AFL DIV. 1 ROUNDUP – 23RD MAY
ADULT FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION ONE ROUND-UP: MAY 23
By Daire Walsh
St Vincent’s cemented their place at the summit of the Adult Football League Division One table with a hard-earned 1-14 to 1-12 triumph over St Jude’s at Tymon North on Wednesday night.
Courtesy of impressive victories against St Sylvester’s, St Oliver Plunkett’s/Eoghan Ruadh, Castleknock and Cuala, the Marino men entered this contest in prime condition. Although they were intent on maintaining their 100% success rate in the competition, they faced a Jude’s side determined to make amends for recent reversals to Lucan Sarsfields and Naomh Olaf.
Influential attacker Declan Donnelly was the scorer-in-chief during their defeat to the latter, and he was a prominent figure for the Templeogue side in their latest home encounter. While Shane Carthy and Lorcan Galvin kept the scoreboard ticking over for Vins, the accuracy of Donnelly ensured Jude’s led 0-9 to 0-6 at the midway point of a fast-paced affair.
This threw down the gauntlet to the visitors, who got the better of Jude’s at the semi-final stage of last year’s Senior Championship. However, with Jarlath Curley and Craig Wilson delivering strong defensive performances, they managed to get the measure of their opponents.
Thanks to an Adam Baxter goal at the end of an incisive team move, they edged in front for the very first time. Jude’s were on course for their third win of the campaign when Donnelly dispatched a penalty to the net but, inspired by the excellent Baxter, Vins powered over the line.
A two-point salvo by Baxter (bringing his second period tally to 1-5) was supplemented by another effort from substitute Tiernan Diamond, giving Vincent’s a decisive edge at the end of an engrossing spectacle.
Elsewhere, Ballyboden St Enda’s moved up to second with an emphatic 3-11 to 0-10 win against Naomh Maur at Pairc Ui Murchu. They leap-frogged the previous occupiers of the runner-up spot, Kilmacud Crokes, following their narrow loss (1-16 to 2-15) at home to Na Fianna.
Buoyed by their six-point victory over St Brigid’s four days earlier, the visiting team dominated the opening moments at Silver Park. Thanks to goals from Cathal Doran and Sean Caffrey, they created an early seven-point cushion.
Crokes displayed great resilience as the half wore on, though, and entered the break with a 1-10 to 2-6 advantage at their disposal. In addition to eye-catching scores by Mark Vaughan and Brian Kavanagh, Steve Williams rattled the back of the Na Fianna net.
The hosts continued to offer a considerable attacking threat on the resumption, with Vaughan and Kavanagh combining to great effect. However, with Glenn O’Reilly and Michael Deegan finding the target, Na Fianna eventually dug deep to claim the two points on offer.
It was also a profitable night for St Brigid’s, who secured their first win of the league season in ruthless fashion against Lucan Sarsfields at Russell Park. Desperate to bring a three-game losing streak to an end, Brigid’s largely controlled the proceedings throughout.
Philly Ryan and Kevin Callaghan impressed for the Navan Road outfit, who also had valuable contributions from Lorcan McCarthy and Mark Donnelly in the opening period. As a result, they found themselves eight points in front (0-10 to 0-2) on the half-hour mark.
After Lucan reduced the gap with a brace of points after the restart, they were awarded a penalty at the end of a subsequent attack. The resulting spot-kick was turned away by netminder Stephen Moore, and Brigid’s never looked back from this point.
Ryan, Collie Carr, Donnelly and Cathal Doyle all found the back of the Lucan net – propelling their side towards a 5-14 to 0-9 triumph in the process.
Elsewhere, Naomh Olaf gathered further momentum with a 1-11 to 0-9 win at the expense of Ballymun Kickhams. Ballinteer St John’s also claimed their maiden triumph of the 2018 league over Castleknock at Somerton Park (2-16 to 2-11), while St Sylvester’s had seven points to spare over St Oliver Plunkett’s/Eoghan Ruadh at Martin Savage Park – 2-19 to 1-15.