‘Boden Make It Two Wins From Two With Victory Over St Vincents

Pic courtesy John Kirwan

BALLYBODEN ST ENDA’S 1-23 

ST VINCENT’S 3-13 

Ballyboden St Enda’s pulled away in the second-half to complete a deserved four-point victory over St Vincent’s in their Go Ahead Dublin Senior 1 Hurling Championship Group 2 encounter at Parnell Park on Tuesday night.

There was only a point separating the sides at the break but Ballyboden assumed control in the third quarter and withheld some late pressure on their goal to secure the precious two points on offer.

Both teams entered the contest on the back of wins over St Oliver Plunkett’s/Eoghan Ruadh and Na Fianna respectively with St Vincent’s opening the scoring through a Sean Mulcahy score in the 2^nd minute.

A Paul Ryan free levelled matters three minutes later with Conor Burke of Vinnies and Conor Dooley of Ballyboden trading scores in quick succession as the contest opened up in a bright and enterprising manner.

Conor O’Donoghue did well to prevent Mark Sweeney from finding the net in the 8^th minute but he proved powerless two minutes later as John Hetherton evaded a plethora of defenders before bundling home at the second attempt.

A brace of excellent points from impressive wing-back Sean Lambe added to the St Vincent’s lead and they finished the first quarter on a high as a Diarmuid Connolly delivery was seized upon by Hetherton close to goal with O’Donoghue helpless once again.

Boden replied through three points on the bounce from Aidan Mellett, Paul Ryan and Jack Lambert and while James Mulcahy and Burke managed to reply for Vinnies, St Enda’s were beginning to dictate matters despite their six-point deficit.

A trio of placed balls from Paul Ryan and a Shane Durkin point from deep added momentum to their challenge and they edged in front in added time as Ryan fired past Dara Perry following an incisive pass from Niall McMorrow, prompting a 1-12 to 2-8 interval lead. 

Hetherton converted a free within three minutes of the resumption to restore parity but the freedom they found up front in the first-half proved elusive as their opponents looked far more assured at the back.

Paul Ryan, McMorrow and Timmy Hammersley pushed St Enda’s three points clear and while St Vincent’s enjoyed sporadic success thanks to fine individual scores from James Mulcahy and Oisin Mulcahy, they were unable to sustain their efforts in attack.

Luke McDwyer, Dooley and Niall Ryan increased Ballyboden’s buffer as the half progressed but the Marino side were handed a lifeline in the 50^th minute as Lambe popped up from nowhere with his mis-timed shot deceiving O’Donoghue to leave just a solitary point between the teams.

It proved a false dawn however as Paul Ryan added three further points in the closing stages to augment an Eoin Behan score with Vinnies unable to register a score in the closing eight minutes.

Scorers – Ballyboden St Enda’s: P Ryan 1-11 (0-8f, 0-1 sideline), C Dooley, N McMorrow 0-2 each, N Ryan, A Mellett, L McDwyer, A Kelleher, T Hammersley, E Behan, J Lambert, S Durkin 0-1 apiece. St Vincent’s: J Hetherton 2-4 (0-2f, 0-1 ‘65’), S Lambe 1-2, J Mulcahy 0-3, C Burke 0-2, S Mulcahy, O Mulcahy 0-1 apiece.

Ballyboden St Enda’s: C O’Donoghue; P Dunleavy, J Madden, R Leddy; S McDonnell, S Lambert, J Lambert; N Ryan, A Mellett; S Durkin, P Ryan, L McDwyer; C Dooley, N McMorrow, A Kelleher. Subs: T Hammersley for Kelleher (36), E Behan for Madden (43), P Christie for N Ryan (61).

St Vincent’s: D Perry; C Dolan, S Gormley, E O’Neill; S Lambe, B Moorehouse Carroll, C Walsh; T Connolly, S Mulcahy; M Sweeney, C Burke, J Mulcahy; O Mulcahy, J Hetherton, D Connolly. Subs: C McBride for T Connolly (42), A Gilroy for O Mulcahy (50), D Peel for J Mulcahy (53), D Quinn for S Mulcahy (56).

Referee: Luke Lacey (Na Fianna).