Go Ahead Dublin Senior 2 Hurling Championship Round-Up: August 27th

GO AHEAD DUBLIN SENIOR TWO HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND-UP: AUGUST 27 

By Daire Walsh 

Castleknock got their Go Ahead Dublin Senior Two Hurling Championship Group One campaign back on track with a 1-17 to 1-15 triumph over Ballinteer St John’s at Marley Park last Saturday.

Following narrow back-to-back defeats against Naomh Fionnbarra and Whitehall Colmcille, Castleknock were searching for a win to ensure they remained in contention for a knockout spot heading into the final round of group fixtures. Despite a late surge from Ballinteer, the Somerton Park outfit managed to do exactly that.

A brace of Cian Boyle points got the visitors up and running and while St John’s subsequently levelled matters, Eoin Sawyer and Boyle helped Castleknock to create daylight on the scoreboard once again. They pushed on from there and recorded no fewer than nine points on the bounce as the opening period progressed.

Boyle featured heavily amongst the scoring during this juncture, but Neil Hogan also chipped in with multiple efforts to put his side firmly in the driving seat. Although Ballinteer gave themselves a much-needed injection of life through a well-worked goal, Sawyer grabbed a major just before the interval to give Castleknock a 1-12 to 1-3 cushion heading into the second half.

The deadly accurate Boyle moved the away side into a double figure lead on the resumption, only for Ballinteer to come storming back into the contest. Thanks to seven points without reply, the southsiders were suddenly posing a host of questions for their opponents.

Yet Castleknock didn’t panic and Sawyer knocked over a brace of points in a mini purple patch. Even though Ballinteer amassed the final four points of the game, it wasn’t enough to prevent a second reversal of the term from their perspective. 

On the other hand, pace-setters Whitehall Colmcille welcomed Scoil Ui Chonaill to Collins Avenue on Saturday and came away with a convincing 5-29 to 0-12 victory.

Before producing late heroics for their senior footballers against Castleknock on the previous weekend, Cormac Costello bagged a hat-trick of goals in the small ball game when Whitehall defeated the same club in the previous round of the Senior Two Championship.

The talented attacker - who appeared for Dublin in All-Ireland minor finals in both codes during the 2011 and 2012 seasons - was once again in top form on his home patch, registering a brace of goals in a dominant first half display by his team. Paddy Spellacy also rattled the net on two occasions to propel Whitehall into a 4-9 to 0-7 interval buffer.

Despite the best endeavours of Rob Kennedy and Barry Cushen, Scoil Ui Chonaill were left with a mountain to climb and Comcille maintained their own ruthless streak in front of goal. Conor Sheedy claimed a fifth major in the second period to ensure the scoring burden didn’t rest entirely on the shoulders of Spellacy and Costello.

Indeed, the latter’s inter-county football colleagues Lee Gannon and Eoghan O’Donnell were amongst those to find the range as the action developed. Dillon Constantine and Enda O’Donnell also made their presence felt and Whitehall cemented their status as the competition’s biggest challengers in impressive style.

Faughs remain out in front at the summit of the Group Two table courtesy of their thrilling 4-21 to 3-12 win over neighbours Thomas Davis on the Osprey pitch in Tymon Park on Saturday. 

After putting Ballyboden St Enda’s ‘B’ and Kilmacud Crokes ‘B’ to the sword in their previous outings,the pressure was on the Templeogue-based side to produce the goods in their second consecutive home encounter of the campaign.

While it ended up being a goal fest, it was only in the second period that both netminders were truly called into action. Despite registering a three-pointer in the first half, Davis’ found themselves trailing by the same margin (0-11 to 1-5) when the half-time whistle was sounded in Tymon.

As ever, Adam Waddick, Eoin Lambert, Daire Kerr and Liam McDonnell were amongst those to feature prominently for Thomas Davis.

It was only natural that the play would start to open up after the restart and while their Tallaght counterparts had plenty of joy up front, Faughs took the bull by the horns in consummate style. Niall Fitzgibbon, David Croke, Jamie Maloney and Fergal Heavey all raised green flags to give Johnny Greville’s charges a firm stranglehold on proceedings.

Fitzgibbon and Heavey also chipped in with a number of singles and thanks to the likes of Carl O’Mahony doing likewise, it was Faughs who prevailed with 12 points to spare in the end.

Keeping up the pace heading into the final round are the two sides Faughs had conquered before Saturday’s fare. Whereas Kilmacud had a bye in the weekend just gone, Ballyboden St Enda’s entertained Na Fianna at Pairc Ui Murchu while both clubs’ ‘A’ sides were simultaneously locking horns in Parnell Park.

Na Fianna were looking to pick up their first win of the group, following earlier reversals to Kilmacud Crokes and Faughs. However, ‘Boden hit the ground running in this clash and eventually came away with a 3-25 to 1-13 victory.

Ballyboden and Kilmacud are set to clash in Silver Park on September 10 as the race for the knockout spots start to intensify. From Na Fianna’s perspective, they will close out Group Two with a visit to Thomas Davis and Kiltipper Road on the same day.