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

Fri, 9th July 2021

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

By Daire Walsh

Kilmacud Crokes held off a powerful challenge from Thomas Davis at Kiltipper Road on Wednesday evening to move to the summit of the Go Ahead Adult Football League Division One South table.

Level on points with Davis’ in advance of their meeting in Tallaght, the Stillorgan men recorded a 1-11 to 0-13 win at the end of a nail-biting contest. Following convincing victories at the expense of St Jude’s and Ballinteer St John’s in the opening two rounds, Crokes were made to work for maximum points on this occasion.

Davis’ had impressively overcome Ballinteer St John’s and Cuala in their previous games and threatened to pull off a third successive triumph for large stretches of this compelling outing. They may have come up short in the end, but appear to be fine fettle ahead of their forthcoming visit to Ballyboden St Enda’s on Saturday.

The close nature of this affair was a theme that ran through all of last Wednesday’s Division One South fixtures. At Tymon Park, Niall Coakley’s late pointed free earned St Jude’s a share of the spoils with Ballyboden (0-12 to 1-9).

At Marley Park, Ballinteer St John’s were perilously close to picking up their first points of the campaign, but ultimately lost out to Cuala by a single point in the end (2-13 to 3-9).

In Somerton Park, Castleknock produced a strong second half display to defeat Lucan Sarsfields on a final score of 1-18 to 1-14. At the midway stage in the action, the hosts found themselves five points in arrears (1-9 to 0-7).

Full time #AFL1S

Castleknock 1-18@GAALucan 1-14

Well done lads.#CastleknockAbú pic.twitter.com/OSLl4EHoJ8
— Castleknock GAA (@CastleknockGAA) July 7, 2021

Lucan were taking the game to their opponents, but there was enough evidence in the opening period to suggest that ‘Knock could still pull a result out of the fire. Tommy McDaniel (three), Gerard McDermottroe (two), Eoin O’Brien and Ben Galvin were all on target for the 2016 Dublin Senior Football Championship finalists and they used the half-time break to iron out some creases at either end of the field.

McDermottroe and McDaniel continued their dynamic double act on the resumption, contributing a series of scores to gradually rein in the Lucan challenge. Former Dublin underage footballer Graham Hannigan also raised a white flag as Castleknock edged in front by a single point (0-15 to 1-11) in time for the second period water break.

It was still anyone’s game for the taking, however, and there was a sense that ‘Knock might need a goal to create daylight between themselves and Lucan. This eventually arrived in the closing minutes of the game when McDermottroe coolly slotted home a penalty.

McDaniel also chipped in with an additional brace of points in the final-quarter to seal a hard-earned win for Castleknock.

At St Mobhi Road on Wednesday, a 0-16 to 2-7 victory against Ballymun Kickhams helped Na Fianna to become the outright leaders at the top of the Go Ahead Division One North table.

Heading into this game, both Na Fianna and ‘Mun had a 100% record from the opening two rounds of the league. When the top-tier was last completed in 2019, Kickhams were crowned league champions with a final win over Ballyboden St Enda’s.

They went on to defeat the same side in last year’s Dublin Senior Football Championship decider, making them the team to beat on all fronts in 2021. There was little to separate the teams for much of the action at the Glasnevin venue, but Na Fianna had enough in reserve to come out on top.

As it stands they are currently one point ahead of Naomh Mearnog, who played out an entertaining draw (1-13 apiece) with St Brigid’s at Russell Park. Following back-to-back reversals to Mearnog and Ballymun, St Vincent’s finally got up and running with a 1-17 to 3-10 success over Skerries Harps at Pairc Naomh Uinsionn.

It was a similar case for Clontarf, who built on their stalemate with St Brigid’s in the last round by overcoming Naomh Maur on a scoreline of 0-16 to 0-10. Nathan Doran, Charlie Meehan and Kieran McKeon were the main attacking weapons for ‘Tarf, amassing a combined tally of 13 points over the course of the hour.

Men’s Football 1st Team, Div 1

RESULT -

Clontarf 0-16@StMaursGaa 0-10

Well done lads, first league win of the year.#AFL1

Sponsored by @mfirstcu pic.twitter.com/wR0MsqoO5a
— Clontarf GAA Club/CLG Chluain Tarbh (@ClontarfGAAClub) July 7, 2021

Also on the scoresheet was former Footballer of the Year and multiple Celtic Cross winner Jack McCaffrey. Maur’s had two-time All-Ireland U20 finalist Ciaran Archer within their ranks and he knocked over a brace of advanced marks for the hosts in the early exchanges.

Meehan and Doran (two) did find the target for ‘Tarf and while they were a single point in arrears (0-4 to 0-3) at the first half water break, the visitors were starting to create sustained momentum in attack. Nevertheless - despite Andy Foley and McKeon adding points for ‘Tarf - the Archer-inspired Maur’s were two points to the good (0-7 to 0-5) at the midway stage.

Although the tie remained delicately poised, the pendulum shifted significantly on the resumption. Courtesy of successive points by Meehan (two), Doran, McCaffrey and McKeon, Clontarf moved into a three-point lead edging towards the third-quarter mark.

While Maur’s had some positive moments in the opposition half, ‘Tarf never looked back after gaining the initiative. McKeon and Doran enhanced their already impressive personal tallies and with midfielder Foley adding his second point, they were full value for their win in the end.