U21B Semi Final

In Kilmainham

St Ultans 2-10 Drumconrath/Meath Hill 1-4

St Ultans ran out winners in this U21B Semi Final played in Kilmainham on Sunday. Despite the heavy rain off the previous few days the Kilmainham pitch was in fine form and while the margin at the end was 9 points this was a very well contested game throughout the 1st half and until  Drumconrath/Meath Hill lost wing back Conor O'Halloran to a straight Red Card on 38 minutes.

At that stage there was just a single point in the game as a young DMH side were in a good position having the advantage of the breeze in the 2nd period. 

DMH had opened well playing a nice brand of football as Daniel Byrne pointed within the 1st minute. St Ultans counted soon after but with Tomas Conlon and Ryan Owens doing well at midfield DMH had plenty of possession and when after a good save from Dominic Yorke the ball was transferred quickly down field were Conlon found James Mooney on his shoulder and Mooney made no mistake to find the net. 

The Red and Blue had more chance and Byrne pointed a free to give them a 4 point lead. Wind assisted St Ultans answered with 2 frees as Dominic Yorke came from gals to hit a long distance free. A St Ultans goal on 15 minutes had put them level as the side shared 2 late points both frees to leave Ultans ahead 1-4 to 1-3 at the break.

Byrne repeated his 1st half exploit when he leveled the game with a point from play inside the 1st minute of the 2nd half and while Ultans wrestled back the advantage almost immediately the sides battled for an advantage and that came from an unlikely sending off on the advise of the linesman. Ultans took full control and pointed on 42,43,46 47 and 50 minutes as the extra space and player left the Red and Blue under too much pressure.

A late goal put a gloss on the score board as DMH lost a 2nd player Daniel Byrne in injury time as Ultans now go forward to try and go one better than last year when they fell at the Final hurdle to neighbours Clann na nGael.

Drumconrath/Meath Hill; Dominic Yorke (0-1); Cathal Dunne, Niall Yorke; Robert McEntaggart, Conor Marry, Conor O'Halloran; Tomas Conlon, Ryan Owens; Jonathon Finnegan, James Mooney (1-0), Thomas McGrath; Ian Malone, Daniel Byrne (0-3). Subs; Shane McCabe for Finnegan, Patrick Farrelly for McGrath and Graham Boylan.

U21B Quarter Final

In Kilmainham

Drumconrath/Meath Hill 3-12 Dunsany 0-6

Drumconrath/Meath Hill scored an easier than expected victory over Junior Finalist Dunsany in this game which had an early morning start in foggy Kilmainham.

An early goal from Jonathon Finnegan set DMH on their way but they struggled to shake off a dogged Dunsany who answered with a fine Declan Smyth point. A full 15 minutes passed until the next score a Daniel Byrne point and soon after Ian Malone opened his account. Dunsany responded with a similar point but the North Meath side pushed on with some fine scores to lead 1-5 to 0-2 but Dunsany ended the half best with a good point after a wayward DMH clearance.

Dunsany needed a good start to the 2^nd half but it was not to be as Malone pointed a free and James Mooney found the net with a good shot just 10 minutes in. Further points from Mooney, Byrne and sub Shane McCabe kept a good lead for the Red and Blue and while Dunsany hit 3 second half points the result was never really in doubt as a late Byrne point attempt deceived the Dunsany goalie and nestled in the net.

Niall Yorke had a fine game for DMH and got forward to score a fine point. He got good support from Robert McEntaggart, Cathal Dunne, James Mooney and Jonathon Finnegan.

Drumconrath/Meath Hill; Dominic Yorke; Cathal Dunne, Niall Yorke (0-1); Robert McEntaggart, Conor Marry, Conor O’Halloran; Ryan Owens, Tomas Conlon; Graham Boylan, James Mooney (1-1), Jonathon Finnegan (1-0); Ian Malone (0-3), Daniel Byrne (1-6). Subs; Thomas McGrath for Boylan and Shane McCabe (0-1) for Finnegan.

Conor O'Halloran Drumconrath Meath Hill

U21B Round 1

In Bohermeen

Drumconrath/Meath Hill 3-8 Longwood 2-9

Drumconrath/Meath Hill came out on top in this U21 Championship game in Sean Newman Pairc which was a re match of the same fixture last year on Sunday morning with this hard fought narrow win over a game Longwood side.

Daniel Byrne from a free got the ball rolling after 3 minutes but with Ryan Moore in fine form Longwood hit the next 3 scores on 12, 14 and 20 minutes all from Moore. 

Drumconrath/Meath Hill received a blow When goal keeper Colm McEvoy who had made a fine save earlier had to retire injured and the ensuing switches saw Dominic Yorke move back into goals. On the restart a good up field movement from DMH found Conor O'Halloran in space and despite being held back he managed to get the ball into the back of the net to wrestle the lead back for the Red and Blue.

Byrne pointed 2 late frees as Moore pointed again for Longwood and there was more drama in injury time as first Ian Malone fire home a goal and within seconds Moore did likewise at the other end to see the half time score Drumconrath/Meath Hill 2-3 Longwood 1-4.

 Malone scored a long range free on 35 minutes but Longwood pointed twice to cut the gap to a single point. OHalloran and Byrne put 3 points between the sides as the third Quarter ended.

Longwood once again narrowed to a single point with Moore getting more support in the scoring stakes. Longwood fired a goal chance off the cross bar as both sides looked to push on but a mistake from the Longwood keeper who failed to deal with a high ball and when it broke out Daniel Byrne had the easy task off slotting home. 

James Mooney pointed soon after and Byrne landed another free to put DMH six points ahead. 

Longwood weren't finished  yet and on 55 minutes got their 2nd goal and DMH had some anxious moments as injury time approached. A well struck 45 and it was a 2 point game but time ran out on the South Meath side as Drumconrath/Meath Hill held on.

Conor Marry, Conor O'Halloran, Ryan Owens, James Mooney and Jonathon Finnegan battled hard for DMH as they progress to a Quarter Final v Dunsany later in the month.

Drumconrath/Meath Hill; Colm McEvoy, Cathal Dunne, Niall Yorke; Robert McEntaggart, Conor Marry, Conor O'Halloran (1-1); Ryan Owens, Tomas Conlon; Ian Malone (1-1), James Mooney (0-1), Dominic Yorke; Patrick Farrelly, Daniel Byrne (1-5). Subs; Jonathon Finnegan for McEvoy, Shane McCabe for Farrelly, Graham Boylan for Dunne.

Tailteann Cup Semi Final

In Castletown

Bective 0-10 Drumconrath 0-8

Drumconrath crashed out of the Tailteann Cup at the Semi Final stage for the second year in Succession with this 2 point defeat by High Flying Bective.

Bective's fast start which saw them lead 0-5 to 0-0 after 12 minutes was the winning of this game. At that stage they also were awarded a penalty which Drums player manager Sean Kane expertly saved Marty Mullhall well hit shot.

This seemed to lift Drumconrath as they went on the dominate the 2nd quarter as points from Daniel Byrne in his first 1st team start, Stephan Crosby and a well struck Alan McEvoy 45 into the breeze narrowed the game to 0-5 to 0-3 at the break.

Bective enjoyed the best start to the 2nd half as further points had them 0-7 to 0-3 by the 35th minute. Christopher Tighe pointed on 36 after Crosby had struck the post and soon after Alan Byrne struck the best point of the game after Mulhall had pointed a couple of frees to leave 0-9 to 0-5 entering the last quarter.

Drumconrath gaining plenty of possession pressed hard as Byrne pointed 2 frees as Brian Cantwell countered at the other end. 

Drumconrath went in search of goals but Bective defended well and while Conor O'Halloran pointed late on it was not enough to stop Bective marching onto the Tailteann Cup Final a trophy they won in 2014.

Drumconrath; Sean Kane; John McDermott, Thomas Carolan, Peter Tighe; Damien Glass, Aiden Tighe, Conor O'Halloran (0-1); Alan McEvoy (0-1), Stephan Crosby (0-1); Alan Byrne (0-3), Jamie Myles, Daniel Byrne (0-1); Christopher Tighe (0-1), Peter McEvoy, John Lynch. Subs; Sean McMahon for Lynch, Tomas Conlon for D Byrne.

Tailteann Cup Quarter Final
In Bohermeen
Drumconrath 2-9 Boardsmill 2-5

Player manager Sean Kane and Drumconrath are through to the Tailteann Cup semi final for the second year running

Drumconrath progressed to the Tailteann Cup Semi Finals for the 2nd year in a row with a hard fought Quarter Final win over a battling Boardsmill as Drums used the latest young recruit to 1st team football in Brendan Crosby as another 6 changes where made from last week League win over St Marys.

U21 Championship 2015

Round 1

Drumconrath/Meath Hill v Longwood

Tailteann Cup 2015

Round 1

In Drumconrath

Drumconrath 1-6 Carnaross 0-5

Drumconrath laid down a marker in this tough battle on a heavy pitch after the early morning down pours tested Drumconrath's drainage system to the maximum.

In the end as the rain which stopped a few hours before throw, the Referee gave the go ahead to play the game as there was no surface water on the pitch and while the ground was sticky the game was played.

Typical of games on a heavy surface this game was a real defensive battle with the slippy ball leading to many mistakes on both sides and while Jamie Myles pointed a fine point from play after 8 minutes it was the only score from play for the half with Carnaross hitting 2 free's from John L Magee and Stephan Crosby added another free to the Drumconrath tally as the sides retired locked at 0-2 apiece.

Carnaross would have felt they should have led but 6 first half wide's ensured they didn't while Drums had reason to feel they could have lead as both their 1st half wide's have looked easier to score.

As the cut began to cut up the fare improved little in the 3rd quarter as Myles pointed from play and Magee added a well struck free form near the side line.

Drumconrath won this game in a four minute spell between the 47th and 51st minutes when first of all Stephan Crosby pointed and then following good work from Damien Glass, Eoin Martin delivered a peach of a pass to Crosby who rounded a defender and the Goalkeeper to roll the ball to the empty net. Alan Byrne rthen hit a booming point from 45m to give Drums a 5 point advantage.

Dermot Magee got the visitors only score from play on 54 minutes and Crosby scored on 56 to keep the 5 point difference. John L Magee pointed an injury time free to finish the scoring.

This was the 1st of 5 meetings these clubs will have this year as they are also due to play in the Junior Championship the A & B Leagues and the Junior D Championship but today it was Drumconrath who took the spoils to progress to the Quarter Finals of this Competition

Best for Drums in a good team performance where Colm McEvoy, Peter Tighe, Stephan Crosby and the live wire Eoin Martin.

Drumconrath; Sean Kane;  Colm McEvoy, Thomas Carolan, John McDermott; Damien Glass, Peter Tighe, Eoin Martin; Alan McEvoy, Jamie Myles (0-2); Tomas Conlon, Stephan Crosby (1-3), Chris Tighe; Derek Duff, Gavin Finnegan, Peter McEvoy. Subs; Alan Byrne (0-1) for Finnegan, Conor OHalloran for Conlon, Aiden Tighe for Martin and Sean McMahon for A McEvoy.