LUCAN BEAT TEMPLEOGUE TO IMPROVE AFL DIVISION ONE PLAY-OFF HOPES
ADULT FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION ONE
LUCAN SARSFIELDS 3-21
TEMPLEOGUE SYNGE STREET 1-13
By Daire Walsh
Lucan Sarsfields bolstered their Adult Football League Division One play-off credentials with a convincing victory over 14-man Templeogue Synge Street at Dolphin Park on Wednesday night.
Already in a buoyant mood as a result of their recent comeback success against Na Fianna, the 12th Lock men produced an accomplished display to record their sixth win of the campaign. Jack Carey, John McGarvey, Brendan Gallagher and Mark Lavin were in fine form throughout, while former Dublin footballer Stephen O’Shaughnessy rolled back the years with 2-3 off the bench.
Despite claiming hard-earned draws in previous encounters with St Brigid’s and Kilmacud Crokes, Templeogue are still searching for their maiden triumph in this season’s top-fight. Lorcan O’Dell and Ger Vickery amassed a combined tally of 1-8 but it wasn’t enough to prevent a fourth consecutive defeat.
Even though Niall Scully was a notable absentee, the hosts were boosted by the inclusion of Sky Blues senior panellist Eoghan O’Gara at the heart of their attack. Lucan were minus the services of their county star – Darren Gavin – but enjoyed a whirlwind start to the contest nonetheless.
Lavin curled superbly between the posts in the third-minute and he was subsequently joined on the scoresheet by towering full-forward Brian Collopy. Lavin added a second for Lucan, before O’Dell finally opened the Templeogue account at the end of a powerful run.
Lucan then breathed a significant sigh of relief, when opposing corner-back Rob Power – who had broken well into space – fired a three-point opportunity past the post. Rather than falling behind to their southside counterparts, the visitors instead raced seven clear just past the first-quarter mark.
Wing-forwards Carey (free) and Donal Smith were on target in quick succession, with Gallagher adding a brace either side of another Lavin score. Templeogue were struggling to contain a side that were performing at the top of their game, although they did gain some solace through Sean Brew and Vickery points.
The influence of Gallagher – who has featured heavily for Leitrim in the recent past – was beginning to grow, however, as he spearheaded another purple patch for Lucan. After releasing Lavin for his fourth of the half, the elusive centre-forward split the uprights on the right-flank.
A successful Carey free supplemented these efforts and whilst Brew kicked an outstanding score from long-distance, Lucan brought a commanding 0-11 to 0-4 cushion into the interval. In an attempt to gain some form of control on proceedings, Templeogue introduced Joe Varley on the resumption.
Lucan also made a change of their own – O’Shaughnessy taking the place of Smith in attack. The initial signs were promising for Mike Fitzpatrick’s charges, with Vickery picking out O’Gara for a fine point at a right-hand angle.
Traded points between O’Dell and McGarvey kept them in touching distance, but they suffered a series of hammer blows as the action progressed. Following a Carey point for Lucan, Brew was dismissed on a second yellow card offence.
Sarsfields immediately took advantage of their numerical supremacy, grabbing two goals in the space of 60 seconds to effectively determine the outcome. Despite Templeogue netminder Tom Muldoon turning away an O’Shaughnessy strike, McGarvey scrambled home at close-range.
They created further daylight off their next foray into enemy territory as O’Shaughnessy’s speculative shot on the left-wing drifted into the back of the net. The versatile veteran was already making a sizeable impact on the play and he underlined his enduring quality with another fine point.
This scoring sequence was eventually halted by another O’Dell point, while a Vickery free cancelled out Carey’s latest at the opposite end. McGarvey brought his own personal tally to 1-2 after capitalising on a Collopy knock down, only for Templeogue to bag a hard-earned major on 47 minutes.
O’Dell was one of their best performers over the hour and he rounded off an exciting team move with a clinical finish beyond the reach of Mark Gibbons. A Luke O’Brien single provided them with further respite, until Lucan reinforced their authority with additional contributions by Gallagher and Carey.
Vickery swapped a brace of points with O’Shaughnessy as the final whistle approached and he once again found the range to compliment an earlier point for the raiding Conor McKiernan. Inevitably, though, it was Lucan who had the final say.
O’Shaughnessy was on hand to claim his second goal in stoppage-time and Collopy also palmed over to cap another impressive showing. Lucan can now look forward to welcoming Naomh Maur to the Newcastle Road on Saturday week (July 6).
On the same day, Templeogue will face a tricky assignment away to St Vincent’s.
Scorers – Lucan Sarsfields: Stephen O’Shaughnessy 2-3, Jack Carey 0-5 (3f), John McGarvey 1-2, Brendan Gallagher (2f), Mark Lavin 0-4 each, Brian Collopy 0-2, Donal Smith 0-1. Templeogue Synge Street: Lorcan O’Dell 1-3, Ger Vickery 0-5 (3f), Sean Brew 0-2, Conor McKiernan, Luke O’Brien, Eoghan O’Gara 0-1 each.
LUCAN SARSFIELDS: Mark Gibbons; Robert Ennis, Alan Murphy, Dan Forde; Rory Kelly, Sean Cleary, Emmet Allen; Sean Newcombe, Brian Creed; Donal Smith, Brendan Gallagher, Jack Carey; Mark Lavin, Brian Collopy, John McGarvey. Subs: Stephen O’Shaughnessy for Smith (half-time), Jason Kenny for Kelly (50), Luke Murphy for Forde (53), Kelly for Lavin (57).
TEMPLEOGUE SYNGE STREET: Tom Muldoon; Rob Power, Ken Devine, Barra Dignam; Alex O’Toole, Mikey Lyons, Kevin Hughes; Sean Brew, Conor McKiernan; Eoin O’Donovan, Lorcan O’Dell, Luke O’Brien; Cathal Morley, Eoghan O’Gara, Ger Vickery. Subs: Joe Varley for Morley (half-time), Cillian Keogh for O’Donovan (40).
Referee: David Sweeney (St Oliver Plunkett’s/Eoghan Ruadh).