Ballymun Up To Second In AFL Division One After Victory Over Judes

ADULT FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION ONE 

BALLYMUN KICKHAMS 1-9 

ST JUDE’S 0-11 

By Daire Walsh 

Ballymun Kickhams moved back to second in the Adult Football League Division One table with a narrow victory over St Jude’s at a blustery Pairc Ciceam on Wednesday evening. 

Having briefly fallen behind St Vincent’s in the top-flight standings, Brendan Hackett’s men reclaimed the runners-up spot in this re-arranged encounter. They have one game remaining in the regular season against St Brigid’s and are currently in a strong position to secure a play-off place - even allowing for how tight it is amongst the chasing pack.

In a low-scoring affair, Dillon Keating and Fiach Andrews recorded a combined tally for 1-7 for Ballymun. Brendan Lynskey (0-4) and Ross O’Brien (0-2) kept Jude’s in contention early on, before the likes of Rian Wallace, Colm Murphy and substitute Brian Coakley stepped up to the plate in the second half.

The hosts were left on tenterhooks in a gripping finale, but ultimately held out for a fifth consecutive league triumph. While Ballymun continue to operate without a host of inter-county stars, former Dublin footballers Sean Currie, Alan Hubbard, Davey Byrne and Jason Whelan all featured in the starting line-up.

Kevin McManamon was marked absent for the visitors, who lost out to runaway leaders Ballyboden St Enda’s in their most recent competitive outing on July 27. Although the Wellington Lane outfit began the night in seventh-place, they were also just two points adrift of the aforementioned St Vincent’s.

Playing with the aid of a strong breeze in the opening period, Ballymun broke the deadlock courtesy of Keating's third-minute point. Jude’s swiftly responded through a Lynskey free and there was little to separate the two teams during the early exchanges.

Capitalising on a stray pass in the Jude’s defence, Whelan released Andrews for a routine point on the right-hand side. Nevertheless, their southside counterparts dug deep to subsequently edged in front on nine minutes.

Supplementing his equalising score on the run, the lively O’Brien split the posts at the end of a loop play to give his side a slender cushion. Despite being against the elements, the Jude’s approach work was quite impressive at times.

However, Ballymun maintained a potent threat in attack and turned the tables with an unanswered blitz of 1-2. Keating curled over at a tight-angle and then marauding wing-back James Burke - a selector with his native Mayo throughout their 2019 campaign - also found the target off a blistering surge on the left-wing.

On the stroke of 15 minutes, they had an ideal opportunity to create further daylight on the scoreboard. Keating stepped forward to the penalty spot and delivered an expert finish to the bottom left-hand corner of the net.

This was undoubtedly a set-back for Jude’s, but they fired back in a confident fashion. After centre-back Tom Lahiff grabbed a point via an excellent team move, Lynskey converted a close-range free to bring their deficit down to two.

Another Keating single ensured that Ballymun remained in the driving seat and even though Lynskey once again displayed his place-ball accuracy, the northside men brought a 1-5 to 0-6 buffer into the interval.

Ballymun stretched three points clear on the resumption when netminder Sean Currie superbly converted a long-distance free towards the left-wing, only for them to be forced into their first alteration of the tie.

Centre-forward Anton Swan was black-carded in the 32nd-minute, with Cian Gerrard taking place on the ’40’. This didn’t prevent Andrews from adding his second point of the game, however, as Ballymun looked to pushed on for their ninth win of the term.

Jude’s settled with another Lynskey free and while a number of stoppages disrupted the flow of the action, the outcome very much remained in the balance. Rain had descended upon the Old Airport Road venue just after the restart and moving into the final-quarter, the conditions continued to get progressively worse.

This made life very difficult for both sets of players and as a result, scoring opportunities increasingly became few and far between. Regardless, Kieran Doherty and half-back Wallace raised white flags either side of Andrews’ latest contribution to keep Jude’s in the frame.

A fourth of the night for Andrews appeared to give Ballymun some leeway in the closing moments, but their opponents were not prepared to go down without a fight. Coakley’s left-footed effort edged them a step closer to the 2012 county champions and his ’45’ in the first minute of injury-time was flicked over by the experienced Murphy.

This placed Jude's within range of their maiden draw of the season, but a stern Ballymun rearguard closed out the game in a confident and professional manner.

Scorers - Ballymun Kickhams: Dillon Keating 1-3 (1-0 pen), Fiach Andrews 0-4 (3f), Sean Currie (f), James Burke 0-1 each. St Jude’s: Brendan Lynskey 0-4 (4f), Ross O’Brien 0-2, Tom Lahiff, Rian Wallace, Colm Murphy, Kieran Doherty, Brian Coakley 0-1 each.

BALLYMUN KICKHAMS: Sean Currie; Alan Hubbard, Eoin Dolan, David Bolger; Carl Keeley, Leon Young, James Burke; Davey Byrne, Cameron McCormack; Cathal O’Tighe, Anton Swan, Brian Ashton; Jason Whelan, Fiach Andrews, Dillon Keating. Subs: Cian Gerrard for Swan (33), Ted Furman for Ashton (42), Andrew McCaul for Keating (55).

ST JUDE’S: Liam Mailey; Ciaran McLoughlin, Ciaran Fitzpatrick, Rob Martina; Sean Kavanagh, Tom Lahiff, Rian Wallace; Colm Murphy, Chris Guckian; David Sheehy, Kieran Doherty, Ciallian Barden; Dara Kavanagh, Ross O’Brien, Brendan Lynskey. Subs: Jack Fitzpatrick for Guckian (half-time), Brian Coakley for J Fitzpatrick (41), Kevin Lahiff for Lynskey, Alan Connolly for O’Brien (both 47), Alan Kiernan for Mailey (56).

Referee: Dave Aston (Naomh Mearnog).