Round Up: U21 Football Championship Finals

There was plenty of drama taking place across the county on Saturday afternoon as six Under 21 Football Championship titles were up for grabs.

In O’Toole Park, Daire Sweeney excelled in helping Ballyboden St Enda’s claim the ‘A’ decider with his ten points over the hour leaving his side comfortable 0-16 to 1-1 winners over Ballymun Kickhams.

It proved far tighter at St Anne’s Park in the ‘B’ final as Clontarf edged Castleknock by 1-13 to 1-10 with Luke Swan kicking 1-8 for the visitors.

The ‘C’ final saw Skerries Harps impress when getting the better of St Jude’s by 1-14 to 0-11 at Tymon Park with Luke Whelan scoring the solitary goal of the game.

The visitors impressed all the way through with goalkeeper James Casey and half-back Aidan Coleman particularly influential while Ben Jones, Cal Kelly and Eoin Wilde were others to shine in a defensive capacity for Harps.

Ethan Dunne provided his usual amount of possession at midfield for Harps with Whelan (1-2) and Joe Delaney (0-5) their top scorers.

Greg McEneaney was another key performer for the winners, kicking four classy points from play, with the Skerries scoring completed by Simon Connolly, Cillian Emmett and Paddy Kelly.

The youthful hosts struggled to create many chances over the hour but always remained in contention thanks to three points apiece from Eoin Kenny and Mick Lawlor.

James O’Loughlin, Anthony McGennis, Cillian Ffrench and Kamen Bagnall were also on the St Jude’s scoresheet but their contributions and fine displays from Eoghan Costello and Sean Kirwan proved in vain by the final whistle.

There was another away win in the ‘D’ decider as Round Towers Clondalkin finished strongly when defeating Whitehall Colmcille by 2-7 to 1-4 at Collins Avenue.

The hosts played with the strong breeze at their backs in the first-half bit only led by 1-3 to 1-2 at the break with Ben Casey fisting home from close range for the Towers goal.

The free-taking of Mick Broderick kept the visitors marginally in front before they put the icing on their cake with an insurance goal by Mark Donnan in injury time.

Casey was exceptional throughout for the winners in what was an impressive team performance with the likes of Donnacha Desmond, Matthew Broderick, Jason Meehan, Rory Broderick and Charlie Kennedy more than playing their part.

It proved a tale of double disappointment for St Jude’s and they lost to ‘E’ final to Parnell’s by 2-10 to 1-2 at Tymon Park.

The bulk of the damage was done in the first-half as the visitors built up a healthy 1-5 to 0-0 interval advantage with points from Conor McGrath (2), Cillian Hunt, Cian Byrne and Danil O’Neill augmenting Hunt’s 20^th minute goal.

Further scores upon the restart by Hunt, Harry Gardner, Alex Carolan and Reece Moloney strengthened their hold on proceedings and they settled the issue through Gardner’s goal ten minutes from time.

Goals proved pivotal in the ‘F’ decider as Castleknock edged St Peregrine’s by 2-7 to 0-10 at Somerton Park. 

U21 ‘A’ FC Final: Ballyboden St Enda’s 0-16 Ballymun Kickhams 1-1.

U21 ‘B’ FC Final: Clontarf 1-13 Castleknock 1-10.

U21 ‘C’ FC Final: St Jude’s 0-11 Skerries Harps 1-14.

U21 ‘D’ FC Final: Whitehall Colmcille 1-4 Round Towers Clondalkin 2-7.

U21 ‘E’ FC Final: St Jude’s 1-2 Parnell’s 2-10.

U21 ‘F’ FC Final: Castleknock 2-7 St Peregrine’s 0-10.