Duleek-Bellewstown 0-11 Longwood 1-06

Just over ten months since their agonising 2023 Intermediate final loss to Rathkenny, Duleek-Bellewstown got their 2024 campaign off to a winning start against Longwood on a very warm Saturday afternoon in Dunsany.

After a cagey start, Darren Heeney got DB off the mark with a well-taken point in the fourth minute. Longwood proceeded to miss three scoring chances before some great build up play from Robin Clarke resulting in a Tom Bowden point from play on 9 minutes. Longwood registered their first point of the day on the 10-minute mark, exploiting the long kick-out ability of Meath goalkeeper Billy Hogan. A John Flood mark on eleven minutes, after some great work from James McWeeney was followed by a 45 from Longwood’s Billy Hogan, who was proving to be their main scoring threat on the day.  

Patience was the order of the day as both teams wanted to retain possession or not concede any easy scores. A point from Shane Crosby, after some good work by John McDonnell, midway through the first half, was quickly followed by John Flood’s second score of the day which gave DB a 0-5 to 0-2 lead on 16 minutes. Longwood then enjoyed a period of sustained pressure with DB backs Colm Regan, Sam O’Leary and Cillian Kirwan giving a strong defensive display at the back.  

The score of the day arrived on 21 minutes when Cianán Byrne and Tom Bowden set up Darren Heeney to score a spectacular point off the outside of his left foot, a score that was worth the admission fee alone (DB 0-6 Longwood 0-3). Longwood then responded with a point of their own, on 25 minutes after a period of prolonged possession. Both teams hard to work hard under the sun with Brian Fitzpatrick defending his area of the pitch well. The first and only goal in the game arrived in the 26th minute when a superb block by Ryan Lynch ended in an unfortunate re-bound, enabling Longwood to put the ball in the net, giving them a one-point lead at half time

Half time score: Duleek Bellewstown 0-06 Longwood 1-04

DB got off to the best possible start in the second half, with two well taken scores from Alan Bowden and Cianán Byrne to give them a one-point lead. It was a day for using the bench and Jamie Crosby was introduced three minutes into the second half for John Flood. Although DB had a lot of possession of the ball, and were patient in their build up play, they would not register their next score until the 19th minute of the second half when Alan Bowden converted a free after some good work between Sam O’Leary and Cianan Byrne. Darren Heeney marked up his third score of the game two minutes later after some strong approach play by Oisín Miland and Robin Clarke. DB should have been out of sight, heading into the five minutes of injury time allowed by referee Martin Dawson. But with the high number of wides and missed scoring opportunities, Longwood still had a win in their sights and could have got something out of the game, only for some last ditch defending by Cillian Kirwan and Colm Regan. It was Eamonn Armstrong who scored a point in the fifth minute of injury to record the final score of the game.

Duleek Bellewstown will look to build on this win when they take on Castletown on Saturday 24th August in Senchalstown in their second championship fixture.  

Duleek-Bellewstown: Ryan Lynch, Sam O’Leary, Colm Regan, Cillian Kirwan, Oisín Miland, Brian Fitzpatrick, Cianán Byrne (0-1), Robin Clarke, Shane Crosby (0-1), Tom Bowden (0-1), Darren Heeney (0-3), Alan Bowden (0-2), John McDonnell, John Flood (0-2), James McWeeney.

Subs used: Jamie Crosby (33 mins), Eamonn Armstrong (41 mins; 0-1), Dyan Collins (52 mins), Kyle Doherty (59 mins).

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