AFL 1: GAME OF THE WEEK – BALLYBODEN ST. ENDAS V LUCAN SARSFIELDS

BALLYBODEN ST ENDA’S: 2-18

LUCAN SARSFIELDS: 0-21

A strong final-quarter display paid dividends for Ballyboden St Enda’s at Pairc Ui Murchu on Saturday evening, as they overcame a numerical disadvantage to defeat Lucan Sarsfields in a tense Adult Football League Division One encounter.

‘Boden were trailing by a single point (0-11 to 1-7) when Donagh McCabe was sent-off in the 34th-minute, but with Ryan Basquel, Darren O’Reilly and Conal Keaney leading the way, John O’Brien’s charges eventually secured a hard-earned victory.

Ballyboden came into this game with the aim of building on their midweek win over Cuala, while Lucan were hoping to bounce back from a narrow loss to St Oliver Plunkett’s/Eoghan Ruadh.

Lucan’s Darren Gavin played a major role for the Dublin U21s during their Leinster and All-Ireland Championship successes this year, and after he raced forward from the throw-in, he set-up Brendan Gallagher for an excellent point from play.

There was just 10 seconds gone on the clock when the centre-forward split the posts, and before the opening minute had elapsed, the Leitrim footballer added to his side’s tally with an almost identical effort.

This was an early indication of what the impressive Lucan attack were capable of, but ‘Boden soon showed that they could inflict damage at the opposite end. Sam Molony got himself into a one-on-one situation with Lucan custodian Philip Greene, and coolly fired to the bottom left-hand corner of the net.

This was a spectacular way for ‘Boden to open their account, but following excellent approach work by Brendan Gallagher, ex-Dublin star Stephen O’Shaughnessy restored parity to the proceedings. Lucan were keeping ‘Boden on the back-foot for large spells, and consecutive scores from Conor Gallagher and Thomas Brennan (two) created some daylight between the teams.

‘Boden midfielder Declan O’Mahony had briefly left the play with a blood injury towards the end of the first-quarter, but he supplemented a Ryan Basquel free with an outstanding score off his left-foot. Colm Dunne also found the target to level matters once more, only for Lucan to hit back with another productive purple patch.

Stephen O’Shaughnessy’s second of the night arrived on the stroke of 20 minutes, and a brace of Brendan Gallagher contributions kept the scoreboard ticking way for the 12th Lock men. O’Mahony and Simon Lambert (who was playing a roving role for the home side) raising white flags for ‘Boden as a fast-paced opening period developed, but thanks to terrific team scores by half-back Declan O’Shaughnessy and Conor Gallagher, Lucan had restored their three-point advantage (0-11 to 1-5) in time for the interval.

‘Boden initially hit the ground running after the restart with quick-fire singles from Basquel and the hard-working Darren O’Reilly, but after McCabe was given his marching orders following an off-the-ball altercation with Lucan midfielder Keith Moran, the defending champions were presented with a difficult task in playing the remaining minutes with just 14 men.

Moran was yellow-carded for his part in this incident, but once the game settled down again, the deadly inside duo of Conor Gallagher and Brennan got Lucan back on track. ‘Boden were not ready to thrown in the towel, though, and Basquel brilliantly registered a three-pointer at the end of a memorable run on the right-hand side. However, Lucan were responding positively to most of ‘Boden’s scores, and a point apiece from the inside line of Conor Gallagher, Brennan and Stephen O’Shaughnessy kept them in the ascendancy.

The increasingly-influential Basquel had a shot deflected over on 44 minutes, but with Brennan and Conor Gallagher continuing to enhance their personal tallies, a fifth league win of 2017 appeared to be on the cards for Lucan.

Yet, ‘Boden discovered their best form during the closing stages, as an exceptional seven points without reply placed them into the driving seat. Molony, Dunne (free), O’Reilly and Conal Keaney all found the range to bring their side back on level terms, before three points in just over 60 seconds by Basquel, Molony and James Holland ensured that they led 2-15 to 0-18 by the 56th minute.

Brendan Gallagher points either side of an O’Reilly fisted score kept Lucan in touch heading into second-half stoppage-time, but an expertly-struck Molony free provided some breathing space for the home team.

The aforementioned Gallagher brought his final haul up to 0-7 with another free, before Keaney recorded an insurance score for ‘Boden – who now have six wins from 13 games in this year’s competition.

Scorers – Ballyboden St Enda’s: Ryan Basquel 1-4(0-2f), Sam Molony 1-3 (0-1f), Darren O’Reilly 0-3, Colm Dunne (1f), Declan O’Mahony, Conal Keaney 0-2 each, James Holland, Simon Lambert 0-1 each. Lucan Sarsfields: Brendan Gallagher 0-7 (3f), Conor Gallagher, Thomas Brennan 0-5 each, Stephen O’Shaughnessy 0-3, Declan O’Shaughnessy 0-1.

BALLYBODEN ST ENDA’S: Ronan Cleary; Scott Cullen, Darragh Nelson, Cathal Flaherty; John Murphy, Stephen O’Connor, Donagh McCabe; James Holland, Declan O’Mahony; Colm Dunne, Ryan Basquel, Darren O’Reilly; Conal Keaney, Simon Lambert, Sam Molony. Subs: Eric Monaghan for O’Mahony (14-16, blood sub), Monaghan for Dunne (51).

LUCAN SARSFIELDS: Philip Greene; Owen Ennis, Sean Cleary, Ciaran Smith; Paul Casey, Daniel Gallagher, Declan O’Shaughnessy; Keith Moran, Darren Gavin; Sean Newcombe, Brendan Gallagher, Johnny McCaffrey; Conor Gallagher, Thomas Brennan, Stephen O’Shaughnessy. Subs: Caoimhan O Conghaile for Ennis (11-14, blood sub), O Conghaile for D O’Shaughnessy (44), Jack Carey for S O’Shaughnessy (50).

Referee: Chris Mooney (St Patrick’s, Palmerstown).

By Daire Walsh