade, Dunboyne have the appearances of a side which has gone to the well once too often and with Kilmessan clearly intent on getting back to what they probably thought would be another final against Kiltale, they found the going far too demanding. Kilmessan were on top in most sectors and possessed a solid defensive spine in full-back David Donnelly and Stephen Clynch in the pivotal position. Ger O"Neill, Peter Farrell, Peter Reynolds, Nicky Horan and Joey Keena went through plenty of good work in the middle third of the field while their tally of 3-12 from play gives an accurate indication of the freedom their attackers were afforded. Dunboyne did threaten in the early stages and went close to goaling after three minutes when Gary Watters hit the post following a Stephen Moran assist and they led for the only time when Barry Watters opened the scoring with a pointed free a minute later. But after that it was a real struggle for Enda McManus" team and once Ger O"Neill got Kilmessan off the mark with the equalising point after five minutes they started to control the game. Anton O"Neill got his first goal a minute later when he blasted home off the stick of Dunboyne 'keeper Stephen Reilly after being set up by Malcolm Doyle and despite hitting four wides they were ahead by 1-3 to 0-3 at the end of the opening quarter. By the time Anton O"Neill doubled his goal tally with a cool finish following a Mark Reilly delivery after 21 minutes the advantage stood at 2-6 to 0-3 and such was the ease with which Kilmessan were running the show that there could be only one outcome. A 10-point half-time cushion just about summed up Kilmessan"s supremacy and by that stage they had already tallied an impressive haul of 2-7 from play. Dunboyne needed to start the second-half productively if they were to have any chance of turning things around. Instead, it was Kilmessan who threatened as Doyle forced a save out of Reilly before Dunboyne produced a very mini-revival. Hackett and Ger O"Neill exchanged points and then Hackett blasted a free to the net to leave them adrift by 1-6 to 2-10 within six minutes of the restart. Kilmessan were always able to respond and the nearest Dunboyne got to them in the second-half was seven points on three separate occasions. The best score of the game came at the three-quarter stage when Clynch pointed from his own 45-metre line to leave Kilmessan ahead by 2-12 to 1-6 and by that stage the teams were merely going through the motions. Anton O"Neill"s third goal arrived after Reilly had parried a Reynolds shot and that capped an impressive individual contribution for the experienced full-forward who finished with 3-1 to his credit. Eight different players shared in the scoring for the winners and some of their points were superb efforts, but those plus factors have to be weighed up against the poor quality resistance they faced from Dunboyne who are finding it very difficult to win that elusive senior title. Kilmessan will go into the final in very similar circumstances to last year on the back of a comfortable semi-final victory and they will be well aware that Kildalkey endured a far more searching test of their credentials when dethroning champions Kiltale in the second match. Getting to the final again was obviously the main priority and semi-finals are simply there to be won. But they would undoubtedly have benefited more from a tougher test. SCORERS Kilmessan - A O"Neill 3-1; N Horan 0-4, two frees, one '65"; G O"Neill 0-3; K Keena 0-3; J Keena 0-1; P Farrell 0-1; M Doyle 0-1; S Clynch 0-1. Dunboyne - N Hackett 1-5, 1-3 frees; B Watters 0-2, one free; Stephen Moran 0-2; J Watters 0-1. THE TEAMS Kilmessan - M Brennan; P McGovern, D Donnelly, R Donnelly; M Horan, S Clynch, M Reilly; G O"Neill, P Farrell; N Horan, P Reynolds, J Keena; M Doyle, A O"Neill, K Keena. Subs - V Reilly for McGovern 50 mins, C Keena for Doyle 50m, K Reilly for K Keena 57m. Dunboyne - S Reilly; Sean Moran, M Dunne, D Buggle; P Coone, P Fagan, C O"Shea; N Watters, P Gannon; J Watters, N Reilly, N Hackett; G Watters, B Watters, Stephen Moran. Subs - D Moran for G Watters 37 mins, Shane Moran for Buggle 38m, G Murphy for O"Shea 40m, N Smith for B Watters 54m. REFEREE Gerry Kelly (Navan O"Mahonys).