Jude’s again fall short of the promised land
By Daire Walsh
THEY were so close to reaching the promised land at Parnell Park on Sunday afternoon, but for St Jude’s, the quest to secure a maiden Dublin Senior Football Championship crown will continue into 2022.
Thanks to Callum Pearson’s point deep into second half stoppage-time, the Templeogue side were ultimately denied by Kilmacud Crokes in a low-scoring showpiece affair (1-7 to 1-6) in Donnycarney last weekend.
It had been a monumental effort from Jude’s on the day, with Gareth Roche’s charges in the ascendancy for large stretches of the contest. Crokes were able to call upon considerable quality throughout the field, but struggled to make an attacking impact for much of the game.
With all of 37 minutes gone on the clock, Robbie Brennan’s men had just a single point to their name. It wasn’t until the 42nd minute that their third point of the game arrived and – remarkably – Paul Mannion was their only starting outfield player to get his name on the scoresheet.
Still, it is not all about the 15 that take up their positions for the throw-in at the beginning of a game and the Kilmacud substitutes came up trumps for Brennan in the end.
Adding to Cian O’Connor’s 51st-minute goal, Aidan Jones and Pearson fired over injury-time points to turn a potential one-point reversal into a single score win.
David Mannix and Brian Coakley had helped see Jude’s back up and running after O’Connor had edged Crokes in front for the very first time, but the Glenalbyn outfit were building momentum and eventually came away with the spoils.
As disappointing as this defeat was, however, St Jude’s nonetheless have considerable cause for optimism as they push forward into 2022.
This was their second final appearance in the space of four years – Crokes also having conquered their fellow southsiders in 2018.
Given they had only competed in one previous decider (2009) up to that point, this in itself represents significant progress.
They have been challenging at the business end of the top-tier championship for quite a while now and are expected to do so again in the coming years.
Although Dublin senior panellists Kevin McManamon and Tom Lahiff are perhaps the most notable names in their side, a couple of long-standing stalwarts did their bit for the cause on Sunday.
Netminder Paul Copeland produced an excellent save from Dara Mullin early on and midfielder Colm Murphy displayed exceptional aerial ability throughout the course of the action.
It took all of 23 minutes for a breakthrough score in this game, but Alan Connolly’s well-taken goal ensured Jude’s led 1-1 to 0-1 at the end of an unexpectedly cautious opening period.
It looked set to be their day when Mannix (two) and Connolly extended their cushion on the resumption, but with Mannion showing true leadership, Crokes remained in contention.
The prospect of extra-time was looming large when Coakley and Jones traded scores late on, but Pearson split the uprights from an awkward angle to leave St Jude’s agonisingly short.