St Vincent’s and Na Fianna advance from SFC1 Group 2 into last-eight

St Vincent's and Na Fianna progressed from Dublin SFC1 Group 2 following Saturday evening's action.

The Marino men had already booked their berth in the last eight but signed off the round-robin stage with a commanding 4-19 to 0-12 victory over Lucan Sarsfields in O'Toole Park.

The reigning county champions led 1-10 to 0-8 at the interval with Cormac Diamond getting the only goal of the first-half and added three more in the second period to run out 19-point victors.

Adam Baxter grabbed two of those second-half goals with Enda Varley striking the other.

As a result Na Fianna's 1-12 to 1-12 draw with Skerries Harps in Parnell Park was enough for the St Mobhi Road side to book the second last-eight qualification spot in the group.

They had to do it the hard way against a Stephen Smith-inspired Skerries with the impressive corner-forward kicking 1-7 (0-4) as he took his side to the brink of qualification.

Smith's well-taken goal six minutes into the second half put Skerries 1-8 to 0-5 clear after they had held the upperhand in the first-half to lead 0-8 to 0-5 at the break.

But Na Fianna showed good resolve to battle back with Aaron Byrne's clinically taken penalty proving a much needed boost following a foul in the square on James Doran.

Doran and Byrne were second-half subs as was Alasdar Fitzgerald and all three play their part in their second-half revival with Doran also kicking a fine point and Fitzgerald's fisted point late on giving Na Fianna a 1-12 to 1-11 lead in the fourth minute of added time before Skerries defender Ross McGarry kicked the equalizer in the fifth minute of injury-time.

In the opening half Skerries made the early running and three points from Stephen Smith, two from play, gave his side a 0-3 to 0-0 lead inside six minutes.

By the midpoint of the half Harps were 0-5 to 0-1 to the good following two more Smith frees.

Na Fianna were showing some signs of a recovery before the break with points form Tim Foran (free) and Conor McHugh to trail by three at the interval.

However, Smith's brilliantly taken goal when he worked his way in along the endline before sliding the ball under keeper David O'Hanlon propelled his side into a six-point lead and Na Fianna's SFC1 quarter-final hopes looked in serious trouble.

Two Michael Deegan frees and a point from wing-back Eoin Connolly made it 1-9 each with seven minutes remaining.

Kevin Gilmore nosed Harps back in front before Doran and Sean Caffrey were on target to edge Na Fianna in front my the minimum entering added time.

Over the course of a dramatic last few minutes Killiian McGinnis, Fitzgerald and McGarry exchanged points but when the dust had settled the draw was sufficient for Na Fianna to progress to the quarter-finals.