Round-Up: Go-Ahead Ireland Senior 1 Hurling Championship Quarter-Finals & Relegation Play-Offs

Pic Courtesy John Kirwan

Lucan Sarsfields and Na Fianna progressed to the last four of the Go-Ahead Ireland Dublin Senior 1 Hurling Championship following their quarter-final wins against Whitehall Colmcille and Ballyboden St Enda’s respectively at Parnell Park on Sunday afternoon.

Lucan delivered a dominant third quarter performance as they eventually eased past Whitehall Colmcille by 0-25 to 2-13 with Ciaran Dowling catching the eye with six points from play for Sarsfields.

His brace of excellent scores in the opening quarter saw Lucan, playing against the elements, retain parity but a well-worked goal by Jame Raftery in the 18^th minute helped Whitehall build a healthy lead.

Paddy Spellacy added three frees to augment two Cormac Costello scores as Colmcille raced seven points clear but a trio of points by Dowling, Ben Coffey and Sean Harkness saw Lucan trim their arrears to 1-7 to 0-6 by the turnaround.

Dowling and Coffey led the way as Lucan strung together ten unanswered points to seize the initiative with Whitehall finally opening their second-half account through an Eddie Moran point in the 46^th minute.

That score failed to generate any real momentum as Coffey took his personal tally to 0-9 by the final whistle, with Spellacy’s goal in injury time of mere consolation value for Colmcille.

The second part of the Donnycarney double-header saw holders Na Fianna pull away in the final quarter en route to a comprehensive 4-26 to 2-14 victory against Ballyboden St Enda’s.

The holders impressed in a first-half that saw them face a strong breeze as early points by Gavin King, Ciaran Stacey and AJ Murphy helped them seize the early initiative.

Niall Ryan and David Gleeson replied with two points apiece for Ballyboden but they faced an uphill task when Murphy crashed home in the 19^th minute following a pass from Joe Kavanagh.

St Enda’s responded well to that setback with wing-back Jack Lambert scoring three points from play within four minutes and a classy finish from Gleeson in injury time saw them reduce their deficit to the bare minimum (1-11 to 1-10) by half-time.

The restart saw Stacey become an increasingly influential figure as he clipped over three points with Ballyboden remaining in contention through scores at the opposite end by substitutes Timmy Hammersley and Kevin Desmond.

However, a Colin Currie goal in the 50^th minute effectively settled the issue and Stacey added a brilliant goal soon after as Ballyboden’s challenge began to unravel.

Goalkeeper Jonno Tracey converted a 56^th minute penalty as matters deteriorated for St Enda’s and while Desmond replied with a goal three minutes later, Na Fianna finished on the front foot as substitute Jack Meagher tagged on a late brace of points.

The draw has pitted Na Fianna against near neighbours St Vincent’s while Lucan’s reward is a semi-final date against Kilmacud Crokes.

On Saturday afternoon, both Cuala and St Brigid’s secured their places in the top flight next year following their relegation play-off wins over St Jude’s and Craobh Chiaráin respectively.

SHC1 semi-finals: Lucan Sarsfields 0-25 Whitehall Colmcille 2-13; Na Fianna 4-26 Ballyboden St Enda’s 2-14.

SHC1 relegation: Cuala 2-23 St Jude’s 0-17; Craobh Chiaráin 1-14 St Brigid’s 0-27.