Clinical Na Fianna bounce back with a victory over Whitehall Colmcille

Pic Courtesy to Conor Ryan

NA FIANNA 3-13 

WHITEHALL COLMCILLE 0-15

Na Fianna struck for three first-half goals when accounting for Whitehall Colmcille by seven points in their entertaining Go Ahead Dublin Senior 1 Football Championship Group 4 clash at Parnell Park on Saturday afternoon.

After suffering a reverse to St Jude’s in the opening round, last year’s beaten finalists required a positive result to keep their ambitions intact and they duly delivered thanks to a Conor McHugh goal and a brace from David Lacey.

For Whitehall, it proved a tale of first-half misfortune once again, leaving themselves with too high a mountain to climb in the second-half, in keeping with their first round loss to St Vincent’s.

It was Whitehall that got their noses in front in the 2^nd minute as Cormac Costello popped over from Eoghan O’Donnell’s pass and they doubled their lead three minutes later through a well-struck free by Costello.

Their opponents gradually played their way into contention with Aaron Byrne and David O’Hanlon (free) bringing them level by the 9^th minute.

Rory Kerins enjoyed a bright start for Colmcille but he proved powerless to prevent Na Fianna from seizing the initiative as Brian O’Leary edged them clear with a fine score in the 11^th minute.

Conor Keane replied at the opposite end to restore parity but the contest turned irrevocably in Na Fianna’s favour in the 13^th minute as McHugh raced through before firing to the net despite the best efforts of Stephen Lawless in the Whitehall goal.

Vinny Flynn, Glen O’Reilly and O’Hanlon added points in quick succession to leave the Glasnevin outfit six points clear by the 18^th minute before Colmcille offered themselves a degree of relief through points from by O’Donnell and Costello.

However, their defensive frailties were exposed in the final seven minutes of the half as Lacey was on hand to convert the simplest of chances for Na Fianna’s second goal in the 24^th minute.

Worse was to follow for Whitehall five minutes later as Byrne’s long ball was gathered by substitute Sean Caffrey, who in turn released Lacey was a confident finish across Lawless, prompting a 3-6 to 0-7 advantage by half-time.

Any hopes that Whitehall might claw back that deficit upon the restart were quickly dispelled as their opponents added three points without reply through O’Hanlon, Ciaran Reddin and Byrne.

True to form, Colmcille refused to accept their fate with Lee Gannon popping over two cracking points while Costelo added a couple of frees to keep their slim hopes alive.

However, Byrne looked sharp at the opposite end, finishing the game with four points from play and while the lively Enda O’Donnell added a brace of his own late on, those scores never looked like anything other than consolation efforts.

Scorers – Na Fianna: D Lacey 2-0, A Byrne 0-4, D O’Hanlon 0-3 (2f, 1 ‘45’), C McHugh 1-0, V Flynn 0-2, C Early, C Reddin, G O’Reilly, B O’Leary 0-1 apiece. Whitehall Colmcille: C Costello 0-6 (4f), E Moran, Enda O’Donnell, L Gannon 0-2 each, Eoghan O’Donnell, S Foran, C Keane 0-1 apiece.

Na Fianna: D O’Hanlon; D Kennedy, E O’Dea, G Farrell; A Fitzgerald, D Ryan, G O’Reilly; C Early, C Reddin; V Flynn, B O’Leary, D Lacey; A Byrne, C McHugh, S Smith. Subs: S Caffrey for McHugh (16), D Quinn for Lacey (half-time), K Deeley for Flynn (44), T Brennan for Ryan (53), G Gibbons for Byrne (59).

Whitehall Colmcille: S Lawless; S Giles, M Moran, L McCarthy; R Kerins, J Thorpe, D Scanlon; E Moran, P Kelly; Enda O’Donnell, C Costello, A McDermott; L Gannon, Eoghan O’Donnell, C Keane. Subs: O Murray for Kelly (half-time), S Foran for McDermott (41), K Campbell for Keane (57).

Referee: Dave Feeney (Parnell’s)