St Jude’s, Ballyboden and Thomas Davis enjoy fruitful weekend in AFL1
By Daire Walsh
St Jude’s bounced back from a first round defeat against Kilmacud Crokes in Adult Football League Division One South by edging out the challenge of Lucan Sarsfields at 12th Lock on Saturday.
At the end of an engrossing battle, the Templeogue side had just two points spare (3-12 to 2-13) over Dave Cullen’s men.
Lucan played out a draw with Ballyboden St Enda’s in their first competitive game of the year a fortnight beforehand and while their search for a maiden win in 2021 continues, there will be ample opportunities to do so in the coming weeks.
From a Jude’s perspective, they can now approach their forthcoming clash with Ballyboden on July 7 with renewed vigour. It was also a fine weekend for ‘Boden, who recorded an emphatic 3-16 to 1-11 triumph over Castleknock at Pairc Ui Murchu.
While Ballinteer St John’s were second best to Kilmacud Crokes at Silver Park (3-10 to 0-9), Thomas Davis’ comprehensive 2-16 to 2-9 victory over Cuala at Hyde Park puts them ahead of Crokes on score difference at the summit of the table.
In a re-arranged Adult Football League Division Two South fixture at Martin Savage Park last Thursday, St Anne’s suffered a 2-17 to 1-10 defeat at the hands of St Oliver Plunkett’s/Eoghan Ruadh.
At the wet and windy Navan Road venue, Anne’s trailed 1-4 to 0-0 inside 11 minutes with Plunkett’s centre-forward Niall Walsh rattling the net. However, former Dublin minor Scott Fulham knocked over a brace of points to offer the visitors some form of solace.
A second goal courtesy of Irinel Popa propelled Plunkett’s towards a 2-7 to 0-4 interval lead, but Anne’s threatened a comeback during a much-improved third-quarter. Supplemented by a series of Jamie O’Neill points, a Fulham green flag strike helped the Tallaght outfit to reduce their deficit to four (2-9 to 1-8) by the 41st-minute.
Unfortunately for Anne’s, they were too reliant on the dual forces of Fulham and O’Neill for scores and a powerful final-quarter from the hosts ultimately sealed their fate.
Templeogue Synge Street are currently level on points with Plunkett’s towards the top of the AFL2 South table, following their 2-12 to 0-12 triumph against Scoil Ui Chonaill at Clontarf Road on Saturday. TSS had seven points to spare (2-13 to 0-12) over Na Fianna ‘B’ at Dolphin Park two weeks earlier and are in fine spirits ahead of their home meeting with Round Tower Clondalkin on Wednesday week (July 7).
Alex O’Toole, Declan Treanor and Ger Vickery were all prominent in attack for TSS, who were AFL2 champions as recently as 2018. Sam McGovern played his part in a fine defensive effort as ‘Synger’ avoided the concession of a goal for the second game running.
Meanwhile, their forthcoming opponents Round Towers fell to an agonising one-point defeat (2-8 to 0-13) against Kilmacud ‘B’ at Monastery Road on the same evening.