AHL DIV. 2 ROUNDUP – 16TH JUNE

ADULT HURLING LEAGUE DIVISION TWO ROUND-UP: JUNE 16

By Daire Walsh

St Oliver Plunkett’s/Eoghan Ruadh moved up to second place in the Adult Hurling League Division Two table with a comprehensive 5-18 to 0-14 victory against Parnell’s at Chanel on Saturday.

They now join Whitehall Colmcille, Naomh Fionnbarra and Naomh Barrog on eight points, with the superior score difference of the Navan Road men helping them to lead the chasing pack.

Because league pace-setters Ballinteer St John’s aren’t back in action until this Tuesday (in a re-scheduled clash with Erin’s Isle in Finglas), it was an ideal opportunity for Plunkett’s to keep their promotion push on track. Their recent home defeat to Naomh Fionnbarra followed consecutive successes over Erin’s Isle, Naomh Olaf and Naomh Barrog, while Parnell’s were hoping to bring a four-game losing streak to an end.

Fresh from his impressive scoring cameo appearance in Dublin’s narrow Leinster Championship defeat to Galway on the previous weekend, Cian Boland was back in the Plunkett’s fold. Alongside Dylan Burke and Stuart Mullen, he provided a constant threat to the Parnell’s rearguard.

The home team – who were managed last year by current Plunkett’s supremo Derek Brennan – had a reliable free-taker in the shape of Carl Sammon, but struggled to deal with the pace and power of their opponents.

A 15-minute scoring blitz at the beginning of the contest allowed the visitors to create significant daylight on the northside venue’s all-weather surface. Kevin Sexton drove Plunkett’s forward from centre-back and Tommy McGrath also posted a brace of long-range points.

1-2 apiece courtesy of Burke and Boland offered the Martin Savage Park outfit a great deal of leeway, but it was the superb Mullen who finished the game as his side’s scorer-in-chief.

A final haul of 1-8 by the ex-county star ensured that a Plunkett’s win (their fourth of the campaign) was never in doubt, and they now move on to a July 11 clash with Kilmacud Crokes ‘B’ in high spirits.

Crokes were on the receiving end of a 1-12 to 2-17 reversal to Fionnbarra at ‘The Bogies’, which was a third win in succession for the latter. Whitehall missed out on an opportunity to go joint-top when they lost to Setanta at Collins Avenue (3-18 to 1-17), and it was a similar case for Naomh Barrog in their local derby with Raheny at St Anne’s Park.

The Kilbarrack men had four wins under their belt prior to this outing, only to fall short to their well-drilled rivals (0-19 to 1-13). After recent defeats to Balinteer and Whitehall, Scoil Ui Chonaill returned to form with a seven-point win against Naomh Olaf at Pairc Ui Bhriain.

Thanks in no small part to the ever-dependable Barry Cushen, Scoil led 1-7 to 0-4 at the break. Robbie Kennedy kept the scoreboard ticking over when the action resumed, before a second goal for the Clontarf Road side propelled them towards a convincing 2-13 to 0-12 success.