DUBLIN MINOR FOOTBALL LEAGUE 1 NORTH

Na Fianna 0-14
Erin’s Isle 1-3

Daire Walsh

Séamus Smith contributed a superb haul of 10 points at St Mobhi Road on Sunday afternoon to give Na Fianna a convincing win over Erin’s Isle in a Dublin Minor Football League Division One North encounter.

Equally adept off either foot, the elusive corner-forward put on an attacking exhibition as Barry Corrigan’s hosts continued their unbeaten start to this year’s MFL1 campaign. Following a comprehensive triumph against Skerries Harps in the opening round on July 4, Na Fianna shared the spoils with St Vincent’s on away soil last Wednesday.

With James Staines, Dan Morley and Ciarán Stacey also in fine form, they remain a single point adrift of table-toppers St Sylvester’s. Isles had lost out to the Malahide outfit four days earlier, and were searching for a second win to go alongside their 1-14 to 1-12 success over Ballymun Kickhams at the beginning of the month.

Half-forward duo Luke Dunne and Aaron Duff did their best for the cause, while midfielder Timmy Akinleye injected plenty of energy into their play. They managed to bring their deficit down to six in the closing moments of the contest, but it was Na Fianna who ultimately claimed the spoils in clinical style.

In an effort to disrupt the Na Fianna attack, Isles deployed Jason Duddy as an extra man at the heart of their defence. It was an effective strategy during the early exchanges, with the sides remaining scoreless until the sixth minute of the action.

This was the cue for Smith to strike a close-range free between the posts and he repeated the trick just two minutes later. Isles were struggling to break past a disciplined Na Fianna rearguard, but managed to reduce the gap on the stroke of 10 minutes.

A free on the left-hand side, by full-forward Lee Browning, crept inside the post to get the visitors up and running. The Farnham Drive outfit aimed to push on from this point, albeit that was always going to be easier said than done.

At the end of a fast-paced move, Smith chipped over a fine point on the run – his first effort from open play. This gave Na Fianna a 0-3 to 0-1 cushion at the first water break, something that was badly-needed given the sweltering heat both sets of players had to contend with.

Na Fianna maintained their stranglehold on the game following this brief interlude, thanks in no small part to a brace of successful Smith frees. Centre half-back Liam Fay subsequently roamed forward to split the uprights – lifting some of the scoring burden off Smith’s shoulders in the process.

In the closing minutes of the opening period, Smith showcased considerable ingenuity to pick out Tom Brennan off a quickly-taken free. Although the wing-forward was squeezed out by the Isles defence, Na Fianna established a commanding 0-6 to 0-1 interval buffer.

Smith fired over another score on the loop just two minutes after the restart, before Na Fianna received their first significant scare of the tie. The lively Kenneth Duffy burst through the opposition cover and unleashed a powerful strike on goal that produced a fine stop out of Na Fianna custodian Seán Stone.

It may have only been a temporary setback if Duffy had found the net, but the Glasnevin side made sure to reinforce their authority with back-to-back points from Smith and half-time substitute Davin Downes. Dunne later drew a foul for a free that was converted by Duff, only for Smith to once again find the range at the opposite end.

Moving into the final quarter, Na Fianna’s advantage stretched into double figures, when the dynamic duo of Smith and Stacey dissected the posts. Give Isles credit, however, as they admirably persevered with their challenge as the final whistle approached.

Kyle Curtis, in particular, made a strong impact as a substitute. Having hit the side-netting off an earlier move, he palmed the ball down into Dunne’s path for a well-taken goal on 58 minutes.

This score had been preceded by another Duff free as Na Fianna found themselves under pressure for an extended period. Yet there was never any real danger of them letting victory slip from their grasp, especially with Isles losing wing-back Luke Lowndes to a second yellow card late on.

To round off an impressive Na Fianna display, Smith and Stacey knocked over stoppage-time points to leave eight between the teams at full-time.

SCORERS – Na Fianna: S Smith 0-10 (6f), C Stacey 0-2, L Fay, D Downes 0-1 each. Erin’s Isle: L Dunne 1-0, A Duff 0-2 (2f), L Browning 0-1 (f).

NA FIANNA: S Stone; E Gaughran, J Staines, D Grennan; A Neville, L Fay, J Lacey; D Day, D Morley; A Brady, C Grew, T Brennan; S Smith, C Stacey, J Burke. Subs: D Downes for Brady (h-t), A Scanlon for Brennan, C Lambert for Burke (both 41), C Brabazon for Gaughran, A Gilligan for Grennan (both 46), Burke for Scanlon (55).

ERIN’S ISLE: A McGrath; J Hughes, S Coffey, L Murphy; K Mooney, C Morgan, L Lowndes; C Lawlor, T Akinleye; L Dunne, A Duff, K Duffy; A McGrane, L Browning, J Duddy. Subs: K Curtis for Browning (36), S Trawally for McGrane (46), J Rogers for Duff (57), J Lamie for Duffy (58).

MENTORS: Na Fianna: Barry Corrigan, John Kelly, Mark Daly, Jackie Dolan, Conor McArdle, Peter Smith, David Murray. Erin’s Isle: Robbie Mullins, Alan Duff, Gary Matthews, Damien Lawlor.

REFEREE: Philip Fitzsimons (Liffey Gaels).

WIDES – Na Fianna: 12 (5+7). Erin’s Isle: 1 (0+1).

CONDITIONS: Blistering heat with virtually no breeze.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH: Séamus Smith (Na Fianna).