NORTH OFF TO FLYER!
Big second-half display helps Dubs to perfect start against Castlecomer
LEINSTER PP SH ‘A’ LEAGUE
DUBLIN NORTH……………………………… 2-17
CASTLECOMER CS…………………………… 0-07
By Daire Walsh
A STRONG second-half showing proved decisive at the DCU Sports Grounds on Tuesday afternoon, as Dublin North got their league campaign off to an excellent start with victory against 14-man Castlecomer Community School.
The 46th-minute dismissal of full-forward Ollie Feehan did weaken the Kilkenny school’s hand during the final quarter, but with Matthew Oliver and Paddy Spellacy leading their charge, Dublin North were always in control.
Castlecomer found themselves chasing the game from a very early stage, as points from Spellacy and Sean Gray gave the Dublin outfit a two-point cushion inside five minutes.
Gray had shown sparkling form during St Aidan’s recent Dublin Schools Senior Hurling ‘A’ success and three scores in succession from him, as well as a terrific effort from play by Oliver, meant that North were six points to the good 16 minutes in.
Castlecomer were struggling to come to terms with their opponents during the early moments of the encounter, and it wasn’t until the 21st minute that they finally opened their account.
Feehan split the posts on this occasion and he added a second point from the subsequent attack as the Noresiders were finally beginning to build some momentum. Further points by wing-forwards Gray and Carl Sammon (fresh from his man-of-the-match performance for Craobh Chiarain in their Under-16 ‘B’ Championship triumph) reinforced North’s superiority, but a stoppage-time score from distance by Castlecomer netminder Jason Shore did reduce the deficit to five (0-8 to 0-3) by the midway point.
HOPE
A pointed free from long-range by Conor Delaney did offer Castlecomer some hope upon the resumption, but even though the classy midfielder raised another white flag three minutes later, a brace of Gray placed ball efforts ensured that North were still very much in the ascendancy.
Indeed, when interval sub Nathan Kidd finished clinically from a right-hand angle two minutes later, the hosts looked odds-on to secure the points on offer and when Spellacy added a couple of expertly-converted frees (he assumed dead-ball duties after Gray departed the scenes through injury), the Blues had increased their lead to 10 points.
Delaney found the range from the left wing on the third-quarter mark, but although he grabbed a fourth point on 50 minutes, the straight red card issued to Feehan effectively killed off their challenge.
With numerical advantage now on their side, North finished in emphatic style, as points by Spellacy, half-back Paul O’Dea, AJ Murphy and substitute Colum Breslin (two), as well as a powerful Oliver major two minutes from time, put the icing on the cake for Dublin North, who can now look forward with real confidence.
SCORERS – Dublin North: S Gray 0-7 (7f), P Spellacy 0-4 (2f), M Oliver 1-1, N Kidd 1-0, C Breslin 0-2, P O’Dea, AJ Murphy, C Sammon 0-1 each. Castlecomer CS: C Delaney 0-4 (2f), O Feehan 0-2, J Shore 0-1 (f).
DUBLIN NORTH: E Skelly; C Doran, S Owens, C Hendricken; C McGinn, E Conroy, P O’Dea; AJ Murphy, K McDonnell; S Gray, M Oliver, C Sammon; C O’Carroll, P Spellacy, J Sammon. Subs: F Maher for O’Carroll (h-t), N Kidd for J Sammon (h-t), D Harte for Gray (40), C Meara for McDonnell (53), C Breslin for Spellacy (55).
CASTLECOMER CS: J Shore; L Cass, N McMahon, S Walsh; D Cass, P Cass, A Dowd; M Walsh, C Delaney; N Brophy, B Morrissey, S Dowling; D O’Neill, O Feehan, D Walsh. Subs: S Buggy for D Walsh (h-t), G Carroll for Brophy (36), C Delaney for Dowd (40), E Doyle for O’Neill (55), J Comerford for D Cass (57).
REFEREE: F McGreevy (St Oliver Plunkett’s/Eoghan Ruadh).