Adult Hurling League Division One & Division Two round-up
By Daire Walsh
St Jude’s recorded their first win in Division Two South of the Go Ahead Adult Hurling League when defeating Thomas Davis on a score of 2-21 to 1-18 at Kiltipper Road on Saturday evening.
Following a draw at home to St Oliver Plunkett’s/Eoghan Ruadh a fortnight earlier – 0-19 apiece – the Templeogue club were hoping to go a step further in their second competitive outing of 2021.
Thomas Davis, on the other hand, were looking to bounce back from their opening round reversal to Ballyboden St Enda’s ‘B’ (2-16 to 0-14).
Being on their main patch in Tallaght was certainly a help and Davis’ certainly caused problems for their Wellington Lane counterparts.
Jude’s took to the field without star forward Danny Sutcliffe, who made a massive impact for Dublin in their Leinster Senior Hurling Championship victory over Galway on the same day.
Nevertheless, the visitors had enough in reserve to claim the two points on offer. Whereas Thomas Davis will next face Crumlin at Pearse Park on July 17, Jude’s won’t be back in action until 11 days after that against the same opposition at Tymon Park.
There was disappointment for the aforementioned Crumlin at Martin Savage Park as they fell to a 14-point defeat (3-19 to 0-14) at the hands of St Oliver Plunkett’s.
It is Ballyboden who currently lead the way in Division Two South courtesy of their impressive 2-22 to 0-14 triumph at the expense of Kilmacud Crokes ‘B’ in Silver Park last Thursday.
In blistering conditions, quickfire points from Gavin Corrigan (two), Tom Mullins and Jonathan O’Driscoll provided ‘Boden with an early platform. Fionn Maguire and Finn McDonagh added additional scores in the first-quarter, but with Michael Roche, Alex Carroll and Conor Galvin all finding the range for Crokes, their lead stood at just two (0-7 to 0-5) for the first half water break.
Although Roche continued to shine for the hosts, ‘Boden remained a step ahead of their Stillorgan opponents. Mullins and Corrigan enhanced their personal tallies, with half-back Naoise Maguire also contributing a brace of points to give the Firhouse Road outfit a 0-12 to 0-7 interval cushion.
The gap continued to widen on the resumption as ‘Boden held a 0-17 to 0-10 advantage at the third-quarter mark. Eoghan O’Neill, Corrigan and McDonagh split the uprights in consummate fashion to leave Crokes with a mountain to climb in the closing minutes.
There had been a number of goal chances over the course of the contest, before O’Driscoll finally rattled the net. This was quickly followed by another three-pointer from Aaron Coffey to ensure Ballyboden preserved their 100 per cent record.
Due to the passing of Noel Madden – father of Ballyboden and Dublin defender James – the proposed meeting between ‘Boden’s ‘A’ side and Faughs in Division One South was moved to this Thursday at Tymon Park (throw-in 7.30pm).
Having overcome Ballinteer St John’s in their opening game of this year’s top-tier, Lucan Sarsfields suffered a narrow reversal to Cuala (4-12 to 2-16) at Shanganagh Park on Saturday. Elsewhere on the same day, Ballinteer were on the receiving end of a second consecutive defeat, this time to Kilmacud Crokes at Marley Park (2-20 to 0-12).