AHL DIV. 2 ROUNDUP – 25TH JULY
DUBLIN ADULT HURLING LEAGUE DIVISION TWO ROUND-UP: JULY 25
By Daire Walsh
Ballinteer St John’s produced a clinical display at St Anne’s Park on Wednesday night to remain in pole position at the top of the Adult Hurling League Division Two table.
While only score difference separates Brian Sutton’s side from both Whitehall Colmcille and Naomh Fionnbarra heading into the final rounds of the present campaign, the emphatic nature of their victory over Raheny – 2-16 to 0-9 – ensures destiny is very much in their hands.
After their unbeaten start to the season came to an end against Naomh Barrog at the beginning of this month, Ballinteer were given a walkover by Parnell’s last Sunday morning. Raheny were narrowly defeated by St Oliver Plunkett’s/Eoghan Ruadh on the same day and were hoping to build on that encouraging performance for the visit of Ballinteer to their home patch.
John’s fielded without long-term absentee Glenn Whelan – and found themselves on level terms with Raheny during the early stages of the contest. Yet, with James Gilligan in sparkling form, they gradually created significant daylight between the two teams.
Gilligan finished the half with an outstanding haul of six points (all from open play), which was supplemented by an Aodhan Clabby three-pointer before the break.
With a 1-11 to 0-5 cushion at their disposal, Ballinteer were on course for their eighth win of this year’s second-tier. They remained in the driving seat on the resumption, with a second goal courtesy of Gavin Byrne eventually sealing a comprehensive triumph for the visitors.
They will now face crunch ties in the coming weeks against Plunkett’s (August 11) and Whitehall (September 1) – who are also pushing hard for top honours in Division Two. Like Ballinteer, Whitehall were automatically awarded two points for their proposed meeting with Parnell’s.
The Coolock club have been forced to pull out of the league, which means that the aforementioned Fionnbarra have already fulfilled their penultimate round fixture. They had the measure of Erin’s Isle at Finglas) and now join Ballinteer and Whitehall on 16 points – albeit with a game more played than their nearest rivals.
Following their magnificent 6-19 to 1-15 success over Scoil Ui Chonaill at Martin Savage Park, Plunkett’s are just two points adrift of the front-three. Playing at a high intensity in the Navan Road venue, Derek Brennan’s charges brought an insurmountable 3-11 to 0-8 advantage into the interval.
In addition to Stuart Mullen’s six-point salvo, Cian Boland, Ronan Tomney, Oisin Boland and Brian McDonnell all contributed goals for the hosts over the hour. It was a much-improved second half performance by Scoil, but with the Plunkett’s attack in devastating form throughout, they ultimately succumbed to a heavy reversal.
This convincing win – their fourth on the bounce – places Plunkett’s in an ideal frame of mind ahead of their upcoming showdown against Ballinteer at Marley Park.
Elsewhere, Naomh Barrog held onto fifth spot with an impressive 2-20 to 1-10 victory against Naomh Olaf in Kilbarrack. On the Ballymun Road, Setanta triumphed over second-from-bottom Kilmacud Crokes ‘B’ on a scoreline of 2-19 to 2-14 – a result that moves them two points clear of eighth-place Scoil Ui Chonaill.