GO AHEAD DUBLIN SENIOR 2 FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND-UP: SEPTEMBER 3RD
GO AHEAD DUBLIN SENIOR TWO FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND-UP: SEPTEMBER 3
By Daire Walsh
Gareth ‘Nesty’ Smith and Ger Ryan goals were crucial at Martin Savage Park on Saturday as St Oliver Plunkett’s/Eoghan Ruadh edged out the challenge of St Patrick’s, Donabate in Group One of the Go Ahead Dublin Senior Two Football Championship.
Holding off a late surge from their opponents to earn a 2-10 to 2-9 victory, Plunkett’s left aside a tricky start to the competition to emerge as group winners. Following a comprehensive reversal to Naomh Olaf on the opening weekend of their campaign, Plunkett’s got back on track with a 4-13 to 0-9 success over Naomh Mearnóg on August 20th.
After finding themselves on the road for that first encounter with Olaf’s, Terry O’Brien’s Navan Road outfit certainly benefited from being on home soil in their duel with Mearnóg. Their second home assignment of the group was a much tighter affair, however, as the boots of Stephen Dempsey and Niall Collins helped Donabate to establish a 0-4 to 0-3 cushion just beyond the first-quarter mark.
Yet Plunkett’s bookended the opening period with four unanswered points and created further daylight in the form of Smith’s coolly-converted penalty on the resumption. Netminder Gavin Broughan had denied the Donabate attack with a superb stop moments earlier, only for Colm Kavanagh to eventually rattle the back of his net on 37 minutes.
A Ryan major placed Plunkett’s within sight of back-to-back wins once again, before a second Kavanagh goal reignited Pat’s inside the final-quarter. The visitors were even back on level terms in the 54th-minute, but Plunkett’s held their nerve to finish with a single point to spare.
As disappointing as this result was for Donabate, they nonetheless claimed the runners-up spot in the group and thus have qualified for the knockout stages of the Senior Two Championship. This is thanks in no small part to Naomh Mearnog’s 1-10 to 1-8 triumph at the expense of Naomh Olaf at Pairc Ui Bhriain.
This win left Mearnog level on three points with Donabate in the final standings, but a superior score difference was enough for the latter to progress into the last-eight. Despite starting their campaign in such a positive fashion, Olaf’s have missed out on a place in the next phase of the competition.
At Chanel on the same day, St Vincent’s made it three from three in Group Two with a convincing 4-15 to 2-5 victory over Parnell’s.
While the hosts broke the deadlock inside the opening 60 seconds with a point from Sean McHugh, Vins pushed forward and subsequently developed an eight-point cushion. McHugh struck back for Parnell’s with a 1-1 salvo, but the visiting side ultimately brought a 1-8 to 1-3 buffer into the changing rooms at half-time.
Despite the best efforts of McHugh, Cillian Hunt and Harry Gardner for their Coolock counterparts, Vins maintained their attacking momentum on the restart. Gavin Burke bagged his third point of the contest on 42 minutes and quickly followed up with a well-taken goal to place the outcome beyond doubt.
Former Dublin footballer Tomas Quinn also registered a brace of majors in the closing stages and while Adam Doyle found the back of the net at the opposite end, it was only a consolation for Parnell’s.
Goals were also the order for the day for St Mary’s, Saggart, who returned home from Ballyboughal with a 5-3 to 1-11 success to show for their endeavours. This was their second win of the group – following an earlier victory over Parnell’s – and is enough to help them progress into the knockout rounds alongside Vincent’s.
Ballyboughal initially had the better of the early exchanges, but Mary’s came storming into the action with a 10th-minute finish courtesy of Carl Finn. Whilst ‘Boughal responded with a three-pointer of their own, Finn restored parity in swift fashion with his second goal of the half.
It was becoming abundantly clear that Mary’s had the midas touch in front of the posts and Jack O’Keeffe contributed their third green flag strike of the tie in clinical style. He followed up with a fine point to ensure the Saggart men were three points to the good during the interval.
Ballyboughal continued to have their moments in possession, but ultimately found it impossible to curb the influence of Finn. He claimed a magnificent hat-trick with typical aplomb and when Shane Buckley rattled the opposition net for a fifth time on 43 minutes, Mary’s had their sights on a quarter-final berth.
‘Boughal had accounted for Parnell’s in their maiden game of the group and also ran Vincent’s close in the second round, but found themselves on the wrong side of the final scoreline on this occasion.
St Mary’s can now look forward to a last-eight date with St Oliver Plunkett’s, while St Vincent’s will take on St Patrick’s, Donabate as they aim for an immediate return to the Senior One Championship.
Naomh Maur shared the spoils at the end of a compelling clash with Erin’s Isle in Finglas on Saturday (0-16 to 1-13), but still emerged as the pace-setters in Group Three. Previous triumphs over St Anne’s and Fingallians set them on their way and they garnered the single point they needed to finish in top spot.
It is Fingallians who will join them in the knockout stage, following the Swords side’s 3-7 to 2-4 win against St Anne’s at Lawless Park.
Their opponents in their quarter-finals will be St Sylvester’s, who finished at the summit of Group Four thanks to a 2-14 to 0-10 victory against Trinity Gaels at Broomfield – their third on the bounce in this year’s competition.
With one win apiece, St Brigid’s and Round Tower Clondalkin locked horns in a winner-takes-all affair at a gloomy Russell Park on Saturday. As it transpired, there was to be no separating the teams as the final Brigid’s tally of 1-11 was evenly-matched by the Round Towers haul of 2-8.
However, the Castleknock-based outfit had a better scoring average coming into this game and remain in the running for championship honours at the expense of their Clondalkin rivals.
Despite having to contend with the sort of torrential rain that adversely affected the majority of games that took place in the capital on Saturday, Brigid’s hit the ground running with an early goal from former Dublin footballer Philip Ryan. There was little between the sides in the first half, but place-ball specialist Scott Daly nonetheless guided Brigid’s towards a 1-4 to 0-5 interval buffer.
Towers remained in the reckoning when the action resumed, though, and a brace of goals from speculative efforts significantly bolstered their prospects. Yet Michael McGrath was marshalling the Brigid’s defence to good effect and with Mark Donnelly and Kevin Callaghan chipped in with some fine points, the hosts came away with the positive result they needed on the day to keep their championship hopes alive.