GO AHEAD DUBLIN SENIOR 2 FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND-UP: AUGUST 20TH
Go Ahead Dublin Senior 2 Football Championship Round-Up: August 20th
By Daire Walsh
St Patrick’s, Donabate edged out in front at the top of the Go Ahead Dublin Senior Two Football Championship Group One table with a 0-10 to 0-8 home triumph over Naomh Olaf on Saturday.
Having shared the spoils with Naomh Mearnóg in their opening game of the campaign, Pat’s are now one point clear of both Olaf’s and St Oliver Plunkett’s/Eoghan Ruadh in the overall standings. The order of merit could well change in Saturday week’s final round of fixtures, but they will be more than content for the time being.
At the end of a tightly-contested opening period, the Donabate men had established a 0-5 to 0-3 interval cushion. Stephen Dempsey, Killian McKeon and Ollie Brooks were amongst those to find the target for the home team.
Opening round winners over the aforementioned Oliver Plunkett’s, Olaf’s were finding scores harder to come by on this occasion. Despite reducing the gap to a single point in the early and closing stages of the second half, St Pat’s held firm.
Dempsey, McKeon and Adam Dunne all chipped in with crucial scores to ensure their side are the only unbeaten team remaining in Group One.
Naomh Mearnóg had designs on building momentum from their recent draw with St Pat’s, but were ultimately second best to St Oliver Plunkett’s/Eoghan Ruadh at Martin Savage Park on Saturday. The experienced duo of Bernard Brogan and Ted Furman shone brightly in the first half and Plunkett’s never looked back from there.
The evergreen Gareth ‘Nesty’ Smith also featured in the home team’s attack and their impressive firepower propelled them towards a convincing 4-13 to 0-9 victory. Having suffered a comprehensive reversal to Naomh Olaf a fortnight earlier, Plunkett’s can now look forward to a tantalising showdown with St Pat’s on September 3.
In Group Two, St Vincent’s preserved their 100% record with a 0-17 to 0-12 away success at the expense of Ballyboughal on Friday. After underlining their credentials in the shape of a 3-15 to 0-10 victory over St Mary’s, Saggart in the previous round, the Marino men showed considerable grit to come through a difficult encounter in Ballyboughal.
Thanks to points from Tomas Quinn and Kalem O’Brien, Vins established an early foothold in the game. However, Ballyboughal dug deep and the ever-dependable Gerry Seaver fired them back on level terms.
Yet Vins didn’t panic and with Cian Dunne and O’Brien to the fore, the visitors brought a five-point buffer into the interval. Vins remained in the ascendancy on the resumption with Quinn and marauding half-back Shane O’Leary raising white flags in fine style.
Seaver continued to fly the flag for Ballyboughal, but they found the opposition rearguard hard to break down. Mark L’Estrange and Michael Concarr stood out from a defensive point of view, while Quinn and O’Brien were scorers-in-chief at the far end of the pitch.
Both players emerged with four points apiece from open play, though Quinn also contributed 0-5 from placed balls.
Meanwhile, St Mary’s shook off the disappointment of that opening round loss to Vincent’s by securing a 4-9 to 3-6 win against Parnell’s in Saggart on Saturday.
The hosts had stormed into a 2-4 to 0-1 lead in the opening period – Blaine Kelly and Conor Jameson raising green flags – before Stephen Duffy and Jamie Sammon shook the net either side of the half-time break to give Parnell’s a fighting chance. Cillian Hunt also knocked over a number of frees for the Coolock men and a successful Duffy penalty on 36 minutes offered them further momentum.
They were two points in front with just six minutes of normal time remaining, only for an unanswered haul of 2-2 to ultimately swing the tie in the direction of St Mary’s. Substitute Carl Finn and the influential Kelly (who finished with a personal tally of 2-3) bagged the late goals to bolster their championship prospects.
In Group Three, Naomh Maur cemented their status as pace-setters with a 3-12 to 2-8 success over Fingallians in Rush.
Having registered an impressive haul of 3-19 in an opening round triumph at the expense of St Anne’s, Maur’s are one of the most ruthless sides on current form in the Senior Two Championship.
Erin’s Isle were on the receiving end of a one-point reversal to Fingallians in their first game of the group, but triumphed by the bare minimum against St Anne’s in Finglas on Friday (1-13 to 0-15).
Aaron Bradley, Neil Matthews and Stephen Kane stood out for Isles in the opening period, while the latter was on hand to rattle the net in the second half.
Mark Victory contributed five points over the course of the hour and even though Anne’s looked set to come away with a share of the spoils, a late free from David Moher ensured it was Erin’s Isle who claimed the two points on offer.
In a clash of the opening round winners in Group Four, St Sylvester’s recorded a 0-11 to 0-7 victory against St Brigid’s at Russell Park on Saturday.
At Drumnigh on the same day, Round Tower Clondalkin got their campaign back on track by getting the better of Trinity Gaels with seven points to spare (4-13 to 2-12).