Another league title for Donaghmore/Ashbourne

A DECISIVE burst at the three-quarter stage propelled Donaghmore / Ashbourne in the direction of victory over a makeshift Navan O"Mahonys" team in the A FL Div 2 final played on a heavy Donore pitch on Sunday. With their crunch Leinster Championship game against Dublin kingpins Kilmacud Crokes only a week away, Sean Kelly and Sean Barry chose to field an essentially reserve team, with only Stephen O"Toole and Mark Ward from the SFC final starting a game that was dreadfully poor in the first-half, but which improved in the second. Shane McKeigue, who played against Castledaly the previous Sunday, also started for O"Mahonys, while Kevin Reilly and David Bray were introduced in the second period. Donaghmore/Ashbourne would have expected to defeat such a weakened team at this stage of their development, but it was a struggle and their two fisted goals made a massive difference to the outcome. However, they were undoubtedly hampered by a lack of training since their elimination from the championship, so getting their hands on a piece of silverware late in the year represented a bonus. O"Mahonys scored nine of their 10 points from play, with McKeigue kicking three superb efforts and Tommy Loughran bettering that tally with four, but they also kicked 14 wides which proved very costly. There were significantly more wides than scores in a dismal opening period, with both sides kicking six, and despite leaking the first goal which got the scoring under way after six minutes, O"Mahonys recovered sufficiently to lead by 0-5 to 1-1 at the interval. That goal came when Niall Farrell centred from the right, O"Mahonys "keeper Keith Lane didn"t collect and Bryan Menton rose highest to fist to the net for a score which gave his side a very useful early cushion. But Donaghmore / Ashbourne endured a long barren spell after that and their only other first-half score was a point from a David Morgan free as O"Mahonys mixed their poor finishing with some well-taken scores. McKeigue and Loughran both pointed twice and Gary O"Brien also split the uprights, but faster reactions might well have yielded a goal in the 14th minute after a Ward effort for a point had came back off the post. Donaghmore / Ashbourne suffered a blow when Cormac McGill didn"t re-appear for the second-half due to injury and was replaced by Eoin Carroll, with Joe Finnegan moving to full-back. They made the more productive opening to the second-half as points from play by Eoin Reilly and Carroll gave them the lead again and with O"Mahonys adding four more wides in the opening seven minutes, last year"s intermediate champions looked the more likely winners. But McKeigue ended O"Mahonys" scoring drought with a mighty point 11 minutes after the restart and another quickly followed from Loughran as they regained the advantage. Reilly was introduced in an effort to bolster midfield, but instead it was Donaghmore/Ashbourne who took a decisive grip on proceedings as the match reached the three-quarter stage. Menton got them back on level terms when he fired over, but the real turning point came a minute later when Eoin Reilly sent in a delivery and David Morgan fisted past Lane who made a poor attempt to keep it out. At that stage Donaghmore/Ashbourne were playing with whatever bit of fluency the final produced and when Tormey slotted over a free and Farrell scored from play they were well on their way to victory with a five-point cushion 10 minutes from the end. By the time O"Mahonys introduced Bray with four minutes remaining they had cut the deficit marginally with a fisted point from Ross Geraghty, but Donaghmore/Ashbourne countered that immediately when Tormey notched a brilliant score. O"Mahonys needed a goal if they were to have any chance of rescuing the situation, but the nearest they came was when the impressive Ger Brennan was deprived by a great save from goalkeeper Padraig Durkan. They scored points from substitute Sean Keating and Loughran either side of that and were still three adrift at the end as Donaghmore/Ashbourne held on for victory. SCORERS Donaghmore / Ashbourne - B Menton 1-1; D Morgan 1-1, 0-1 free; A Tormey 0-2, one free; E Reilly 0-1; E Carroll 0-1; N Farrell 0-1. Navan O"Mahonys - T Loughran 0-4; S McKeigue 0-3; G O"Brien 0-1; R Geraghty 0-1; S Keating 0-1, free. THE TEAMS Donaghmore / Ashbourne - P Durkan; S Curran, C McGill, M Roche; C Ellis, J Finnegan, E Riordan; R O"Connor, E Reilly; A Tormey, I Dowd, J Broderick; B Menton, D Morgan, N Farrell. Sub - E Carroll for McGill half-time. Navan O"Mahonys - K Lane; I Matthews, R Hogan, S O"Toole; C Reilly, S Crosby, G Brennan; M Ward, N Dunne; R Geraghty, D Murtagh, G O"Brien; D Hosie, S McKeigue, T Loughran. Subs - K Reilly for Ward 44 mins, S Keating for O"Toole 49m, D Bray for Murtagh 56m. REFEREE Liam O"Brien (Duleek).