Wolfe Tones finish with a trophy

On Sunday's evidence it is hard to believe that Wolfe Tones were narrowly beaten in the SFC final replay while Duleek/Bellewstown's senior status still hangs in the balance, but Cathal O Bric's side snatched the A FL Div 1 title with a fortunate victory at Pairc Tailteann. Duleek / Bellewstown had finished top of the table, but very few gave the championship relegation-threatened outfit much of a chance against a Wolfe Tones side that were unlucky to lose the SFC decider after a narrow replay defeat by Seneschalstown. After taking a 1-4 to 0-3 interval lead having played against a very strong breeze Wolfe Tones looked on course to confirm their favourites tag, but they struggled after the break and it took until the 28th minute of the second-half before they scored again. By that stage Duleek/Bellewstown had turned a four-point interval deficit into a 0-8 to 1-4 lead, but they failed to make total dominance count as a superb score from Barry McGinn was followed by an equally impressive point from Cian Ward in the second minute of injury-time that sealed the victory. On a bitterly cold day the conditions were otherwise decent for an early December afternoon, but the contest was a poor advertisement for the standard of league football as both sides were dreadful and some of the play that developed would have suited a rugby pitch more so than the perfectly manicured turf at Pairc Tailteann. On several occasions rucks and mauls developed that Paul O'Connell would have been proud of and at times referee Seamus O'Connor appeared to penalise players for not releasing possession rather than offering them a free for being three, four or five-man tackled. At one stage late in the game the referee was caught up in a group of players that jumped for possession and he was dragged to the ground, thankfully he emerged unhurt from the ruck and received one of the biggest cheers on an otherwise dreary day. Defeat was harsh on Duleek / Bellewstown and ending up trophyless after a superb A FL Div 1 campaign that saw them lose only twice was heartbreaking. Wolfe Tones also lost just twice and when the sides met earlier in the league they ended up level, 0-10 each. Another anomaly with the A FL competitions, and something that needs to be addressed, is that Sunday's final was Duleek / Bellewstown's first game in the competition since that draw with Wolfe Tones in mid-August! With the possibility of a SFC relegation final on the horizon and decent runs in the Feis Cup, Junior B FC and u-21 B FC Duleek / Bellewstown have been able to keep themselves sharp and they looked more than a match for their opponents who were expected to be too strong. Wolfe Tones looked a shadow of the side that contested the SFC final. They did enjoy moments of excellence and at times players like Aodhan McKeown, Ciaran Martin, Eoghan Harrington, Stephen Sheppard, Niall McLoughlin, Mark Coleman and Ward were decent, but the championship bite wasn't there. Duleek / Bellewstown had every reason to justifiably believe they could cause a shock as Padraig Howard, Tony Cunningham, Declan Gaffney, Karl McDonnell and Peter Collins were impressive, but Wolfe Tones showed their full repertoire to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Operating with the wind to their advantage Duleek / Bellewstown dominated possession in the opening half, but squandered several decent chances, kicking 10 wides. Those missed chances and the concession of soft scores left the east Meath men trailing by 0-3 to 1-4 at the break and with little chance of victory. Howard opened the scoring after a mistake by McGinn before Cian Ward equalised from a dubious 13-metre free awarded for a foot block. Five minutes later a brilliant move involving Ward and Sheppard resulted in Darren McGrath scoring a great goal for a 1-1 to 0-1 lead. Howard saw a great goal opportunity superbly blocked by McKeown before Ward tapped over a simple point to stretch Wolfe Tones' lead. A brace of points from Curran closed the gap, but again Wolfe Tones finished the half on top with two Ward points (one free) leaving them with their four-point cushion. Second-half indiscipline was costly for Wolfe Tones and allowed Duleek / Bellewstown get back into the game with converted frees from Curran. Declan Gaffney made it 0-7 to 1-4 with a huge lofted score and when Ward drove a relatively simple 30-metre free wide it looked as if it would be Duleek / Bellewstown's day. Unmarked Conall McGinley edge the team in green ahead and with two minutes remaining they were still in that winning position until McGinn levelled with a fine score and Ward shovelled over the winner after great play by Niall McLoughlin, McKeown and McGrath. SCORERS Wolfe Tones - C Ward 0-5, two frees; D McGrath 1-0; B McGinn 0-1. Duleek/Bellewstown - P Curran 0-5, four free; P Howard 0-1; D Gaffney 0-1; C McGinley 0-1. THE TEAMS Wolfe Tones - S Power; R Brady, A McKeown, C Martin; B McGinn, E Harrington, S Sheppard; S Corrigan, A Callaghan; D McGrath, N McLoughlin, M Coleman; A Fox, C Ward, G Beggy. Subs - P Byrne for Callaghan 42 mins, R McDonnell for Coleman 46m. Duleek/Bellewstown - R Nolan; D Crosby, J Martin, K Smith; D Moore, K McCann, G Hynes; D Gaffney, K McDonnell; P Howard, T Cunningham, D Mills; C Carney, P Curran, M Collins. Subs - C McGinley for Mills 24 mins, P Martin for Crosby 40m, Crosby for Martin 56m, J Devereux for Howard 64m. REFEREE Seamus O'Connor (Carnaross).