PARNELL’S DIG DEEP FOR SPOILS
Dogged Coolock side continue on unbeaten run
DUBLIN AFL3
PARNELL’S 0-11
NAOMH FIONNBARRA 0-9
Daire Walsh
PARNELL’S preserved their 100% record in Dublin Adult Football League Division Three with a hard-fought triumph over Naomh Fionnbarra at Chanel last Wednesday.
Despite coming under intense pressure from their Cabra counterparts throughout, the Coolock made it ten wins from ten in this year’s third-tier. With St Patrick’s, Donabate also accumulating a maximum tally of 20 points thus far, it remains tight at the summit of the table.
St Margaret’s and St Mary’s, Saggart are also well in the mix as they trail the AFL3 pace-setters by just two points with another five rounds still to play. Although this was their fifth defeat of 2022, Fionnbarra can take plenty of encouragement from the performance they delivered.
The visitors had begun the game in fine spirits with Tommy O’Neill splitting the posts off his right foot in the second minute. Parnell’s inside-forward Cillian Hunt subsequently knocked over a free before O’Neill added another point off his weaker left side.
It was a largely cagey affair throughout the opening period, however, with neither team cutting loose in attack. Dead-ball specialists Hunt and Alex Hutton found the target to edge Parnell’s in front for the first time, but Fionnbarra were quick to turn the table on the hosts.
Thanks to unanswered scores from Lee Cooney, Ryan Kehoe and substitute Karl Grimes (who replaced Cian Peppard Leonard just shy of the first-quarter mark), they gained a firm stranglehold on proceedings. Hunt did convert a free from the edge of the ‘D’, but it couldn’t prevent Fionnbarra from holding a slender advantage (0-5 to 0-4) at the interval.
While this threw down the gauntlet to Parnell’s, their response was emphatic. Within nine minutes of the restart, Adam Doyle, Hutton and Hunt (two) had all raised white flags to move their side into a three-point lead, leaving Fionnbarra in a precarious position as a consequence.
Yet there was still plenty of time for ‘The Bogies’ outfit to work their way back into contention and a two-point salvo by O’Neill reduced their deficit to the bare minimum. Hunt and Sean Quinn kept the scoreboard ticking over from a Parnell’s perspective, but with Grimes and Cooney cancelling out their efforts, the stage was set for a dramatic finale.
Hunt had a chance to place the outcome beyond doubt on 56 minutes, but opposition netminder Lar Sweetman superbly turned away his goal-bound strike. Nonetheless, Parnell’s were to have the last word as Hutton expertly slotted over a ’45’ in stoppage-time that proved enough to squeeze the home team over the line.
Parnell’s will look to maintain their title push when they pay a visit to Trinity Gaels on June 15, while Naomh Fionnbarra will be back in action against Good Counsel/Liffey Gaels on the same night.
MATCH FILE
Scorers – Parnell’s: C Hunt 0-6 (4f), A Hutton 0-3 (1f, 1 ’45’), A Doyle, S Quinn 0-1 each. Naomh Fionnbarra: T O’Neill 0-4 (2f), L Cooney (1f), K Grimes 0-2 each, R Kehoe 0-1.
PARNELL’S: C Quinn; C Byrne, C Nolan, R O’Shea; A Hutton, S McGrath, M Scullion; A Myler, A Doyle; C McGrath, H Gardener, J Sammon; C Hunt, S Quinn, S McHugh.
NAOMH FIONNBARRA: L Sweetman; B Owens, J Fitzsimons, C Peppard Leonard; C Farrell, C Carberry, D Owens; G McAuley, A Costello; L Cooney, T O’Neill, S Murphy; T Lawlor, J Gunnery, R Kehoe. Subs: K Grimes for Peppard Leonard (12), G Dodrill for Kehoe (41), J Roe for Cooney (60).
MENTORS – Parnell’s: Damien Flanagan, Martin O’Shea. Naomh Fionnbarra: Keith Russell, Gerard O’Reilly, Johnny Morgan, Paddy Quinn.
REFEREE: D O’Connor (Naomh Mearnog).
WIDES – Parnell’s: 10 (6+4). Naomh Fionnbarra: 8 (4+4).
CONDITIONS: Dry and sunny with just a gentle breeze.
PLAYER OF THE MATCH: Cillian Hunt (Parnell’s).