Clontarf Edge Out Fingallians To Claim Go-Ahead Senior 2 Football Title

Sun, 12th November 2023

CLONTARF 0-12

FINGALLIANS 1-8

Clontarf finished on the front foot as they deservedly edged a brave Fingallians by the slimmest of margins in their entertaining Go Ahead Dublin Senior 2 Football Championship final at Parnell Park on Sunday afternoon.

Fins looked well set for victory when Darragh Power’s 49^th minute goal put them three points clear but Clontarf dominated the closing stages with substitute Conor Rooney kicking the winning score in the 58^th minute.

There was almost an explosive start to proceedings as Danny Campion gathered possession from the throw-in and after a surging run, his pass found Cormac O’Neill, whose shot on the turn was tipped around the upright by Brian Dufficy.

Fingallians did open the scoring in the 4^th minute however as Oisin Lynch converted a superb free from distance with their opponents spurning a couple of chances soon after to open their own account.

Clontarf did manage to restore parity by the 6^th minute through a Kieran McKeown free and the same player repeated the trick five minutes later to edge his team in front.

Both teams were guilty of some poor option-taking in attack but Kevin Lillis made up for an earlier lack of judgement as he doubled Clontarf’s lead off his left foot towards the end of the first quarter.

Fingallians were in need of some forward inspiration at this stage and it duly arrived in the 18^th minute as Lewis Nugent Byrne took aim from deep with his ambitious effort popping over via the upright.

Charlie Meehan worked a couple of promising situations at the opposite end but lacked the required accuracy and the deadlock was restored by the 20^th minute as Lynch casually stroked over his second free of the half.

Nugent Byrne continued to impress as he kicked another cracking point three minutes later and Fingallians kicked their fourth unanswered point soon after through Lynch to open up a two-point advantage.

Clontarf were running into far too many cul-de-sacs for their own liking and from another such example, they were punished as Sean O’Neill palmed over from a Lynch free that dropped short.

Trailing by 0-6 to 0-3 at the break, Clontarf could well have done with the incisions of the absent Jack McCaffrey but they trimmed their deficit within thirty seconds of the restart through Lillis.

Killian Murphy was enjoying a hugely influential game for Fins from centre-back but he highlighted his attacking potential when restoring his team’s three-point lead with a well-taken score in the 32^nd minute.

Suitably emboldened, Clontarf’s centre-back Nathan Doran did likewise at the opposite end and the margin was down to a single point by the 36^th minute as Daragh Fagan split the uprights from a Lillis pass.

Lynch and McKeown traded frees as the third quarter progressed and we were back on level terms by the 44^th minute as McKeown converted his fourth free of the contest.

Fingallians made a triple substitution in the 48^th minute to attempt to curb Clontarf’s momentum and it paid instant dividends as a goalmouth scramble culminated in dual player Darragh Power firing to the roof of the net from close range.

However, back came Clontarf with McKeown kicking two crucial points from play and Doran repeated his earlier trick with another inspiring score to level matters in the 56^th minute.

It was left to Rooney to settle the issue with a point of the highest quality as Clontarf managed added time with a fair degree of comfort to complete a narrow but merited success.

Scorers – Clontarf: K McKeown 0-6 (4f), K Lillis, N Doran 0-2 apiece, D Fagan, C Rooney 0-1 apiece. Fingallians: O Lynch 0-4 (3f), D Power 1-0, L Nugent Byrne 0-2, K Murphy, S O’Neill 0-1 apiece.

Clontarf: B Dufficy; B Bolger, L Howley, C Aherne; S Walsh, N Doran, M McMahon; L Cunningham, M Walsh; D Fagan, M MacDonncha, C Meehan; K Lillis, K McKeown, F McCarrick. Subs: C Rooney for Lillis (38), A Byrne for McMahon (40), F Delaney for Walsh (43), R Goode for Meehan (51), S McCann for Fagan (57).

Fingallians: I O’Reilly; J Lennon, M Keogh, J Lowndes; C Grimes, K Murphy, C Kelly; D Campion, C Brady; L Nugent Byrne, O Lynch, G O’Brien; S O’Neill, C O’Neill, B Walzer. Subs: D Power for Nugent Byrne (48), D Staunton for C O’Neill (48), D Rodgers for Brady (48), D Foley for Grimes (53), P Flynn for Walzer (59).

Referee: Darren Delaney (Wanderers)