Dunshaughlin's inexorable rise

There's a cliché that has become popular in dressing-rooms after matches. It says that no team can hope to dominate a match throughout and that everyone has to be prepared for those phases when the opposition get on top. Like all clichés it is largely true, but in yesterday's AIB Leinster club final in Navan, Dunshaughlin disputed it for the second successive week. Seán Moran reports from Navan

Having kept outgoing champions Rathnew under the cosh for the full hour seven days previously, their successors again monopolised play and the only threat to their first provincial title was the familiar one of the difficulty experienced trying to translate possession into scores.

Even that wasn't as pronounced as in the semi-final when half an hour's one-way traffic left the Meath champions only 0-2 to 0-1 ahead at the break. Yesterday also provided further evidence of Dunshaughlin's ongoing improvement, which has seen them drive off a base of diffident form within the county to Meath's first Leinster club title since Walterstown's double in the early 1980s.

Dunshaughlin manager Eamon Barry provides the link with that previous success. "This is something special for Dunshaughlin," he said. "Having won Meath for three years, we were wondering where we were going and needed to make an impact on this competition. We were envious last year - delighted for them but a bit jealous - of Rathnew's success in winning this. Now we can have a good Christmas and look forward to playing Crossmolina in the All-Ireland semi-final."

The winner's steady improvement was matched by Mattock Rangers' most disappointing outing since the draw with Enniscorthy back in the provincial first round.

There had been a certain scepticism about how their game would adapt to the heavy conditions and Dunshaughlin's physical style. In fairness to the Páirc Tailteann pitch, it held up quite well given the amount of recent rain but it wasn't top-of-the-ground material. Of course neither have most of the previous surfaces played on by the Louth champions. The difference here was that they found the standard of opposition considerably raised.

Dunshaughlin are strong on the ball and relentless. Mattock were capable of stringing together some menacing movement but gradually it became apparent that they needed more space to make things happen in such lifeless conditions. Navan is a good-sized pitch but the local champions swarmed all over it and left little room for their opponents to embroider attractive moves.

At one stage midway through the second half, Niall Callan launched Robert Brennan on a counter-attack. It was a fairly fast break but by the time Brennan got to the danger area he was surrounded by four defenders. Naturally it all began to take a toll on Mattock, who had started brightly with a brace of points in the first two minutes, both scored by David Reid and each displaying lively movement. But once Dunshaughlin adjusted to the pace of things they shut down their more instinctive opponents.

As Barry put it: "We worked hard, very hard. Ballwork doesn't come to my team as comfortably as it does to Mattock, so we worked hard to put them under ferocious pressure."

So they did but they were assisted by some baffling tactics from the Louth side. There was no need to call in the UN to know that Dunshaughlin's centrefield had major ball-winning capacity, but instead of using short kick-outs or the wide option, Mattock put too many kicks down the middle where Niall Kelly gobbled them up gratefully.

A side-effect of this was to inhibit Christy Grimes's influence for Mattock. Instead of feeding off breaks or quick passes, he was left impotent under dropping ball and his playmaking suffered accordingly.

The second self-inflicted wound was dire marksmanship. Mattock were unrecognisable from the side that has racked up such big scores in reaching the final. Centre forward Mark Brennan, in particular, will want to forget his first Leinster final. It was hard luck on a young player who had been so effective up until yesterday, but he had a couple of wides that will haunt him for a while.

One at the end of the third quarter might have given his side the goal that kick-started a comeback but, having done the hard work in creating an opening, he misfired.

Further chances came to his team within a minute but more mishaps and a good save by Ronan Gogan kept the goals intact.

"That was a disaster for them," said Barry. "Most of their games have been built on goals so it was important for us to keep them out."

Richie Kealy was named Man of the Match. It is a tribute to Dunshaughlin's collective strength that it's not always easy to isolate individual contributions, but Kealy maintained the fine form of recent weeks. Switching him from the forwards was a bit of a gamble given the team's chances-to-scores ratio, but he has made a success of it.

His manager believes that his game has been revived by the switch and the team has certainly benefited. The defence is not alone strong down the middle but covers a lot of ground and, in Kealy, has the ideal man to turn defensive ball into attack.

In the 43rd minute, a Mattock attack broke down and it was the two Kealys, Richie and Brendan, who combined to send David Tonge in for a sweet point. That stretched the Dunshaughlin lead to 0-11 to 0-4 and the match was all but over.

A flourish from Grimes, who somehow laid his hands on some ball, briefly threatened Dunshaughlin but a chance to cut the deficit to three wasn't taken and the winners dealt brusquely with any incipient recovery.

Niall Kelly finished with one of his grace notes, a sideline kick screwed over from an acute angle about 20 metres out, and Martin Reilly's injury-time free gift-wrapped the title.

Mattock coach Des Lane was disappointed but felt that his side had learned from the experience.

"We missed chances and in fairness to them they're strong, physical and, as I said during the week, they've got brains. At our stage of development we're behind them and they played better football. There's been a novelty about Mattock Rangers this year, but we'll be back and maybe it won't be so much of a novelty anymore."

DUNSHAUGHLIN: R Gogan; F Gogan, K McTigue (captain), D Kealy; R Yore, M McHale, R Kealy (0-2, one free); N Kelly (0-3, one free, one sideline), D Kealy; M Reilly (0-2, one free), R Maloney (0-1), D Tonge (0-2); B Kealy, D Crimmins (0-2), T Dowd (0-1). Subs: C Byrne for Yore (61 mins), D Burke for Maloney (61 mins).

MATTOCK RANGERS: M Englishby; E Roche, R Sherlock, I Sherlock; D Brennan, D Geraghty (capt.), F Feeley; C Grimes (0-3, one free), G Hanratty; A Finnegan, M Brennan, R Brennan (0-1); N Callan, D Reid (0-2), S Grimes (0-1). Subs: P Duff for Feeley (58 mins).

Referee: E Whelan (Laois).

Dunshaughlin 0-13 Mattock Rangers 0-7: