Carnaross welcomed Dunsany to Páirc Naomh Chiarán for the final round of the Tailteann Cup and it was a losing end to the campaign for the home side.

Tailteann Cup (Round 7)
Played in Carnaross – 21/7/2021

Dunsany started the brightest and registered the first score before Paddy McDermott converted a free. With both teams opting for a condensed warm up, the game took a while to get going. Niall McDonnell’s fine scoring form continued when he shot over the shoulder to open his account for the day. At the water break and an uneventful first quarter, the score read 0-2 to 0-1 to the North Meath men.

The second quarter belonged to Dunsany where they outscored the hosts 0-6 to 0-1 with Dunsany converting a number of frees. Carnaross had plenty of possession but struggled to make it count on the scoreboard with Paddy McDermott’s free the only score kicked in the second quarter.

Carnaross dominated the third quarter and the game exploded into life. Cian McGlynn had a fantastic game and his midfield battle with Eoin Harkin was the highlight of the encounter. McGlynn scored a spectacular point after weaving his way through numerous tackles only to kick a long curling effort from distance to kickstart the Hoops’ revival. Niall McDonnell kicked his second goal in two games after a fine hand-passing move involving 4 different players was smartly finished to the net to reduce the gap to the minimum. McDonnell found himself in space shortly after to tie up proceedings and set up a grandstand finish.

As the fourth quarter began, tempers began to flare and Gus Martyn did his very best to keep a lid on proceedings. Jack Roche impressed throughout but especially in this tumultuous period. Dillon Fox and Niall McDonnell kept the scoreboard ticking over but Dunsany lead in that department after rediscovering their scoring form. Dunsany tried to kill the game as a contest but were denied goals on two separate occasions by Shane McNiffe in goals. James O’Connor was instrumental in defence breaking up numerous attacks but Dunsany continued to convert their chances while The Ross began to spurn theirs. Niall McDonnell kicked another lovely point to bring his tally to an impressive 1-3 but even Paddy McDermott’s third point wasn’t enough to prevent Dunsany from running out 3 point victors.

Carnaross: Shane McNiffe, Jack Roche, Cormac O’Reilly, Ian Donoghue, Odhran Farrelly, James O’Connor, Cian O’Reilly, Cillian Comaskey, Cian McGlynn (0-1), Darragh O’Reilly, Dillon Fox (0-1), Shane O’Reilly, Cormac Yore, Niall McDonnell (1-3), Paddy McDermott (0-3). Subs: Tomas Plunkett, Peter Carpenter, Sean Carpenter, Shane Casserly, Paddy Farnan, Sam Reynolds.