Brendan McTaggart reports from the Wexford GAA Centre of Excellence
A memorable day in the sunny southeast ended with Dunloy claiming the Division One Plate in the All Ireland Feile.
In a group where they were paired with the Galway, Cork and Wexford champions, the records will show the Cuchullains didn’t record a win but they put in a serious effort and were hugely competitive in all the games. To put the nature of how difficult the group was into context, the Cup Final was competed between Oranmore Maree (Galway) and Middleton (Cork) while Oylegate Glenbrien won the Shield. If there was a group of death, Dunloy found themselves in it.
Playing eventual winners in the opening game, Dunloy were shown the ruthless side of hurling at this level. Oranmore were clinical and direct, rallying into a 1-4 to 0-1 lead before scoring their second goal after a great save from Dunloy ‘keeper Eunan Brogan. The Cuchullains had points from Euan Molloy (two frees) in response.
The Cuchullains started the second half superbly with James McGarry (‘65) and Euan Molloy (free) got them firing while Padai O’Kane was unlucky to see his shot saved superbly by the Oranmore ‘keeper.
The ruthless and clinical Galway men made the most of the reprieve by scoring their third goal with their next attack. Dunloy continued to battle bravely with Eanna McGuckian’s display one that had plenty of neutrals talking while a score line of 3-6 to 0-5 felt like it didn’t do the young Cuchullains justice.
The second match came against Oylgate Glenbrien started in super fashion for Dunloy with Padai O’Kane showing his full range of skills to bag the first goal with the game just seconds old. Glenbrien’s response was superb however with a quickfire brace of goals putting the young Cuchullains on the backfoot.
Playing with a slight wind advantage, the Wexford side ran into a 2-4 to 1-1 half time lead but the Cuchullains dig deep. The Wexford lads fired over another brace of points while Cillian Cunning had an effort cleared off the line for Dunloy. The Cuchullains rallied with Cillian Cunning finding the back of the net with a brace of frees from Euan Molloy brought then to within three points but they couldn’t breach the Glenbrien defence one more time with the final score 2-7 to 2-4 in favour of the Wexford side.
With rumours circulating about the Middleton men, it was always going to be a tough ask. In a tense opening, they trailed 0-2 to 0-1 before John Ferguson’s kicked effort was close to breaching the Middleton goals.
The Cork men rallied to lead 1-3 to 0-3 at half time and opened a six point lead soon after the restart. Dunloy were playing some super hurling with slick passing and running off the shoulder evident but the Middleton men were clinical when the chances came their way. Dunloy scored a second goal at the end of the game with Padai O’Kane setting up James McGarry to leave the final score 2-8 to 1-4.
The Plate competition started with Dunloy facing Oulart the Ballagh in the semi’s the Cuchullains were superb from the first whistle. Captain Damian McMahon would finish this game with 3-3 beside his name while PJ Molloy fired another Dunloy major in the first half. There were notable performances from O’Kane once more while McQuillan, Ollie McClements, Eunan Curry and John Ferguson were all prominent as they ran out 4-7 to 0-1 winners.
Monageer Boolavogue of Wexford were the opponents in the final but they too found the Cuchullains too hot to handle. Dunloy got the perfect start with Cillian Cunning firing a goal and a point before PJ Molloy scored their second major and the Cuchullains were dictating play. They opened a 3-5 to 0-1 half time lead with Padai O’Kane scoring the third major before half time.
Any thoughts on a comeback from the Wexford side were soon quelled with Dunloy’s fourth goal, PJ Molloy with the finish. Points followed from Euan Molloy and McMahon (two) while Boolavogue showed their quality with a 25 yard free finding the back of a packed Dunloy goal line.
The Cuchullains rapped up the game with Eanna McGuckian scoring their fifth major to leave the full time score 5-9 to 1-4.
The celebrations were fairly muted at the end with a feeling that the young lads could have made a mark in cup or shield competitions given the group draw but it was a memorable day and proof yet again that the Feile never lets you down as one of the best spectacles within the GAA.
Dunloy squad: Eunan Brogan, Shane McGilligan, Ollie McClements, Conal McFerran, Jamie McMullan, Jack McQuillan, Dara Cunning, Eunan Curry, James McGarry, Damian McMahon, John Ferguson, Euan Molloy, Eanna McGuckian, Pauric O’Neill, PJ Molloy, Cailean Hughes, Olly Johnston, Aodhan Neeson, Padai O’Kane, Aaron Richmond, Peadar Doherty, Cillian Cunning, Ronan Elliott
TO SEE MORE OF BRENDAN McTAGGART’S PHOTOS FROM FEILE IN WEXFORD CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW