St Vincent’s crowned U21FC ‘B’ champions

Pat Gilroy and Mickey Whelan, both former Dublin senior football managers, continue to work their management as their St Vincent's side were crowned Dublin U21FC 'B' champions when defeating Ballinteer St John's, 5-13 to 3-12, in Sunday's high-scoring final at O'Toole Park.

Cian O'Brien and supersub Seán Lowry were the scoring heroes for the Marino club as they combined to tally 4-7 with wing-back Mark Sweeney adding their fifth goal to seal the deal for Vincent's.

The pacey Lowry, who has been carrying an injury recently, has lined out for the Vincent's seniors this year, came on as a second half sub replacing the injured Andrew Gilroy, himself the scorer of 0-3 (0-1f), and scored a vital 2-1 while the impressive O'Brien hit 2-6 (0-5f).

Vinnies made a great start with Cian O'Brien hitting a goal inside the opening minute and points followed from Conor Burke and James O'Donnell to establish an early lead.

However, Ballinteer St John's eventually gained a foothold with a point from Eoin Seoige followed by a goal from their top scorer Donnacha Carey, who finished with a personal tally of 1-6 (0-2f, 0-1 '45').

The opening half finished in a flurry of activity with Joseph Sweeney hitting the first of his two goals for St John's in added time but yet Vincent's replied before the half-time break when Cian O'Brien was on hand to fire to the net after Andrew Gilroy's goal attempt had rebounded off the crossbar for the eventual winners to hold a 2-9 to 2-6 lead.

The introduction of Lowry six minutes into the second half was to have a serious impact on the game.

Only on the pitch three minutes he combined with Conor Burke to find the net.

Ballinteer kept battling away with points from Eoin Seoige and Donnacha Carey cutting into their deficit.

However, Lowry's second goal put Vincent's on their way to victory despite Joseph Sweeney's second goal with Mark Sweeney's goal five minutes from time ensuring that Dublin U20 of this year was lifting the cup as St Vincent's captain.

SCORERS - St Vincent’s: Cian O’Brien 2-6 (0-5f), Seán Lowry 2-1, Mark Sweeney 1-0, Andrew Gilroy 0-3 (1f), Conor Burke 0-2, James O’Donnell 0-1. Ballinteer St John’s: Donnacha Carey 1-6 (0-2f, 0-1 ’45’), Joseph Sweeney 2-0, Eoin Seoige 0-2, Eoghan Fitzpatrick (0-1f), Aaron Bradshaw, Colm Fitzpatrick, Liam Fenton 0-1 each.