Kildare GAA: Ballyteague out of Leinster Championship after heavy defeat against Meath champions Dunshaughlin

2022 AIB Leinster Club Intermediate Football Championship Quarter Final

Dunshaughlin 2-19

Ballyteague 0-10

Dunshaughlin ran out comfortable winners over Ballyteague in their Leinster Intermediate Football Championship quarter final. The sides entered the break level on points, with Dunshaughlin having large spells of possession but struggling to break down a resilient Ballyteague defence.

After an early second half score from Dunshaughlin’s Ruairi Kinsella, Ballyteague responded with a well-taken free kick from Jimmy Hyland. The resulting kickout was turned over by the Kildare side and the ball once again found its way to Hyland who skipped past his man and blasted a stunning left-footed effort between the posts. The score felt like a momentous one as the travelling crowd rose to their feet and roared in support. 

However, the momentum would shift to the opposite side as Ballyteague’s lead was quickly erased by a Matthew Costello score. Dunshaughlin’s centre-forward had a strong second half and really took his team up a level when they needed it most.

It appeared that it would take a moment of brilliance to break through Ballyteague as they had held strong again early in the second half. It was instead a strange turning point as Dunshaughlin’s captain Niall Murphy sent a wild effort to the full-forward line that was as high as it was long. 

The ball eventually came back down from the clouds with towering Dunshaughlin midfielder Conor Gray beneath it. Gray gathered the ball ahead of Derrick Mooney and the Ballyteague defence and bundled home a clumsy but goal-scoring effort to raise the first green flag of the afternoon.

The unusual goal was a blow to Ballyteague and appeared to give the eventual winners the confidence they needed to kick on. Dunshaughlin, the favourites for this fixture, had played with a tension and uncertainty to that point that was eased with Gray’s goal and subsequent five-point lead.

The home side were on top as they looked to diminish any hopes of an upset in this game. Those odds of a comeback were slashed further as half-forward John McDonagh powered through on goal and one-on-one with the keeper, he gave Derrick Mooney no chance. McDonagh blasted his effort into the corner of the net in empathic fashion.

Fionn Murphy would end a 10-minute barren spell for his side with a good score to reduce the gap to eight. Murphy was exceptional in this game, and particularly in the first half. Ballyteague were forced to sit deep and Murphy was instrumental in getting his side up the field from those deep positions with his superb ball carrying and agility. If he can add further scoring to his scoring prowess to his game, he will be yet another talismanic figure in this Ballyteague side.

Dunshaughlin would spend the remainder of the game sharing the ball around as they looked to add a further gloss to the scoreline following the 10-minute surge that ended this game as a contest. Good scores from Aaron Murphy and Ruairi Kinsella were the pick of the bunch in this spell before both sides rang in the changes.

Dunshaughlin were always favourites for this game having just come down from Senior level and now popping straight back up but they were in a game for quite a while against the Kildare champions.

The game started with the sides exchanging free-kicks as the sides respective stars in Jimmy Hyland and Luke Mitchell converted their efforts. It was a fascinating and tense opening 15 minutes as the score drawn at 0-2 each did no service to the action on show.

Ballyteague’s half-forward line were deep into their own half and working hard to make it difficult for the Meath outfit. And it is hard to say it wasn’t working as the intense defending forced wides and rushed shots at goal to great effect.

Ballyteague were soaking up the pressure and springing counter attacks, often led by the pacy Fionn Murphy and those moments were becoming more frequent as the half wore on. The scoring for the Kildare side was largely Hyland’s haul but the biggest ovation came on 23 minutes as Murphy broke away from three tackling defenders and about four fouls and struck an absolute beauty between the posts to give Ballyteague a two-point lead.

Ballyteague had a couple of what felt like momentum shifting moments but to the credit of Dunshaughlin they were always straight back on top of their opposition to stifle that forward progress. In response to Murphy’s superb score the eventual winners rattled off three scores in a row to restore their lead, pressuring and targeting the Ballyteague kickouts.

They were level at the break and Dunshaughlin would eventually pull away but nothing could be said about the effort put in by Ballyteague on the day. It is a disappointing result from them against a deserving winning team but in time it will do little to take the shine off a brilliant and historic year for The Larks.

Scorers

Dunshaughlin, John McDonagh 1-2, Matthew Costello 0-5 (0-3 frees), Aaron Murphy 0-4 (0-1 frees), Conor Gray 1-0, Luke Mitchell 0-3 (0-2 frees), Ruairí Kinsella 0-2, Niall Murphy 0-1, Matthew Moyles 0-1, Adam McDermott (0-1 frees).

Ballyteague, Jimmy Hyland 0-7 (0-5 frees), Fionn Murphy 0-2, Brian McGrath 0-1 (0-1 frees).

Teams

DUNSHAUGHLIN: Adam McDermott; Oisín Foley, Alastar Doyle, Niall Byrne; Ciarán McCarrick, Niall Murphy, Adam Kealy; Ben Duggan, Conor Gray; John McDonagh, Matthew Costello, Matthew Moyles; Conor Duke, Ruairí Kinsella, Luke Mitchell.

Subs: Aaron Murphy on for Luke Mitchell (Half time), David Fildes on for Ciarán McCarrick (49 minutes), Conor Jennings on for Oisin Foley (54 minutes), Jared Rushe on for Alastar Doyle (56 minutes).

BALLYTEAGUE: Derrick Mooney; Conor Mullaney, David Randles, Ryan Webb; Donal Dempsey, Paraic Hanley, Gary Nugent; Gerry Melia, Seamus Hanafin; Cian Loughlin, Brian McGrath, Stephen Ennis; Fionn Murphy, Tommy Callan, Jimmy Hyland.

Subs: Cathal Hanafin on for Tommy Callan (Half time), Conor Hanley on for Cian Loughlin (43 minutes), Glen Thorpe on for Ryan Webb (46 minutes), Stephen Connolly on for Gary Nugent (54 minutes), Niall Moran on for Donal Dempsey (59 minutes).

Referee: Fintan Pierce

Main man

Matthew Costello

When one of Dunshaughlin’s main scoring outlets in Luke Mitchell exited the field at halftime was cause for concern for the Meath men. Matthew Costello picked up that mantle of chief scorer and was instrumental in his side’s resulting comfortable victory. 

Turning Point

The 42nd minute brought about Dunshaughlin’s first goal and with it came a five-point lead. Conor Gray’s bundling in of a goal for the first green flag of the afternoon knocked the stuffing and belief out of Ballyteague. It wasn’t the prettiest but the long ball in and subsequent finish was crucial in this game.

Talking point

Was this an opportunity missed? Dunshaughlin in truth are a senior level team but just after the restart Ballyteague led and fresh off a superb Jimmy Hyland score from range momentum as with the Kildare side. Hyland’s next score minutes later would be his team's last for over 10 minutes with 2-2 going the other way.

What now?

Dunshaughlin deservedly progressed to a Leinster Intermediate Championship semi-final. Ballyteague will be disappointed but this has undoubtedly been a special year for them regardless of this result.