Tremendous performance earns title for Kilmessan

Kilmessan showed tremendous battling qualities to win the u-21 HC title for the second year in-a-row at the expense of Dunboyne at Pairc Tailteann on Saturday. Wind and rain hardly mattered to Kilmessan as they survived two first-half red cards and still found enough ammunition to gun down a Dunboyne side which finished with 14 players after full-back Michael Dunne received a second yellow card with three minutes remaining. Cards were brandished regularly by Blackhall Gaels referee Richard Morris who made the difficult calls and was brave enough to take decisive action. He could have opted out and brandished yellow cards instead, but there can be few genuine complaints about his decisions. Kilmessan were reduced to 14 players in the 16th minute following the dismissal of midfielder Kevin O"Reilly and that was down to 13 by the interval when Kevin Keena made an early exit. O"Reilly received a straight red card following an off-the-ball incident which involved Dunboyne"s Tommy Meyler. The Dunboyne player had forfeited a free in the lead-up to the incident and when the referee threw in the sliotar a further incident ensued which left O"Reilly looking at the departure gate. The case for a Kilmessan victory was further diluted when Kevin Keena saw red after he was involved in an off-the-ball incident with Dunboyne"s Christopher Kane. That exchange resulted in a brief consultation between the referee and linesman. Despite that handicap, Kilmessan were actually ahead at the interval by 1-4 to 0-6 with blood substitute Scott Bagnall finishing to the net after Malcolm Doyle"s speculative centre came back off the top of the post. Two superb long-range points from Kilmessan full-back Christopher Curtis illuminated the opening quarter as the 2007 champions made the early running. Curtis fired over from his own 65-metre line against the elements and then followed with another point from the Dunboyne 65-metre line. Curtis played an inspirational part in this victory and demonstrated that he has lots of potential with his wholehearted performance helping to boost the rest of the players, especially when they had to raise the tempo in the second-half. Darren Reilly and Darren Maguire accounted for Kilmessan"s remaining points before the break while Meyler (four) and full-back Dunne (two) kept Dunboyne in touch from placed balls. Gutsy Kilmessan remained in the ascendancy during a third-quarter in which they out-scored their opponents with considerable ease. Darren Reilly, Bagnall, Darren Maguire and Joey Keena split the posts, but all Dunboyne could muster in response was a point apiece from Fergal O"Neill and Alan Watters. The fact that they failed to hit the target for the remainder bears testament to Kilmessan"s determination rather than any Dunboyne deficiencies and manager Paul Reilly was quick to admit this afterwards. 'It was there for us, when they went down to 13 players, but you have to admire Kilmessan for the way they raised their game, we just couldn"t cope with them,' he stated. Boosted by that 1-8 to 0-8 advantage Kilmessan battened down the hatches for the closing stages and while it was real backs to the wall stuff, at times, Darren Reilly"s pointed free with eight minutes remaining boosting the cause significantly and left the club celebrating a third championship success in 2008. Apart from Curtis at full-back, Kilmessan"s Joey Keena showed his true potential with what could only be described as a swashbuckling performance which he embellished with a fine third-quarter point from play. SCORERS Kilmessan - S Bagnall 1-1; D Reilly 0-3, two frees; D Maguire 0-2; C Curtis 0-2, two frees; J Keena 0-1. Dunboyne - T Meyler 0-4, three frees; M Dunne 0-2, two frees; F O"Neill 0-1; A Watters 0-1. THE TEAMS Kilmessan - Matt Bissett; Diarmuid O"Donoghue, Christopher Curtis, Richie Dillon; Mark Munnelly, Michael Lynch, Joey Keena; Darren Maguire, Kevin O"Reilly; Paddy Farrell, Colin Irwin, Darren Reilly; Danny Maguire, Kevin Keena, Malcolm Doyle. Subs - Scott Bagnall for Farrell 5 mins; D Brennan for O"Donoghue 55m; Christopher Smyth for Irwin 56m. Dunboyne - Stephen Clince; Darren Dunne, Michael Dunne, Shane Moran; Christopher Kane, Ger Murphy, Mark O"Connor; Danny Kane, Alan Watters; Ciaran McKay, Tommy Meyler, Fergal O"Neill; Michael O"Grady, Niall Smith, Brian O"Hara. Subs - Conor O"Shea for Kane 35 mins; Keith Moran for O"Connor 40m; M Finlay for Smith 50m. REFEREE Richard Morris (Blackhall Gaels).