ROUND UP: GO-AHEAD IRELAND SENIOR 2 & 3 HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 2

Faughs got their Go-Ahead Ireland Dublin Senior 2 Hurling Championship Group 2 campaign off to a positive start as they eased past St Oliver Plunkett’s/Eoghan Ruadh by 1-27 to 0-14 at Martin Savage Park on Saturday afternoon.

With the driving rain at their backs, the visitors set the tone through early points by Colm Leahy, Liam Mostyn and James O’Brien and while the hosts gradually got back on terms by the end of the first quarter, another O’Brien placed ball pushed Faughs 0-6 to 0-4 clear by the 16^th minute.

Carl O’Mahony and Conor O’Shea added to their tally before Fergal Heavey put further distance between the teams with a goal in the 18^th minute.

That score was a body blow from which Plunkett’s never truly recovered as further points by O’Brien, Mostyn, O’Mahony and Heavey left the hosts with a mountain to climb at half-time, trailing by 1-16 to 0-8.

The lively Heavey continued to impress upon the restart, adding three further points from play, while O’Brien took his personal tally to 0-13 by the final whistle to complete a resounding win for the Templeogue outfit.

It proved far tighter in Portmarnock as Naomh Mearnóg got the better of Castleknock by 0-20 to 0-16, recovering well from their opening round defeat to Plunkett’s in the process.

The foundation for their victory lay at the back through strong individual performances by Dylan McCartney, Gavin Nangle and Tynam Neville while Joey Kinnane also proved influential at midfield, adding four points from play.

Liam Mullins top scored with 0-8 (7f) and with Bernard Deay adding five points, the hosts did enough to prevail through further scores by Chris Farrelly, Seán Hawkshaw and the hard-working Josh Phillips.

In Group1, Thomas Davis completed their second win on the bounce as they overcame Raheny by 0-26 to 3-12 at Kiltipper Road and these was another home success at Marley Park where Ballinteer St John’s beat Kilmacud Crokes by 0-20 to 1-14.

In Go-Ahead Ireland Dublin Senior 3 Hurling Championship, Naomh Fionnbarra picked up their second successive victory as they defeated St Vincent’s by 2-20 to 0-16 in their Group 1 clash at The Bogies.

Chris O’Brien was in sparkling form for the hosts, with his ten-point tally including six points from play as Fionnbarra opened up a six-point lead by the interval.

Vinnies responded well to close the gap back to two points after the break but the concession of goals to Rory McGrath and Dylan Curley and strong defensive displays for the Barrs by John Bailey and Conor Carberry helped the Cabra outfit pull away to a flattering win.

Matters were far tighter in Broomfield as St Sylvester’s picked up a much-needed victory when edging local rivals Fingallians by 1-19 to 0-20.

Paul Farrelly scored the all-important goal for the hosts, who remained in contention throughout thanks to five points by Dan Murphy and four pivotal scores by the hugely influential Darragh McLoughney.

Sean Murphy and Tommy Costelloe were others to impress for Syls, scoring two points apiece, with Alan Morris, Cian Whitney, Eamon McLoughney, Liam Foley and Conal de Búrca also on target in their two-point win.

In Group 2, Cuala and Clontarf enjoyed narrow home wins against O’Toole’s and Setanta respectively.

SHC2 Group 1: Thomas Davis 0-26 Raheny 3-12; Ballinteer St John’s 0-20 Kilmacud Crokes 1-14.

SHC2 Group 2: St Oliver Plunkett’s/ER 0-14 Faughs 1-27; Naomh Mearnóg 0-20 Castleknock 0-16.

SHC3 Group 1: St Sylvester’s 1-19 Fingallians 0-20; Naomh Fionnbarra 2-20 St Vincent’s 0-16.

SHC3 Group 2: Cuala 3-14 O’Toole’s 2-14; Clontarf 2-17 Setanta 1-18.