ROUND UP: Go-Ahead Ireland Senior 2 Football Championship Round 1

Picture courtesy Mark McDonagh

Parnell’s made a winning start to their Go-Ahead Ireland Dublin Senior 2 Football Championship campaign as they accounted for St Maur’s by 3-12 to 2-7 in their Group 3 encounter in Rush on Saturday afternoon.

The contest was delicately poised by the end of the third quarter but the visitors took complete control for the remainder of the match to secure an eight-point success.

A Ciaran Archer penalty handed St Maur’s the early initiative but a goal from Stephen Duffy helped Parnell’s reduce their deficit to a single point (1-6 to 1-5) by the interval.

The hosts pushed further clear in the early stages of the second-half and the visitors suffered another blow as Alex Hutton saw his penalty cannon to safety off the crossbar.

However, the introduction of both Conor McGrath and John Sammon helped turn the tide in Parnell’s favour with the former scoring a brace of points upon his introduction.

The scoring honours fell to Duffy, who completed his hat-trick in the closing stages, while Cillian Hunt chipped in with five points over the hour, three from open play.

The other fixture in Group 3 saw Templeogue Synge Street withstand some late St Mary’s Saggart pressure on their way to a 2-14 to 2-12 success at Dolphin Park.

The bulk of the scoring was shared by Dublin players Niall Scully (1-5) and Lorcan O’Dell (1-4) with Scully’s excellent strike into the bottom corner adding momentum to the home challenge.

Bruce Waldron excelled in the Synger midfield while the likes of Kevin Hughes and Conor Curran also made valuable contributions to help their side over the line.

In Group 1, Naomh Olaf and Whitehall Colmcille both served early notice of their championship aspirations as they registered emphatic wins against Round Towers Clondalkin and Round Towers Lusk respectively.

The matches in Group 2 were more competitive with Naomh Barróg starting off on the front foot with an impressive 1-14 to 0-10 victory against Fingal Ravens at Páirc Barróg.

The visitors raced three points clear in the early stages but Barróg struck back through points by Luke Nolan, Paul Tolan and Finn Alexander to restore parity at 0-6 apiece by half-time.

The hosts pushed on in the early stages of the second-half thanks to scores by Harry Nolan, Matthew Owen and Liam Durran and even a missed penalty by Tolan failed to stall their momentum.

A deserved goal eventually arrived as Dublin hurler Paddy Doyle worked wonders in setting up Luke Nolan for a smart finish with the excellent defensive play at the opposite end by the likes of Martin Rooney and Conor Gibson keeping the Ravens attack in check.

Barróg finished strongly as Seán Gallagher clipped over a brace of points while Tolan (0-5) and Luke Nolan (1-2) also added to their personal tallies by the final whistle.

The other contest in Group 2 saw Scoil Uí Chonaill defeat St Patrick’s Donabate by 2-14 to 2-9 with a brace of goals from wing-back Eoin McKay proving pivotal for the hosts.

The results in Group 4 went along expected lines as St Oliver Plunkett’s/Eoghan Ruadh and St Brigid’s recorded comfortable home wins against Erin’s Isle and Ballyboughal respectively.

SFC2 Group 1: Naomh Olaf 3-20 Round Towers Clondalkin 0-6; Round Towers Lusk 1-6 Whitehall Colmcille 4-14.

SFC2 Group 2: Naomh Barróg 1-14 Fingal Ravens 0-10; Scoil Uí Chonaill 2-14 St Patrick’s Donabate 2-9.

SFC2 Group 3: St Maur’s 2-7 Parnell’s 3-12; Templeogue Synge Street 2-14 St Mary’s Saggart 2-12.

SFC2 Group 4: St Oliver Plunkett’s/ER 1-22 Erin’s Isle 0-14; St Brigid’s 2-15 Ballyboughal 0-8.