AFL1 ROUNDUP – 29TH JULY
AFL DIVISION ONE ROUND-UP: JULY 29
Following their 0-13 to 0-6 victory over Clontarf at St Anne’s Park on Saturday afternoon, St Jude’s have opened up a two-point gap at the summit of the Adult Football League Division One Table.
With Kilmacud Crokes not in action last weekend (their next game is a re-fixed home encounter with St Maur’s on Wednesday, August 16), the Tymon North men were presented with an opportunity to leap-frog their southside rivals – whose superior scoring average had helped them to occupy top spot.
Clontarf were still searching for their opening win of the 2017 campaign heading into Saturday’s contest, but with midfielder Mark Sweeney and Simon King displaying impressive form, Jude’s produced a dominant opening half display.
Indeed, they entered the interval with all of seven points to spare over ‘Tarf (0-8 to 0-1), thanks in no small part to some excellent scores from Brendan Lynskey. The Mayo native contributed a personal tally of 0-5 over the course of the tie, and although Clontarf persisted with their challenge, additional points by Diarmuid McLoughlin, King, Ronan Joyce and Kieran Doherty propelled Jude’s towards their 10th league win of the season.
St Brigid’s remain in third place in the top-tier table, despite suffering a set-back away to St Sylvester’s on Saturday evening. The Malahide outfit secured a 1-13 to 0-9 win at Broomfield, and are just two points off the top-four themselves with a game in hand.
They are level on points with St Maur’s, who were on the receiving end of agonising defeat to Cuala in Rush. Cuala’s only previous triumph in this year’s league was back on July 1st against Clontarf (2-10 to 1-9), and an early goal helped the Dalkey men to settle into their 11th league outing of the term.
This was an early set-back for Maur’s, but with the reliable Chris Carthy in fine form, they remained in contention. Carthy finished the half with five points to his name, but a determined Cuala nevertheless ensured that the sides were on level terms at the break (1-3 to 0-6).
Maur’s were aiming to make home advantage count, and they moved back into the ascendancy after the restart with scores from Carthy and Eoin Fletcher. Maur’s looked to be in the driving seat when a 55th-minute Chris Moore effort gave them a four-point cushion, but a late rally from Cuala enabled them to secure a dramatic 2-8 to 0-13 win.
Meanwhile, there were a couple of draws in the remaining AFL1 fixtures on Saturday. Castleknock and Thomas Davis couldn’t be separated at Somerton Park (0-14 apiece), whereas at Martin Savage Park, St Oliver Plunkett’s/Eoghan Ruadh (0-14) and Na Fianna (2-8) had to be content with a share of the spoils.
By Daire Walsh