Round Up: Go-Ahead AFL 1 & AFL 2- 25th May

Na Fianna and Clontarf share top spot in Division 1 of the Go-Ahead Dublin Adult Football League following hard-fought victories over Round Towers Lusk and Ballinteer St John’s on Saturday afternoon.

At Mobhi Road, Na Fianna overcame the concession of two goals by Darragh Kelly and another from Sean Bollard as they prevailed by 2-13 to 3-7.

Clontarf were made to fight even harder for the two points in Marley Park as they pipped previous leaders Ballinteer St John’s by 3-9 to 1-14.

The hosts started on the front foot with the likes of Iain Ó hEithir, Liam Smith, Jack Lundy, Mark McNally and Nicky Devereux all impressing but Kieran McKeon plundered two goals in quick succession to turn the game in Clontarf’s favour.

A goal by David Murray helped the hosts limit the damage by half-time but the dismissal of Smith within ten seconds of the restart undermined Ballinteer’s chances, as did McKeon completing his hat-trick midway through the half.

St John’s battled back to reduce their arrears to the bare minimum but time ran out as they suffered their second reverse of the campaign.

Thomas Davis moved into fourth place in the table as they made the short but worthwhile journey to Páirc Uí Mhurchú, overcoming Ballyboden St Enda’s by 1-13 to 1-11.

There was very little to separate the teams throughout with points from Conor Guilfoyle, Ryan Deegan, Chris Sallier and Ryan Fahy keeping the visitors in touch but a goal by Ciaran Duggan edged Boden into a 1-7 to 0-8 interval lead.

The hosts piled on the pressure after the break but were limited to a degree by the excellent defending of both Eoin Lambert and Eoin Kirby and the introduction off the bench of Fionn Murray and Davy Keogh saw Thomas Davis regain a degree of control.

Sallier impressed up front throughout and with Murray netting in the 55^th minute, the visitors held on through late points by Fahy and Fionn Lynch.

There was another away success at Collins Avenue as Ballymun Kickhams edged Whitehall Colmcille by 1-17 to 1-15.

Robbie Bolger (1-2) and Dean Rock (0-5) shared the scoring honours for Ballymun, and with Adam Conway, Cameron McCormack, Dillon Keating and Davy Byrne all adding two points apiece, Kickhams held on through fine displays from Conway, Leon Young, Eamon Hill and Eoin Dolan.

In Go-Ahead AFL2, just two points separate the top ten teams in the division with the battle for promotion sure to go right down to the wire.

At present, both St Patrick’s Donabate and Parnell’s lead the way following home wins over Naomh Mearnóg and Ballyboughal respectively on Saturday with Raheny close on their tails after beating St Brigid’s by 1-16 to 2-3 at Russell Park.

The visitors led by 0-9 to 2-1 at the break with half-backs Darren Byrne and Adam McAweeney catching the eye in addition to kicking a point apiece.

Raheny drove home their advantage in the second-half with Cian Ivers finishing the game with six points to his name while Darren Lunney pounced on a defensive error to effectively settle the issue with their only goal of the game.

Substitute Joe O’Reilly also impressed from the bench while Sean Grenham and Thomas Hurley kicked two points apiece to ensure a comfortable win by the final whistle.

In Pairc Barróg, Naomh Barróg overcame a sloppy start to eventually get the better of Fingal Ravens by 1-13 to 1-8.

The hosts conceded 1-1 in the early stages but clawed their way back through points from the influential Paul Tolan, Harry Nolan and Ryan Alexander to trail by 1-3 to 0-5 by half-time.

A goal from Liam Durran helped maintain their momentum and with Matthew Sharry and Sean Doyle impressing at the back, Barróg pulled away through a brace of Luke Nolan points while Tolan ended the game with eight points to his name.

At Clontarf Road, Scoil Uí Chonaill eased their relegation concerns as they proved too strong for Kilmacud Crokes, winning by 4-10 to 0-10.

Rob Kennedy scored 2-1 for the hosts and with Brendan Murray and Conor Coady also raising green flags, Scoil eased home through three points by Andy Bunyan and two apiece from Emmet Rogan and Karl Martin.

Go-Ahead AFL1: St Sylvester’s 2-9 Castleknock 1-16; Whitehall Colmcille 1-15 Ballymun Kickhams 1-17; Cuala 3-11 Skerries Harps 2-8; Ballinteer St John’s 1-14 Clontarf 3-9; Ballyboden St Enda’s 1-11 Thomas Davis 1-13; St Mary’s Saggart 1-13 Lucan Sarsfields 2-14; Kilmacud Crokes 0-9 St Jude’s 0-8; Na Fianna 2-13 Round Towers Lusk 3-7.

Go-Ahead AFL2: Scoil Uí Chonaill 4-10 Kilmacud Crokes 0-10; St Patrick’s Donabate 2-12 Naomh Mearnóg 1-10; Erin’s Isle 1-12 Fingallians 4-17; St Oliver Plunkett’s/ER 1-8 Round Towers Clondalkin 1-8; Naomh Barróg 1-13 Fingal Ravens 1-8; Naomh Olaf 1-11 St Vincent’s 1-11; St Brigid’s 2-3 Raheny 1-16; Parnell’s 2-14 Ballyboughal 0-7.