SCHOOLS GAA ROUND-UP
Palmerstown hold firm under pressure to claim Quinlan Plate title
Daire Walsh
PALMERSTOWN CS were crowned Tom Quinlan First Year Football Plate champions with a hard-fought 4-6 to 4-4 success at the expense of Trinity Comprehensive last Thursday.
Palmerstown had produced impressive form en route to this decider at the National Games Development Centre, Abbotstown – not least in their last-four triumph against Ballinteer Community School on October 22.
Thanks to powerful displays by Fionn O’Riordan, Oisin Fleming and Bailey Ryan they recorded a convincing 9-7 to 4-3 win.
While the local St Pat’s club are well represented, Liffey Gaels, Round Tower Clondalkin and Ballyfermot De La Salle also have players amongst Colin Trant’s squad.
It was a keenly-contested affair throughout as Trinity threatened to spoil the party for the southsiders.
Palmerstown held firm under intense pressure, however, and eventually claimed the silverware on offer. Elsewhere, on Monday afternoon at Ballymore Eustace, St Benildus saw their Leinster Schools Senior ‘A’ Football Championship Group A campaign end in defeat to holders Naas CBS.
It was a much-improved Benildus performance following previous reversals to Maynooth SS and St Aidan’s CBS, but the south Kildare men ultimately triumphed on a scoreline of 5-14 to 3-5.
Meanwhile, O’Toole Park will be the venue for this afternoon’s showdown between Dublin North and Dublin South in the final round of the Top Oil Leinster Schools Senior ‘A’ Hurling Championship ‘Group Teams’ Section. On their way to securing last season’s provincial title, North defeated their Metropolitan counterparts at the end of the competition’s preliminary phase.
Courtesy of a 0-9 haul from Ardscoil Ris attacker Micheal Murphy, Paul O’Brien’s charges had four points to spare (0-24 to 2-14). With the best of the county’s hurling talent set to be on show, another close encounter is expected.