Fingallians Claim Promotion To Go-Ahead Senior 1 Championship With Win Over Naomh Ólaf

FINGALLIANS 0-14  

NAOMH OLAF 0-12 

Late points from substitute Lewis Nugent Byrne and Brian Walzer proved telling as Fingallians got the better of Naomh Olaf by two points in their Go Ahead Dublin Senior 2 Football Championship semi-final at a sun-kissed Parnell Park on Sunday afternoon.

The victory secured a place in the championship top flight for 2024 with the extra reward of a final date with Clontarf in a fortnight’s time highlighting the significance of the result.

It didn’t take too long for either side to impress in possession as Dillon Staunton turned smartly before confidently splitting the uprights to open the scoring for Fins in the 2^nd minute.

From the resultant kick-out, Naomh Olaf injected some pace into their attack with Oisin Hills timing his run off the shoulder to level matters off his left boot from thirty metres.

It was the Balally side that shaded the early stages however as they settled to their task marginally quicker than their opponents and they edged a point ahead through a fine point from roving wing-back Peter Keane in the 6^th minute.

David Byrne, playing in an uncustomary position of corner-forward, doubled that lead a minute later prior to Graham O’Brien replying for Fingallians with a well-taken score on the run in the 8^th minute.

The unseasonal sunshine was taking its toll to some degree as the contest hit a flat spot in terms of accuracy of execution and it took another eye-catching Keane score at the start of the second-quarter to kick matters back to life.

Darragh Byrne added to that advantage soon after as Olaf’s appeared to be enjoying a vital period of dominance but Fins continued to remain in the hunt as defenders Killian Murphy and Jude Lennon chipped in with critical scores.

Scorers continued to be traded at either end with Eoin Foley kicking a brace of points for Naomh Olaf while Brian Walzer’s score ensured Fingallians trailed by just two points (0-7 to 0-5) by half-time.

Fins resumed in an impressive manner, taking just two minutes to restore parity, as Staunton and Walzer doubled their personal tallies.

The contest was beginning to open up as Tom Keane and Sean O’Neill exchanged scores in the 35^th minute before Glenn Soraghan cut inside to telling effect as he edged Naomh Olaf back in front three minutes later.

There were few enough goal chances to speak of although Ian O’Reilly in the Fins goal did well to repel Colin Doyle as he bore down on goal with Ross O’Donovan converting the resultant ‘45’ to doubled the Olaf’s lead.

The ebb and flow was maintained as O’Brien kicked two excellent points by way of riposte to leave the teams deadlocked once again by the start of the final quarter before Foley showed great strength and no little skill to hand his side the slimmest of leads with ten minutes remaining.

Points at either end from Murphy and Foley left the tie on a knife-edge but a wonderful Nugent Byrne score in the 59^th minute and Walzer’s intelligent decision to pop over from close range in added time proved sufficient to see Fins deservedly get over the line.

Scorers – Fingallians: G O’Brien, B Walzer 0-3 each, K Murphy, D Staunton 0-2 each, J Lennon, O Lynch (f), S O’Neill, L Nugent Byrne 0-1 apiece. Naomh Olaf: E Foley 0-4 (1f), P Keane 0-2, R O’Donovan (‘45’), David Byrne, Darragh Byrne, O Hills, T Keane, G Soraghan 0-1 apiece.

Fingallians: I O’Reilly; J Lennon, M Keogh, J Lowndes; C Grimes, K Murphy, C Kelly; D Campion, C Brady; C Murtagh, O Lynch, G O’Brien; S O’Neill, D Staunton, B Walzer. Subs: D Power for Campion (41), L Nugent Byrne for Murtagh (45), D Rodgers for Brady (51), S Howard for Staunton (62).

Naomh Olaf: R O’Donovan; S O’Driscoll, F McLoughlin, S Mulvaney; P Keane, M Doyle, C de Búrca; C Doyle, Darragh Byrne; O Hills, T Keane, L Murphy; G Soraghan, E Foley, David Byrne. Subs: J Feehan for Murphy (41), C McInerney for P Keane (49), C Sullivan for T Keane (53), L Doran for Darragh Byrne (59).

Referee: Luke Lacey (Na Fianna).