Round-Up: Go-Ahead Senior 2/ Senior 3 Hurling Championship Round 4

Craobh Chiaráin confirmed their place at the summit of the Go-Ahead Dublin Senior 2 Hurling Championship Group 1 table when finishing strongly to defeat Ballinteer St John’s by 1-20 to 1-11 in Clonshaugh.

An early Darren Kelly goal handed the hosts some breathing room and while St John’s pounced for a goal of their own soon after, the dominance of Conor Ryan and Jimmy Finn at midfield ensured Craobh entered the break with a five-point lead.

The visitors impressed in the third quarter but failed to translate that control into sufficient scores and with Kevin Hetherton shining at centre-back, Chiaráin’s pulled away thanks to the scoring contributions of Cian Derwin, Robbie Mahon and Paul Kelly. 

Craobh are joined in top spot by a Naomh Barróg team that delivered a strong team performance in defeating Castleknock by 2-25 to 1-10 at Somerton Park.

The visitors led by 2-9 to 0-5 at the break with their goals coming through Cillian Costello and Ciaran Gallagher and they maintained their control upon the restart with Joe Flanagan putting further daylight between the teams by the final whistle.

In Group 2, St Jude’s maintained their hold on joint top spot as they edged Kilmacud Crokes by 1-20 to 1-16 in an enthralling clash at Silver Park.

The hosts started brightly but were reeled in by a superb Conor Nolan goal and with John Carty and Danny Sutcliffe causing headaches for the home defence, St Jude’s pushed clear to a 1-11 to 0-8 interval lead.

Crokes battled back well after the break with away goalkeeper Ross O’Reilly making three vital interventions and late points from Carty and Sutcliffe saw the visitors finish in the front foot.

Joe McManus top scored with 0-11 with Nolan adding 1-3 while Carty (0-3) and Sutcliffe (0-2) gained tangible reward for their efforts over the hour.

Ballyboden St Enda’s also remain in the top spots as they recorded a noteworthy 3-20 to 4-5 away win at Naomh Fionnbarra.

In the Go-Ahead Dublin Senior 3 Hurling Championship, Raheny continued their climb up the Group 2 table as they pulled away from Scoil Uí Chonaill in the second-half en route to a 2-26 to 0-12 success.

The foundation for their success lay in a strong defensive showing with goalkeeper Ryan Coyle showing well alongside his full-back line of Ben Roberts, Eamon Fitzgerald and Luke Mitchell.

Leading by 0-13 to 0-7 at the break, Raheny made sure of the points with a brace of second-half goals from Liam Dunne with the talented talisman finishing the game with 2-10 to his name.

Mark Murphy and Thomas Hurley scored 0-6 and 0-4 respectively with the away scoring completed by Adam McAweeney, Ger Coady, Jack Lyons, Darragh Keogh, Ryan McGuirk and Ben McHugh.

At the opposite end of the table, O’Toole’s picked up their first win of the campaign as they defeated Na Fianna by 1-21 to 2-13 at Blunden Drive.

The bulk of the home scoring was shared by the lively Conn Rock, Sean O’Keeffe and Graham Dinh with full-back Conor Kavanagh, wing-back Fionn Rock and Ryan Rooney at midfield all impressing for the Larriers.

In Group 1, Setanta and Erin’s Isle continue to lead the way as they enjoyed contrasting wins over Naomh Ólaf and Cuala respectively.

Isles proved too strong for Cuala, winning by 3-19 to 0-9 in Shankill while Setanta edged Olaf’s by 3-18 to 2-17 in Poppintree.

Ryan Clarke proved their scorer-in-chief once again with a personal tally of 1-11 (0-7f) and with Fionntán Magibb chipping in with 2-3, the hosts edged home thanks to further scores by Seán Ó Riain, Luke Kelly and Dean Cullen.

Go-Ahead SHC2 Group 1: Craobh Chiaráin 1-20 Ballinteer St John’s 1-11; Castleknock 1-10 Naomh Barróg 2-25.

Go-Ahead SHC2 Group 2: Kilmacud Crokes 1-16 St Jude’s 1-20; Naomh Fionnbarra 4-5 Ballyboden St Enda’s 3-20.

Go-Ahead SHC3 Group 1: Setanta 3-18 Naomh Olaf 2-17; Cuala 0-9 Erin’s Isle 3-19.

Go-Ahead SHC3 Group 2: Scoil Uí Chonaill 0-12 Raheny 2-26; O’Toole’s 1-21 Na Fianna 2-13.