By Daire Walsh

Thursday March 15 2012

A SECOND-HALF goal from half-forward Donal Burke proved pivotal in O’Toole Park on Monday afternoon, as Dublin North had six points to spare over their Metropolitan rivals, Dublin South, in the Leinster Schools Juvenile Hurling ‘A’ ‘Group Team’ semi-final as they ran out winners by 1-12 to 0-9.

Dublin South had been on top during the opening period, though Dublin North did keep their attack at bay on a number of occasions, thanks to the efforts of defensive lynchpins Hughie Fennin and Shane Howard.

Their attack were moving well as the half progressed, though, as good work by Burke, who plays for Na Fianna, Dylan Curtis and centre-forward Eoin Cooney meant that they only trailed by one point (0-7 to 0-6) at the mid-way interval.

Dublin South would find it hard to get going in the second half, however, and Dublin North started to take control of the proceedings, with Howard and Cooney in particular making their presence felt.

The Southsiders were doing their best to hold firm in defence, but the tie would ultimately be settled by Burke’s decisive major, which brought his final tally to an impressive 1-4 on the day.

Having lost out narrowly to Kilkenny CBS in their opening fixture (which was followed by an entertaining draw with Birr), Dublin North will now face Offaly Schools in Kinnegad next week, where they will look to maintain the good form they displayed in the Kimmage venue.

Heartbreak

Elsewhere, there was heartbreak for St Fintan’s HS and Old Bawn CS last Thursday, as they came off second best in their respective Leinster final encounters.

Fintan’s of Sutton lost out to St Mary’s CBS Enniscorthy in the Leinster Schools Juvenile Football ‘B’ decider on a scoreline of 1-16 to 1-5, while Tallaght side Old Bawn were on the receiving end of a five-point defeat (1-9 to 0-7) in the Leinster Schools Junior ‘C’ final against Ardee Community School.

– Daire Walsh