Dunshaughlin find a new gear

The sprightly young things from Dunshaughlin have grown into men these past few weeks. And yesterday, at a thoroughly wet and miserable Pairc Tailteann in Navan, the Meath standard-bearers - at the third time of asking - finally overcame the resistance of Wicklow's Rathnew with a panache that was very much at odds with the weather.

After the two previous games had ended in draws, there was almost a belief beforehand that someone would require a spanner to unlock the bolts that had locked these two together in the AIB Leinster club football championship. Instead, some clinical finishing - typically enough from the Meath school of football - did the trick as Dunshaughlin, assisted by two stunning second-half goals from David Crimmins, moved on to a quarter-final meeting with Kildare champions Moorefield.

This was tough, uncompromising stuff. By the finish, three players - Kevin Gill and Ken Doyle of Rathnew and Dunshaughlin's Niall Kelly - were relegated to watching the action from the sidelines after being issued with red cards by referee Brian White. But intermingled with some of the rough-house tactics was some superb football.

Despite playing with the strong wind in the first half, Rathnew took some time to click into gear. In fact, they had a terrible start. After just two minutes, Richie Kealy scored Dunshaughlin's opening goal - after a magical move that involved Trevor Dowd, Dermot Kealy, Crimmins, Dermot Kealy again and finally his brother Richie - and, then, in the 19th minute, Rathnew were reduced to 14 men when Kevin Gill was dismissed for a second yellow card.

If hard times lay ahead for Rathnew, who trailed 1-3 to 0-3 at that juncture, they responded by rolling up their sleeves and knuckling down to the task at hand. With Tommy Gill causing all sorts of problems for the Dunshaughlin defence, they chipped away at the deficit and by half-time they had edged into a 1-5 to 1-4 lead.

Rathnew played some of their best football in this period and belied their numerical inferiority with some good football that culminated in their only goal in the three games when, in the 20th minute, Anthony Mernagh flicked Trevor Doyle's long sideline kick over stranded Dunshaughlin goalkeeper Ronan Gogan. Facing into the wind for the second half, however, it always seemed like an uphill battle for Rathnew. And so it proved, especially after Crimmins received a pass from Trevor Dowd and fired home his side's second goal in the 35th minute. And even when Kelly received a straight red card for a foul on Tommy Gill in the 42nd minute, evening out the on-pitch numbers, the momentum remained with Dunshaughlin.

At that stage, Dunshaughlin were only two points clear - but, rather than capitulate, a greater resolve materialised in the Meath side. The work ethic was shared throughout the team and the result was that they kept an increasingly desperate Rathnew side scoreless for the rest of the game while moving onto a different level themselves in terms of scoretaking.

Playing some fast attractive football in simply horrible conditions, Dunshaughlin effectively settled the issue in the 49th minute when Crimmins unleashed a vicious left-foot shot to the top corner for his second, and Dunshaughlin's third, goal.

Apart from the two well-taken goals by Crimmins, Dunshaughlin also treated their supporters in the crowd to some fine points - and none better than Dowd's in the 52nd minute which came after a move involving the ubiquitous Dermot Kealy and Michael McHale.

Much of the good work in the Rathnew defence, as they attempted to stem the tide in the second half, was performed by corner backs Ken Doyle and Leighton Glynn. However, Doyle rather spoiled his contribution when dismissed in the final minute after an altercation with Dowd. Referee White, after consulting his umpire, deemed Doyle the more guilty party and red-carded him. Doyle thought briefly about remonstrating with the umpire before accepting his fate.

By then, the writing was on the wall for Rathnew - who paid the price for having little or no attacking alternative to the impressive Tommy Gill - and Dunshaughlin, the more evenly-balanced side, were shifting their mind-set to the next championship encounter.

Dunshaughlin: R Gogan; F Gogan, K McTigue, C Byrne; Denis Kealy, A Kealy, Dermot Kealy (0-1); N Kelly, G Dowd; D Tonge (0-2), D Crimmins (2-0), B Kealy; R Kealy (1-1), M McHale, T Dowd (0-4, three frees). Subs: P McHale for G Dowd (half-time); R Yore for F Gogan (60 mins).

Rathnew: T Murphy; K Doyle, E White, L Glynn; M Coffey, T Doyle, B Mernagh; D Coffey, R Dignam; J Snell, R Coffey, A Mernagh (1-0); S Byrne, T Gill (0-6, four frees), K Gill. Subs: P Dignam for Snell (38 mins); E Franey for B Mernagh (46 mins); D Byrne for Dignam (46 mins).

Referee: B White (Wexford).