DUBLIN JH ‘E’ SEMI-FINAL
ST JOSEPH’S RUSH……………………………… 3-6
ST FINIAN’S CC…………………………………… 1-9
By Daire Walsh
SUBSTITUTE Cathal Price was the hero of the hour for St Joseph’s, Rush on Tuesday afternoon, when his 59th-minute goal helped to seal a dramatic triumph for his side in a tightly-contested Dublin JH ‘E’ semi-final at Pairc Ciceam.
Their opponents, St Finian’s CC from Swords, had looked odds-on to book their place in the decider when they led by five points (1-9 to 1-4) with just ten minutes remaining, but a close-range finish from corner-forward Glen Weldon acted as a springboard for a remarkable revival.
The formidable midfield duo of TJ Howard and Anjola Mohammed Tunde drove the Swords outfit in the early stages of the contest.
Having opened the scoring from a ‘65’ on seven minutes, Howard doubled his team’s advantage with a quick-fire point from play, before the athletic Tunde also raised a white flag from 30 metres. Joseph’s were finding it difficult to settle into the proceedings, but despite losing midfielder Paul Jones to injury, a 0-2 salvo from his replacement – Price – helped to reduce their deficit to a minimum.
However, just when Joseph’s appeared to be getting to grips with their northside compatriots, Finian’s centre-forward Dillon Staunton stormed into the action.
A terrific run by the industrious attacker resulted in a fourth point for the Swords boys, and 12 minutes prior to the interval, he found the back of the Joseph’s net in emphatic fashion with a low strike from beyond the 21-metre-line.
This significantly boosted the morale of the Castlefarm brigade, and although a Luke White free did relax the Joseph’s nerves, a further score by the increasingly-influential Staunton gave Finian’s a 1-5 to 0-3 mid-way buffer.
There was no reason for Joseph’s to panic just yet, though, and after picking up the ball in a deep position upon the resumption, Price’s fellow sub Culann Noonan raced through the heart of the Finian’s defence, and fired beyond the reach of netminder Colm Daly for a much-needed three-pointer.
Unfortunately for Joseph’s, they had to wait until the 45th minute for their next score – a well-worked effort by Hussey – and having struggled to build momentum, a point apiece courtesy of Tunde and Howard maintained the healthy Finian’s cushion heading into the closing period.
When Howard (free) and Aaron Maughan enhanced their superiority, things were looking decidedly ominous for Joseph’s, but Weldon’s neat goal seven minutes from time suddenly offered them a fighting chance again. In the direct aftermath of this score, Joseph’s had a number of opportunities to level matters, but with Finian’s also coming up short from some promising attacks, Tom O’Neill eventually the put game back in the melting pot.
At this point, it looked the sides would remain inseparable, but when a long-range White free dropped short, Price pulled majestically to the net for the decisive score of this encounter.
SCORERS – St Joseph’s, Rush: C Price 1-2, G Weldon, C Noonan 1-0, L White 0-2 (1f), T O’Neill, J Hussey 0-1 each. St Finian’s CC: D Staunton 1-2, TJ Howard 0-4 (2f, 1 ‘65’), AM Tunde 0-2, A Maughan 0-1.
ST JOSEPH’S, RUSH: K O’Connor; N Grimes, A Benson, S Murphy; S Finnegan, T O’Neill, D Kiernan; P Jones, J Hussey; D Clarke, L White, D Halpin; G Weldon, P Fitzgerald, A Kelly Kiernan. Subs: C Price for Jones (9), C Noonan for Halpin (h-t), Jones for Fitzgerald (52).
ST FINIAN’S CC: C Daly; S Nugent Byrne, D Mythen, C Cawley; M Campbell, R Maddy, J Cassidy; TJ Howard, AM Tunde; J Condon, D Staunton, C Browne; S Tierney, A Maughan, C Harmon. Subs: R McDermott for Tierney (h-t), L Fagan for Cawley (39).
REF: E Walker (O’Toole’s).