County 4-Wall League Division 4 Final: Tough and consistent Michéal O’Neill was a worthy winner

Review by AOB

Although he was always going to be a contender in this very competitive group, it’s probably fair to say that Michéal O’Neill, Templeudigan would not have been everybody’s idea of the eventual winner. But nobody remembered to tell him that and even if they had its doubtful it would have had any effect. And so after coming through a really tough semi final against Sean Stanners, he raised his game again in the final against Laurance Dunne, Kilmyshall to take the title on a scoreline of 15-3, 12-15, 15-3

The youthful Dunne was expected to follow up a very impressive semi final win over the favourite Joe Devereux with another commanding performance here, but he found O’Neill to be far less accommodating. The experienced Templeudigan player set out his stall right from the off and his mix of strong play and roof shots prevented Dunne from setting into his game. O’Neill raced away with the opener on a scoreline of 15-3, but Dunne competed better in the second to level the tie with a 15-12 win. Many would have expected the younger man to dominate the tie break, but O’Neill was having none of it as he took charge once again. Once he built an early lead the outcome was never in doubt and he coasted home to an impressive 15-3 victory against a somewhat demoralised opponent.