Na Fianna Wrap Up Group Stage Games With Win Over Boden

Sat, 16th September 2023

NA FIANNA 3-15

BALLYBODEN ST ENDA’S 1-16

Na Fianna finally sprung into life in the Go Ahead Dublin Senior 1 Hurling Championship when overcoming 14-man Ballyboden St Enda’s by five points at a damp Parnell Park on Saturday afternoon.

However, the victory was not enough to see them overtake St Vincent’s at the summit of the Group 2 table with both themselves and Ballyboden having to take their chances at the quarter-final stage in a fortnight’s time.

Despite falling behind to an early AJ Murphy point, it was Ballyboden that enjoyed the more encouraging start as they overtook their opponents by the 5^th minute following points by Niall Ryan and a Paul Ryan free.

Na Fianna enjoyed some promising situations but undermined their chances with some injudicious attempts from Brian Ryan and Gavin King with a more economical St Enda’s adding to their lead through Aidan Mellett and Niall McMorrow.

That lead was enhanced further as Paul Ryan converted his second free and Simon Lambert pointed delightfully from a sideline ball to leave five points between the teams by the end of the first quarter.

Having not scored for sixteen minutes, Na Fianna were in dire need of some inspiration at this point and it duly arrived in the 17^th minute as Colin Currie raced down the right flank before passing to Sean Currie for a facile first-time finish beyond Conor O’Donoghue.

The momentum that goal provided saw Na Fianna drew level by the 23^rd minute following a brace of Colin Currie frees as Ballyboden endured a barren period of their own for eleven minutes.

That ended in the 27^th minute as McMorrow jinked his way to an excellent solo score with parity restored in an instant through a well-worked point from AJ Murphy.

The disappointing half ended in a flurry of excitement as Niall Ryan edged St Enda’s in front before being shown a red card for an alleged strike on Brian Ryan.

Murphy turned sharply to leave the contest deadlocked once again with Paul Ryan’s free deep into added time leaving Ballyboden 0-9 to 1-5 ahead at the interval, despite their numerical disadvantage.

Na Fianna resumed in an impressive manner, as points by Peter Feeney and AJ Murphy rewarded their bright start but poor shooting at both ends ensured there was little to separate the sides in the early stages of the second-half.

However, as the contest evolved, the likes of Feeney, Kevin Burke and Paul O’Dea began to increase their influence on proceedings, with Sean Currie and AJ Murphy the primary beneficiaries on the scoreboard.

The former clipped over three points in the third quarter as St Enda’s failed to trouble the umpires before McMorrow finally opened their account with another cracking point in the 46^th minute.

Ballyboden gained greater encouragement a minute later as substitute Pearce Christie hammered home past Jono Tracey to trim their deficit to just three points.

However, their optimism was punctured in an instant as Na Fianna’s Ciaran Stacey raced through on goal before beating O’Donoghue at his near post for a precise and clinical finish.

Ballyboden managed four points on the bounce by way of riposte but their fate was sealed in the 56^th minute as Colin Currie and Sean Baxter combined for the latter to crash home spectacularly for the game-settling goal.

Na Fianna will now face Kilmacud Crokes in the quarter finals, with Ballyboden St Endas meeting Cuala.

Scorers – Na Fianna: S Currie 1-4, AJ Murphy 0-5, C Currie 0-4 (4f), C Stacey, S Baxter 1-0 each, P Feeney 0-2. Ballyboden St Enda’s: P Ryan (3f), S Lambert (1 sideline, 1 ‘65’), T Hammersley (2f), N McMorrow 0-3 each, P Christie 1-0, N Ryan 0-2, A Mellett, J Madden 0-1 apiece.

Na Fianna: J Tracey; C Kelly, S Burke, D Clerkin; D Ryan, K Burke, P O’Dea; B Ryan, P Feeney; C Currie, J Tierney, M Murphy; AJ Murphy, S Currie, G King. Subs: C Stacey for M Murphy (28), T Brennan for King (38), L Rushe for D Ryan (43), S Baxter for B Ryan (50), J Burke for Kelly (55).

Ballyboden St Enda’s: C O’Donoghue; P Dunleavy, L Corcoran, S McDonnell; L McDwyer, S Lambert, J Lambert; J Madden, N Ryan; S Durkin, N McMorrow, C Dooley; A Mellett, P Ryan, D Kenny. Subs: S O’Connor for Dooley (36), P Christie for Kenny (39), T Hammersley for P Ryan (45), E Behan for Curtin (50), K Desmond for McDwyer (57).

Referee: Chris Mooney (St Patrick’s Palmerstown)