Donaghmore/Ashbourne’s adult hurlers failed to capture silverware on the club’s Centenary weekend after a three-point defeat in the Division Three final to a very-experienced Kildalkey side.

The sides traded scores early on, with Darragh O’Sullivan firing over three points in the first ten minutes to keep track with a Kildalkey side that had three players that started Friday’s Division One final against Trim lining out on Saturday.

One of those, Brian Conneely, fired a brilliant strike past Ben Mather to give Kildalkey a five-point margin with ten to go in the first half, only for Don/Ash to respond with a green flag of their own.

Michael O’Sullivan’s speculative over-the-shoulder effort seemed to be going wide, only for the wind to keep it in, where Conor Carey leapt to tap it past Colm Barry in the Kildalkey goal.

Darragh O’Sullivan fired over two more scores to level the game, the second a free from a huge distance out.

However, a mixup on a puckout allowed Kildalkey to grab a second goal to stop the momentum and go in with a four-point lead at the break.

Mattie Cully and Darragh O’Sullivan continued to trade frees to start the second half, with Andy Tormey chipping in with a point of his own.

O’Sullivan and Tormey combined to get the Moors a second goal – with the former flicking the ball up for Tormey to advance goalwards.

His strike from an angle rebounded off the bottom of the post, with the ensuing scramble seeing Barry put over his own line.

Again, Cully’s frees kept Don/Ash at a distance, but Michael O’Sullivan’s brace made it a two-point game with ten minutes to play.

Kildalkey manager Nick Fitzgerald called for two more senior players off the bench to try and seal the game, but they could do nothing about Don/Ash’s third goal.

Michael O’Sullivan’s run forward saw him offload to a hurleyless Jack Butler, who turned and opted to kick the sliotair past a helpless Barry and give the Moors the lead.

However, the senior experience would pay off for Kildalkey, as they immediately equalised before ex-county player Derek Doran got half a yard of space to squeeze in their third goal.

Despite another Darragh O’Sullivan point, Don/Ash couldn’t find a way through as Kildalkey defended their goal well to seal the 3-13 to 3-10 win.

Don/Ash team: Ben Mather; Terry Bruton, Fionnán Hogan, Daragh Walsh; Cian Field, Oisín Daly, David Carr; Rhys Thomas, Darragh O’Sullivan (0-7, 5f); Shaun Byrne, Luke Andrews, Seán Doyle; Andy Tormey (1-1), Conor Carey (1-0), Michael O’Sullivan (0-2)

Subs: Faolin Smith for Walsh, Sam Benville for Bruton, Jack Butler (1-0) for Andrews, Oisín Mulhall for Byrne, Tomás Gaughan for Doyle. Unused: Thomas Burnell, Stephen Leahy, Sean O’Sullivan, David Kent, Colm Randle, Cathal Byrne