Go Ahead Adult Football League Division One Round-Up: August 7th

Tue, 10th August 2021

GO AHEAD ADULT FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION ONE ROUND-UP: AUGUST 7

By Daire Walsh

Na Fianna completed a perfect march through Go Ahead Adult Football League Division One North by defeating St Brigid’s on a scoreline of 1-14 to 0-2 at Russell Park last Saturday afternoon.

Coming into this contest with six successive victories under their belts, the Glasnevin men produced another accomplished display on the Navan Road to preserve their 100 percent record.

Despite already being guaranteed top spot prior to the contest, Na Fianna were hell-bent on maintaining their winning run.

As a result, the five-time county champions will now face Division One South table-toppers Kilmacud Crokes in a forthcoming top-flight decider.

The Stillorgan men confirmed their own status with a 5-12 to 0-12 success over Lucan Sarsfields at Silver Park on the same day.

Clontarf finish third in the table, despite losing out to Skerries Harps by two points (1-13 to 0-14) at St Anne’s Park on Saturday. St Vincent’s rounded off their own league programme for 2021 with a 3-10 to 1-10 triumph against Maur’s in Rush.

Naomh Mearnog finish in second place, having enjoyed a productive campaign and recorded an emphatic 2-16 to 0-9 win over Ballymun Kickhams on home soil. ‘Mun were Division One champions when the AFL was last completed in 2019 but, in the absence of their sizeable inter-county contingent, they couldn’t rein in the challenge of the excellent Portmarnock side.

In Division One South, Ballyboden St Enda’s find themselves in the peculiar position of having gone through their campaign unbeaten and still not finishing top of the pile. This is due to the three draws they played out with Lucan Sarsfields, St Jude’s and Ballinteer St John’s.

Their 2-14 to 1-9 win at the expense of Kilmacud on July 24 gave them a fighting chance of securing a league final place, but Crokes’ triumph over Lucan ensured they had to settle for the runners-up spot.

Still, ‘Boden will enter the upcoming Senior Football Championship in fine spirits. At Hyde Park on Saturday, they had 10 points to spare over Cuala (1-20 to 1-10) and will be even more formidable when the likes of the Basquel brothers (Colm and Ryan) and Robbie McDaid are back in the fold.

At Kiltipper Road, Castleknock had the measure of Thomas Davis (1-12 to 0-10) to finish out their campaign in sixth place.

Meanwhile, Ballinteer St John’s delivered a late flourish at Marley Park to claim a narrow 3-12 to 1-17 triumph over St Jude’s. Trailing by seven points at the end of normal time, the hosts struck an unanswered haul of 2-2 to eventually come away with the spoils.

Before Jude’s - in the hunt for their fourth win of the term - took control of the contest, there had been little to separate the sides during the opening period. Iain Ó hEithir and Eoghan Breathnach shone brightly for Ballinteer and with Cian Dolan rattling the opposition net, they were on level terms (1-5 to 0-8) at the interval.

They looked consigned to a fifth league defeat when Jude’s built up a seemingly insurmountable cushion in the closing minutes, but St John’s remained resolute. Thanks to a quick 1-1 salvo from Aodhán Clabby - who also features prominently for the club’s senior hurlers - the game was suddenly back in the melting pot.

Aaron Bradshaw followed with a three-pointer of his own and it was then left for Clabby to convert a free at the death to give Ballinteer a morale-boosting win.