St Jude’s win for the second time in a row after victory over St Vincents

Pic courtesy to Michael Moran

ST JUDE’S 4-11

ST VINCENT’S 0-11

St Jude’s claimed their second successive victory in Group 4 of the Go-Ahead Dublin Senior 1 Football Championship when overcoming St Vincent’s by twelve points at O’Toole Park on Sunday afternoon.

The winning margin was a slightly flattering one, given how competitive Vinnies were for the large part, but the concession of a poor second goal in the 42^nd minute and the subsequent dismissal of Sean Lambe saw them unravel in the final quarter.

Only three of the St Jude’s starting attack scored but that mattered little given the influence that Liam Connerton, Darragh Rooney and Pat Spillane had on matters while substitute Kevin McManamon enjoyed a lively cameo when adding 1-2 upon his introduction.

Vinnies only had four scores throughout and their general struggles up front saw their opponents build up an early lead with a Rooney free added to by Alex Hassett’s well-taken goal from Tom Lahiff’s pass in the 4^th minute.

Spillane and Connerton added points to push the Templeogue outfit six points clear by the 7^th minute before Gavin Burke opened the St Vincents account with a well-struck effort soon after.

Albert Martin added a second Vins point in the 11^th minute before St Jude’s restored their buffer through Spillane and Rooney as the Marino side failed to take full advantage of the breeze at their backs.

They managed to finally place some concerted pressure on the St Jude’s defence in the second quarter with Sean Lowry and Cian Dunne tagging on points prior to Rooney seeing his powerful shot at the opposite end cannon to safety off Andy Smyth’s crossbar.

Dunne and Martin kicked two more points to leave just two points between the sides but a precise curling effort from Spillane in added time ensured St Jude’s a deserved 1-6 to 0-6 interval lead.

Despite Rooney increasing the St Vincent’s deficit with another free four minutes upon the restart, the Marino outfit played their most compelling football during this period as another Lowry point was augmented by a brace from Dunne.

However, having avoided punishment on two earlier kick-out indiscretions, they were finally made to pay in the 42^nd minute as Kevin Lahiff’s point attempt saw Connerton palm home from close range for the pivotal score of the game.

Lambe’s dismissal in the 53^rd minute left the St Vincent’s defence horribly exposed with McManamon taking little time to avail of this numerical advantage as he fired home across Smyth for a typically clinical finish.

A penalty followed soon after for a foot-block from Adrian Cummins with Connerton sending Smyth the wrong way while McManamon chipped in with two further points to complete another impressive group stage win for St Jude’s.

Scorers – St Jude’s: L Connerton 2-1 (1-0 pen, 0-1 mark), K McManamon 1-2, D Rooney (3f, 1 ‘45’), P Spillane 0-4 each, A Hassett 1-0. St Vincent’s: C Dunne 0-5 (4f), G Burke, S Lowry, A Martin 0-2 each,

St Jude’s: B Flynn; S Kirwan, P O’Loughlin, A Hassett; S King, O Manning, K Lahiff; C Murphy, T Lahiff; D Kavanagh, J Carty, D Sheehy; P Spillane, D Rooney, L Connerton. Subs: L Grainger for Carty (44), K MaManamon for Kavanagh (50), C Guckian for King (51), S Kavanagh for Hassett (59), S Ryan for O’Loughlin (60).

St Vincent’s: A Smyth; C O’Brien, A Cummins, S O’Leary; S Lambe, D Cummins, M Concarr; J Kelly, G Burke; A Martin, C Dunne, M O’Rowe; C Wilson, S Lowry, T Quinn. Subs: J McCusker for A Cummins (19), K O’Brien for O’Rowe (36), A Cummins for Concarr (40), N Mullins for Martin (50).

Referee: Seamus Farrelly (Ballinteer St John’s)