Round Up: Go-Ahead Senior 1 Hurling Championship Round 1

The Go-Ahead Dublin Senior 1 Hurling Championship commenced on Saturday afternoon with holders Na Fianna getting their title defence up and running with a comprehensive 5-26 to 0-14 win against 13-man St Brigid’s at O’Toole Park.

It was St Brigid’s that started on the front foot through early points from Brian Moran and Paul Winters but a Gavin King goal in the 3^rd minute helped Na Fianna settle into the tie.

A second goal arrived by the end of the first quarter through Colin Currie and while Donnacha Ryan and Winters kept St Brigid’s in touch, Na Fianna began to pull clear with Brian Ryan, Seán Currie, AJ Murphy and Donal Burke all on target.

Any hopes that St Brigid’s could recover from a seven-point deficit were dispelled in first-half added time as goalkeeper Alan Nolan was dismissed following an off-the-ball altercation with Murphy.

Na Fianna’s dominance was enhanced as Murphy and Ciaran Stacey netted within three minutes of the resumption and substitute Shane Barrett added a fifth goal by the 47^th minute.

Winters also saw red soon after for St Brigid’s as their opponents cruised home with defenders Sean Burke, Conor McHugh and Paul O’Dea all adding points by the final whistle.

The second contest in Group 1 proved far tighter as Kilmacud Crokes scored three second-half goals before eventually seeing off an impressive Cuala side by 3-20 to 1-19.

Both teams enjoyed pockets of sporadic pressure in an entertaining first-half with Brian Hayes catching the eye with two cracking points to leave Crokes 0-6 to 0-3 clear by the 11^th minute.

Liam Murphy, Jamie Conroy and Cillian Sheanon did likewise at the opposite end to keep Cuala in contention and they were relieved to see a 24^th minute penalty from Brendan Scanlan veer narrowly wide of Seán Brennan’s left-hand upright.

Trailing by 0-13 to 0-9 at the break, Cuala took little time to restore parity as a Kevin Kirwan goal was soon followed up by an excellent Cormac Spain point.

However, a Ronan Hayes goal saw Crokes restore control on the scoreboard and while Murphy added another two points from play as the contest evolved, Kilmacud confirmed their winning start thanks to goals in the final quarter by Scanlan and Ronan Costelloe.

Across in Parnell Park, Group 2 began with St Vincent’s and Whitehall Colmcille registering wins against St Jude’s and Craobh Chiaráin respectively.

The first match in the Donnycarney double-header saw St Vincent’s defeat St Jude’s by 0-21 to 0-14 as the teams traded early points through John Carty of St Jude’s and Darach McBride of Vinnies.

Gradually, the Marino side assumed control through the free-taking of John Hetherton as they eked out a marginal 0-12 to 0-8 interval lead.

Hetherton finished with twelve points to his name, six of which coming from placed balls, and with McBride chipping in with 0-4 from play, they rarely looked troubled during the second-half.

Carty was the pick of the Jude’s players as he finished with four points from play and while Joe McManus added six points (0-4 from frees), they were unable to close the gap, despite a strong display from Danny Sutcliffe at centre-back.

A strong start proved pivotal for Whitehall Colmcille as they withstood some late pressure to register a 4-17 to 2-18 win against Craobh Chiaráin.

Goals by Conor Cummins, Paddy Spellacy (penalty) and Eoghan O’Donnell saw them build up a healthy 3-9 to 1-1 interval lead with James Finn scoring the Craobh goal.

The free-taking of Cian Derwin saw Chiaráin’s gradually trim their deficit but a goal by Jamie Raftery at the opposite end effectively sealed their fate, with Billy Ryan scoring a consolation goal in the closing stages.

SHC1 Group 1: Na Fianna 5-26 St Brigid’s 0-14; Kilmacud Crokes 3-20 Cuala 1-19.

SHC1 Group 2: St Vincent’s 0-21 St Jude’s 0-14; Craobh Chiaráin 2-18 Whitehall Colmcille 4-17.