St Jude’s and Ballyboden enjoy good wins in Division One South
By Daire Walsh
St Jude’s produced a strong performance at Tymon North on Saturday evening to record a deserved 2-18 to 0-15 triumph over Castleknock in Division One South of the Go Ahead Adult Football League.
Following a gutsy draw against Ballyboden St Enda’s in the same venue three days earlier, the Templeogue outfit went a step further against ‘Knock and consequently moved up to third place in the table. The dynamic full-forward line of Alan Connolly, Niall Coakley and David Mannix led the way for Jude’s, contributing a majestic combined haul of 2-15.
Diarmuid McLoughlin, Pat Spillane and Colm Murphy also chipped in with a point each as Gareth Roche’s charges ran out comfortable winners. Connolly shook the Castleknock net in the early stages of the contest and Jude’s never looked back from there.
Leading 1-13 to 0-6 at the interval, the Wellington Lane men continued to keep their opponents at arm’s length on the resumption. Connolly added a second major to bring his final tally to 2-4, with Coakley (0-6) and Mannix (0-5) also enjoying productive outings in front of the posts.
This result keeps Jude’s a single point adrift of ‘Boden, who narrowly overcame the challenge of Thomas Davis on a score of 2-9 to 1-11 at Pairc Ui Mhurchu. Anthony Rainbow’s side drew two of their opening three games and were close to doing so again, but had just enough in reserve to come through.
The experience of Darragh Nelson and Shane Clayton in defence was pivotal for ‘Boden, while the midfield duo of Donogh McCabe and Declan O’Mahoney combined to good effect. Ciaran O’Reilly and former Dublin hurling goalkeeper Conor Dooley occupied the central attacking areas as the Firhouse Road men extended their unbeaten start to 2021.
At 12th Lock, Lucan Sarsfields finally picked up their first win of the season, a 2-14 to 1-11 success over Ballinteer St John’s.
In Division Two South at Monastery Road on Saturday, Round Towers looked set for a memorable day on home soil when an Ian Ward pointed free and a Joey Leech goal gave them an early 1-1 to 0-1 lead over St Oliver Plunkett’s/Eoghan Ruadh. With goalkeeper Gary Cleary expertly marshalling his defence, the hosts brought a 1-6 to 0-7 cushion into the interval.
When a James Kelly single on the restart was followed by a superb point-blank save from Cleary, Towers remained on course for their third win of the term. Their two-point cushion was still intact on the third-quarter mark, before Plunkett’s subsequently turned on the afterburners.
Outscoring their opponents 0-9 to 0-3 in the closing 15 minutes, it was the Navan Road side who went on to prevail in fine style (0-20 to 1-13).
Whereas Templeogue Synge Street – who Towers had the measure of last Wednesday – suffered a 0-12 to 0-10 reversal at the hands of Kilmacud Crokes ‘B’ in Dolphin Park, St Anne’s did manage to share the spoils with Na Fianna ‘B’ at St Mobhi Road (0-14 apiece).