Meath Junior B Championship Group A – Round 2

Clonard 4-15 Eastern Gaels 1-7

Photo: Clonard's Niall McHugh

Clonard claimed their first win in this year’s championship in what turned out to be a comfortable victory in the end over a resilient Eastern Gaels side. 

But Clonard didn’t have it all their own way, particularly in the first half, as a plethora of missed chances and efforts off the woodwork was followed by a Eastern Gaels goal against the run of play which saw the East Meath side lead 1-2 to 0-4 after 15 minutes.

A fine Ryan Raleigh two-pointer followed two well taken points from Eoghan Connolly and Alan Hannon as it saw Clonard head to the half time break with a slender lead, 0-8 to 1-3.

The second half saw far more focused play from Clonard which was partly due to the Gaels being reduced to 14 men following a red card for their half forward.

Aaron Scott’s move to half back saw him win multiple turnovers, as did Shane Walsh-Oxley on the opposite wing, which resulted in wave after wave of Clonard attacks. Jason Dowdall’s influence became increasingly influential as the captain led by example a centre-half back and constantly rallied his teammates.

Kayden Plunkett found the net midway through the half, as did Alan Hannon with a brace of goals, as Clonard’s huge amount of possession eventually paid off on the scoreboard. Kian Campbell also registered a goal, Niall McHugh struck a fine two-pointer, and Dylan Flanagan knocked over a point as Clonard eased to the win in the end.

The result follows Clonard’s opening round draw with Boardsmill and sets up a crucial final group game against the also unbeaten Cortown in Ballivor in two weeks’ time.  A win or a draw would see Clonard through to the semi-final.

Clonard: Ciaran Murray, Andrew Hannon, Jason Moore, Brian O’Reilly, Dylan Flanagan (0-1), Jason Dowdall (0-1), Shane Walsh-Oxley, Kian Campbell (1-3), Niall McHugh (0-2), Aaron Scott, Ryan Raleigh (0-3), Dylan Duignan (0-1), Kayden Plunkett (1-1), Eoghan Connolly (0-1), Alan Hannon (2-2). 

 Subs Used: Stephen O’Reilly for D.Flanagan, Shane Dunne for S.Walsh-Oxley, Daniel Johns for E.Connolly, Joe Darby for D.Flanagan, Jack Raleigh for Andrew Hannon.