GO AHEAD ADULT FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION ONE ROUND-UP
GO AHEAD ADULT FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION ONE ROUND-UP: FEBRUARY 13
By Daire Walsh
Defending champions Na Fianna kick-started their Go-Ahead Adult Football League Division One campaign with a hard-earned 2-13 to 3-8 victory against St Jude’s at St Mobhi Road on Sunday morning.
Having overcome subsequent Dublin SFC winners Kilmacud Crokes in last year’s decider – a 2-16 to 2-12 triumph played out at Parnell Park on August 28 – they were eager to for a bright opening against the team that were conquered by the Stillorgan men in the county final a little under three months ago.
When the Glasnevin outfit secured the top-flight crown in 2021, former inter-county underage star David Lacey was one of their main sources for scores. He was in top form once again on this occasion, contributing an impressive tally of 2-5 to ensure Na Fianna had the measure of their opponents.
Due to their involvement in Saturday’s All-Ireland club final showpiece at Croke Park – where they suffered an agonising defeat to Kilcoo of Down after extra-time – the aforementioned Crokes weren’t in action this weekend and aren’t expected to return to competitive fare for another few weeks.
This also meant that Ballyboden St Enda’s remained idle on the opening weekend of the competition, but they will welcome Na Fianna to Pairc Ui Murchu next Sunday (throw-in 10.30am).
After securing the Go-Ahead Dublin Senior Two Football Championship for the second season in succession last year, Cuala are looking to make a big splash in 2022.
While they didn’t have everything their own way against Naomh Maur at Shanganagh Park on Sunday, Luke Keating’s fifth-minute goal was enough to earn them a 1-13 to 0-14 win.
All of the AFL1 games that took place over the course of the weekend were remarkably close, with the biggest winning margin out of the seven fixtures played being three points. That was the gap that existed between the teams at Marley Park, where visitors Lucan Sarsfields enjoyed a 1-17 to 2-11 triumph over Ballinteer St John’s.
With the likes of Brendan Gallagher, Harry Ladd and Mark Lavin still featuring heavily in Dave Cullen’s plans for the new campaign, Lucan should once again be a side to watch out for.
Although the leagues aren’t divided between north and south as they were in 2021, there were still a number of local derbies spread across the various divisions of the AFL. Most notably, Castleknock welcomed St Brigid’s to Somerton Park and secured bragging rights with a 3-8 to 0-15 victory.
For much of their clash with Naomh Mearnog at Pairc Naomh Uinsionn, St Vincent’s appeared to be in pole position to come away with a win. A first half goal from Tomás Quinn, following a nice pass from Cian Dunne, helped the home side to a 1-06 to 0-05 lead at half time. This lead was stretched further early in the second half- and Vincents were still five points to the good heading towards the final 10 minutes of play.
However, Mearnog staged a second half comeback- led by Karl Lynch Bissett at centre back. His free-taking and second half penalty turned the game in their favour and they pushed on to claim the spoils with a single point to spare (1-10 to 1-9), despite the best efforts of Vins’ Gavin Burke, who struck two superb long range points.
At Pairc Ciceam, 2019 league champions Ballymun Kickhams played out a 1-7 to 0-10 draw with Thomas Davis.
There was also a sharing of the points at St Anne’s Park on Friday evening when Clontarf played host to Skerries Harps under lights. Recovering from a shaky start, Skerries grabbed a goal through Stephen Smith to lead 1-5 to 1-2 at the interval.
This threw down the gauntlet to ‘Tarf, but with the likes of Andy Foley and Kieran McKeown leading by example, the home team edged themselves back into the ascendancy on the resumption. Nonetheless, Skerries kept plugging away and a second Smith goal was supplemented by Rob Delaney’s late equalising free.