DUBLIN MHC ‘A’ Quarter-Final 

ST VINCENT’S………………..2-15
FAUGHS………………………1-14

Daire Walsh

Oisín Mulcahy and Brian Murray struck first-half goals at Ardscoil Rís on Sunday to help St Vincent’s towards a four-point victory over Faughs at the quarter-final stage of the Dublin Minor ‘A’ Hurling Championship.

They did come under pressure from their spirited Templeogue counterparts during the closing moments of the contest, but the Marino outfit had already done enough to secure a spot in the last four. Despite being on top of the competition’s roll of honour with 20 titles, Vincent’s are seeking their first triumph at this grade since 2002.

Although Faughs have a couple of Minor ‘B’ Championship crowns to their name, the search for a top-tier success will continue into 2022. James O’Brien was the Wellington Lane side’s chief scorer with six points, while Niall Fitzgibbon lashed home late on to set up a tense finale.

Fitzgibbon was one of four players in the Faughs starting line-up who featured for Templeogue Synge Street in their Minor ‘B’ Football Championship quarter-final win over Erin’s Isle seven days earlier. Dublin under-age hurler Sean Cooney played a key role in that extra-time victory and got the ball rolling in this game with a fine point inside the opening 60 seconds.

Vins quickly responded through a Mulcahy free, before Faughs reasserted themselves with unanswered scores from Oisín McKenna and Rory King. Their northside opponents were taking their time to settle, but subsequently caught fire when Mulcahy lofted the ball beyond Faughs netminder Kevin Hogan for an eighth-minute goal.

Even though the visitors levelled matters with a Fitzgibbon point, inside forwards Mulcahy and Daniel Peel were also on target for Vins. Either side of an Aaron Cosgrave effort for the hosts, influential midfielder O’Brien fired over a brace of fine scores to keep Faughs in touch.

This was the precursor to Vins’ first sustained purple patch, with Peel and Cosgrave points supplementing Murray’s green flag strike on 22 minutes. While this created significant daylight for the first time, Vins were reined in to a degree by their southside rivals.

Scott McConnell (who represented the Dublin minor footballers this year) and Cooney found the range to leave Faughs four adrift at the break (2-6 to 0-8) and with Conor Brennan and O’Brien on target after the restart, the gauntlet was thrown down to Vins. It remained delicately poised when O’Brien cancelled out Conor Dolan’s first of the day for their opponents.

Once again, however, it was Vins who discovered an extra gear. Courtesy of points from Mulcahy, Peel and Dolan (two), they established a 2-11 to 0-11 buffer with 15 minutes of normal time left.

Brennan brought this scoring sequence to an end with his second score of the half, but this only provided Faughs with a temporary respite. Substitute Paul Reynolds-Hand put two clear goals between the teams for the third time and following additional points by Cosgrave, Mulcahy and wing-back Stephen Williams, Vins looked set for a comfortable win.

Yet credit must to go to Faughs for make a fight of it in the dying minutes. A superb individual finish from Fitzgibbon reignited their challenge and an O’Brien shot from an awkward angle in the opening minute of stoppage-time marginally cleared the crossbar.

The Sky Blues minor also pointed a free in the 65th-minute, but Vins were not to be denied in the end.

Scorers – St Vincent’s: O Mulcahy 1-4 (0-3f), B Murray 1-0, D Peel (1f), C Dolan,A Cosgrave 0-3 each, S Williams, P Reynolds-Hand 0-1 each. Faughs: J O’Brien 0-6 (4f), N Fitzgibbon 1-1, S Cooney, C Brennan 0-2 each, S McConnell, O McKenna, R King 0-1 each.

ST VINCENT’S: A Smyth; A Reynolds-Hand, A Dunne, D Twomey; S Brady, B Moorehouse-Carroll, S Williams; C Dolan, C Walsh; B Murray, P Gilroy, H Kirwan; O Mulcahy, A Cosgrave, D Peel. Subs: P Reynolds-Hand for Murray (36), J Brady for Kirwan (44), E Abernathy for Brady (50).

FAUGHS: K Hogan; M Hennelly, S O’Brien, C Kenny; M Moore, S McDonald, T Ryan; S McConnell, J O’Brien; O McKenna, S Cooney, N Fitzgibbon; C Brennan, L Mostyn, R King. Subs: J McGovern for King (48), S Lewis for Kenny (57).

MENTORS – St Vincent’s: Tony Dunne, Liam Mac Cuirc, Gavin Burke, Conor Burke. Faughs: Mike Connolly, Karol O’Brien, John Kelly, Maudie Ryan, Dave Connolly.

REFEREE: Thomas Gleeson (Naomh Fionnbarra).

WIDES – St Vincent’s: 9 (4+5). Faughs: 16 (9+7).

CONDITIONS: Dry and sunny, but breezy at times.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH: Oisín Mulcahy (St Vincent’s).