AHL DIV. 2 ROUND-UP: MARCH 10

DUBLIN ADULT HURLING LEAGUE DIVISION TWO ROUND-UP: MARCH 10

By Daire Walsh

At the end of the second round in Division Two of the Adult Hurling League, it’s Faughs, Naomh Barrog and Thomas Davis who currently lead the way on four points apiece.

Eager for an automatic return to the top-flight, Faughs began their 2019 campaign with a hard-earned 3-12 to 3-7 success over St Oliver Plunkett’s/Eoghan Ruadh at Tymon North on February 24. They enjoyed a much more emphatic winning margin away to Naomh Olaf on Sunday morning – finished with 13 to spare (3-15 to 0-11) at Pairc Ui Bhriain.

This was Olaf’s first game of the new league season, after their meeting with O’Toole’s was postponed last month. Four-point victors – 2-15 to 2-11 – at the expense of Raheny first day out, Naomh Fionnbarra welcomed O’Toole’s to Pope John Paul II Park.

Leading by six at the break, Larriers came under intense pressure from Fionnbarra on the resumption. With time almost up, O’Toole’s netminder Danny Webster produced a superb penalty save to deny the Cabra side’s advances.

While Andy Morris ended the contest as O’Toole’s scorer-in-chief (0-8), he was ably-assisted over the course of the hour. Sean O’Keeffe (1-3) and Ryan Bergin (1-2) were pivotal attacking threats throughout for Larriers – who also competed in Division One last year – and Mick Cunningham also amassed a three-point haul in a 2-16 to 1-16 triumph for O’Toole’s.

At Clontarf Road, Thomas Davis backed up their narrow victory over St Sylvester’s two weeks earlier by securing the spoils against Scoil Ui Chonaill (3-13 to 1-11). This was a second successive reversal for Scoil – who had earlier fallen short to Naomh Barrog in Kilbarrack.

They were put to the pin of their collar in Club Teach Setanta on Sunday, before earning a 2-11 to 1-10 win against the hosts. Meanwhile, Plunkett’s issued the perfect response to the Faughs set-back by coming out on the right side of a 1-10 to 0-12 final scoreline at Martin Savage Park.

St Sylvester’s derived a similar satisfaction in their maiden home tie of the year as they got past Raheny in a close encounter at Broomfield (1-12 to 0-11). Courtesy of Gareth McGrath’s 1-1 salvo, Syls brought a 1-8 to 0-5 buffer into the break.

They had the breeze at their backs in the opening period, which made life trickier for the Malahide outfit after the restart. Raheny slowly grew in confidence, with former All-Ireland winning footballer David Henry contributing a brace of long-range points.

However, the hosts remained in the ascendancy until the end. In spite of the tricky elements on display, Seanie Graham and Alan Kenny split the posts to seal the deal for Sylvester’s.