Clann na nGael 0-05   Dun Doire 1-22

Tar éis bua maith a bhaint as an oscailt, tháinig Clann na nGael suas i gcoinne taobh láidir Dún Doire i nDún Doire ar Luan na Cásca ach ba iad na fir a bhí dubh agus bán a tháinig as an mbuaic.

After a good win in the opening round Clann na nGael came up against a strong Dunderry side in Dunderry on Easter Monday but it was the men in black and white that came away with the victory.

Dunderry won the toss and chose to play with the strong breeze blowing into the club house end of the grounds. The opening score came from Dunderry’s Thomas Conroy followed by a free from Bob Doherty. Clann tried to get things moving but their first touch was letting them down. With Paddy Tiernan moving to pastures green on the Junior A team and Kevin and Michael Tiernan somewhere over the Atlantic, Clanns shifted a few players around while also bringing in some replacements.  The Dunderry backs were on top and with pressure being applied whenever the Athboy/Rathcarin men attacked and following some wayward passing and shooting from the men in green it was a tough first half for them. Killian Swaine and Conor Fenton carried well for Clann and Michael Priest having a good battle with Chris Fitzgerald in midfield. Ryan Mc Manus had his hands full with the experienced Bob Doherty (fresh from his spying expedition from last weekend’s match in Athboy) but he stuck to his task.  Clann na nGael lost Cóilín Ó Gríofa to a nasty knee injury 20 minutes into the first half and we wish him a speedy recovery.

The score of the half was a free from around 50 metres out from a free from Bob Doherty but Eoghan Dempsey got the loudest cheer when he kicked over not one but 2 points ably wind assisted but still they all count.

Half time read Clann na nGael 0-00 Dun Doire 0-13

With the wind at their backs in the second half Clann na nGael  started with some urgency and started to get to grips with Dunderry but when Donagh Ó Laoire goaled for the game’s only goal it wasn’t the start the men in green wanted. Still with Swaine breaking though the tackles and Ryan McNamee running at the heart of the Dunderry defence it was he who got their first score. Anthony Swaine had a tough day in at full forward scored a free and a Craig Hanlon point and 2 from the boot of Priest (0-1f) was all that Clann got for their efforts. Callum O Sullivan worked hard when he came on as did John Garry and Críostóir Ucheanna.

It was a tough day for the Clann men but lessons will be learned from this defeat.  Dunderry had a couple of former and current intermediate players in their ranks and that experience and class proved invaluable on the day. Dunderry to their credit deserved their victory and played some good football.  As for Clann na nGael they have one win from 2 matches and have got some game time into a lot of their younger players which will stand to them later in the year. If lads don’t prepare for matches properly then they will only have themselves to blame if they don’t improve their performance the next day. Also the return of some missing players will help their cause with more tough tests to come later in the year.

Best for Clann where Killian Swaine, C Fenton, R Mc Manus, M Priest & C Ucheanna

Clann na nGael: J Mc Donagh, A Farrell, R McManus, M Coffey, C Griffin, R McNamee, C Fenton, K Swaine. M Priest, S Black, C Hanlon, A Doyle, S Doherty, A Swaine, Colm Griffin.

Subs T Whealan for Colm Griffin, Críostóir Ucheanna for Cóilín Griffin,C O Sullivan for A Doyle,  J Garry for S Doherty and G Kelly for S Black

Referee Martin Dawson (St Michael’s)

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