Round Up: Go-Ahead Ireland Senior 1 Football Championship Round 2

Image courtesy Niall O'Connell

Na Fianna took another positive step towards securing a place in the last eight of the Go-Ahead Ireland Dublin Senior 1 Football Championship as they defeated Castleknock by 0-18 to 2-10 at Parnell Park on Friday night.

Despite two early Ger McDermottroe points for Castleknock, it was Na Fianna that seized control of the opening half with Brian O’Leary heavily involved as he kicked four points from play.

Conor McHugh (3) and Ciaran Reddin (2) added to the Na Fianna tally as they entered the break leading by double scores (0-10 to 0-5).

Castleknock controlled possession in the early stages of the second-half but gained little reward on the scoreboard but they received a massive boost in the 46^th minute as Conor Chawke nestled a low shot beyond the diving David O’Hanlon.

Na Fianna responded well to that blow, kicking the next three scores through McHugh, Jonny Cooper and David Lacey (free) and while Chawke netted his second goal in the 53^rd minute, Na Fianna did enough to prevail, albeit unconvincingly.

Earlier in the night, Clontarf bounced back from their opening round defeat to Cuala as they dominated from the outset when beating a disappointing Fingallians by 3-17 to 0-7.

Early points from the impressive Charlie Meehan, Fionn Delaney and Kieran McKeon set the tone and the latter fired home a 9^th minute goal to push Clontarf six points clear.

Jack McCaffrey, Nathan Doran and Luke O’Boyle added to their tally as the half evolved and McKeon’s second goal in the 24^th minute helped build a sizeable 2-10 to 0-4 advantage by half-time.

McKeon completed his hat-trick by the 38^th minute, taking his personal tally to 3-5 in the process, while O’Boyle clipped over three stylish second-half points to complete an emphatic nineteen-point success.

On Saturday afternoon, Kilmacud Crokes completed a routine win against St Vincent’s, prevailing by 0-17 to 0-8 at Parnell Park.

Paul Mannion oozed class throughout, kicking seven points for the holders, while Paddy O’Connor and Dara Mullin chipped in with three points apiece.

Vinnies struggled to make any impression on the scoreboard throughout with Albert Martin’s two points and four scores by Cian Dunne proving insufficient by the final whistle.

The first part of the Donnycarney double-header saw Ballymun Kickhams impress from the outset as they overcame Ballinteer St John’s by 2-11 to 0-13.

A brilliant solo goal from Paddy Small handed Kickhams the initiative and they built up a healthy 2-6 to 0-5 interval lead as Dean Rock pounced close to goal in added time.

St John’s enjoyed a greater degree of scoring chances upon the restart with Eoghan Fitzpatrick kicking two fine points while goalkeeper Sean Parker finished the game with four points to his name.

However, with John Small shining at full-back, Ballymun never looked likely to concede a goal and ensured their victory through late points from substitutes Carl Keeley and Dean Robertson.

Cuala were another team to pick up their second win on the bounce as they eased past St Jude’s by 2-15 to 0-8 in O’Toole Park.

The damage was done by half-time as the Dalkey outfit built up a 1-9 to 0-2 lead and while Daragh Rooney kicked six points for Jude’s, Cuala cruised to success thanks to goals from Niall O’Callaghan and Peter Duffy, with Con O’Callaghan (0-5), Cathal Ó Giolláin (0-3), David O’Dowd (0-2) and Luke Keating (0-2) making solid contributions for the winners.

In Balgriffin, Thomas Davis did just enough to get their campaign back on track as they pipped Skerries Harps by 5-13 to 3-17 in their thriller in Balgriffin.

Their first three scores were goals, coming via Eoin Kirby, Eamon Conroy and a Chris Sallier penalty with Sallier’s second spot kick and a Davy Keogh goal after the break seeing them over the line.

Elsewhere, Raheny defeated Lucan Sarsfields by 2-16 to 1-10 while Ballyboden St Enda’s beat St Sylvester’s by 0-15 to 1-9.

Go-Ahead Ireland SFC1 Group 1: Fingallians 0-7 Clontarf 3-17; St Jude’s 0-8 Cuala 2-15.

Go-Ahead Ireland SFC1 Group 2: Na Fianna 0-18 Castleknock 2-10; Raheny 2-16 Lucan Sarsfields 1-10.

Go-Ahead Ireland SFC1 Group 3: Ballymun Kickhams 2-11 Ballinteer St John’s 0-13; Ballyboden St Enda’s 0-15 St Sylvester’s 1-9.

Go-Ahead Ireland SFC1 Group 4: Kilmacud Crokes 0-17 St Vincent’s 0-8; Skerries Harps 3-17 Thomas Davis 5-13.