Whitehall Ease Relegation Fears With Win Over Na Fianna

ADULT HURLING LEAGUE DIVISION ONE 

WHITEHALL COLMCILLE 1-16 

NA FIANNA 1-10 

By Daire Walsh 

Whitehall Colmcille delivered a strong second-half display at St Mobhi Road on Sunday morning to get the better of Na Fianna in Division One of the Adult Hurling League. 

The Collins Avenue men had just one top-flight win to their name (from nine games) prior to the contest and they found themselves on level terms with the hosts at the interval stage. However, with Lee Gannon and Enda O’Donnell leading the way, they ultimately came away with a much-needed victory. 

This helps to ease Whitehall’s relegation fears, even though their main rivals - Lucan Sarsfields and Crumlin - still have games in hand. As a result of this defeat (their fifth of the campaign), Na Fianna have fallen short in their quest to reach a second successive league decider.

The Glasnevin outfit made a bright start to the action courtesy of Martin Quilty’s deadlock-breaking point, only for Whitehall midfielder Niall O'Connor to respond in clinical fashion. Nominally selected at full-forward, John Sharpson was deployed in a deep-lying role at the heart of the Na Fianna defence.

This left Whitehall full-back Cian Murphy to play sweeper at the opposite end of the pitch and following a barren scoring spell for both sides, a converted Sean Gray free gave the visitors a slender advantage.

After Gannon opened his personal account, the reliable Gray added a brace to open up a four-point cushion (0-5 to 0-1) on the first-quarter mark. Despite creating a number of scoring opportunities, Na Fianna were struggling to match their industry with accuracy.

Nevertheless, they cut the deficit in half thanks to unanswered points from Michael Jarocki and Gavin King (free). While Whitehall responded through another Gannon effort, their lead was subsequently wiped out on 26 minutes.

AJ Murphy found space inside the Na Fianna ’45’ and picked out fellow corner-forward Matthew Oliver for an excellent finish into the bottom right-hand corner. The influence of Murphy was beginning to grow and he swiftly added a point to edge Declan Feeney’s outfit back into the ascendancy.

A resilient Whitehall got back on track with Gannon and Mikey Noonan points, but King’s second of the opening period ensured the sides were deadlocked (1-4 to 0-7) heading into the break. Although this left the tie delicately poised, Whitehall regained the initiative on the resumption.

Daire Gray ventured forward for an outstanding point and this was quickly supplemented by an O’Donnell three-pointer. O’Donnell had started the game alongside Gray in the half-back line, before switching to attack as part of a tactical re-shuffle.

His direct approach paid dividends two minutes after the restart, when he angled a powerful shot beyond the reach of Na Fianna netminder Eoin Skelly. This appeared to offer Whitehall an ideal platform and while a King free briefly halted their momentum, Conor Cummins kept them in the driving seat with a superbly-taken point.

Traded singles between Quilty and O’Donnell kept a considerable distance between the teams, until Na Fianna dug deep to secure back-to-back scores through the ever-influential duo of Quilty and King. Whitehall were determined to make the most of their penultimate league encounter, though, and they restored their four-point buffer with just 12 minutes remaining on the clock.

Daire Gray once again found the range on the right-wing and this was complimented by Gannon’s fourth of the tie. This was the cue for Na Fianna to make a triple substitution, with alterations made in both defence and attack.

Sean Currie certainly made an impact on the inside line and after Sean Gray contributed another placed-ball for Whitehall, King did likewise for their opponents.

As a consequence, Na Fianna kept themselves in contention moving into the closing minutes of the play. Yet, Whitehall were not to be denied and they made sure of their morale-boosting triumph with O’Connor and Gannon points in stoppage-time.

They will now seek to cement their Division One status when they host the high-flying Ballyboden St Enda’s on August 10. Na Fianna face St Vincent’s at Pairc Naomh Uinsionn on the same evening, when they will aim for a positive end to their league season.

Scorers - Whitehall Colmcille: Lee Gannon 0-5, Enda O’Donnell 1-1, Sean Gray 0-4 (4f), Daire Gray, Niall O’Connor 0-2 each, Conor Cummins, Mikey Noonan 0-1 each. Na Fianna: Gavin King 0-5 (5f), Matthew Oliver 1-0, Martin Quilty 0-3, Michael Jarocki, AJ Murphy 0-1 each.

WHITEHALL COLMCILLE: Ronan Murray; Kevin Nangle, Cian Murphy, Paddy Giles; Enda O’Donnell, Daire Gray, Jaymie O’Brien; Niall O’Connor, Eamon McKeown; Conor Cummins, Lee Gannon, Sean Gray; Niall O’Donnell, Patrick Spellacy, Mikey Noonan. Subs: Dillon Constantine for Giles (46), Darragh Carroll for Spellacy (53), Stephen Cassidy for Cummins (59).

NA FIANNA: Eoin Skelly; Kevin Burke, Ciaran Fanning, Sean Baxter; Sean Burke, Hugh Fenlon, Craig Branagan; Michael Jarocki, Martin Quilty; Sean Murphy, Cillian Heeney, Gavin King; AJ Murphy, John Sharpson, Matthew Oliver. Subs: Stephen Jameson Murphy for Baxter, Jonathan Treacy for Heeney, Sean Currie for Sharpson (all 49).

Referee: Dave Aston (Naomh Mearnog).