Image courtesy John Kirwan
The quarter-finalists in the Go-Ahead Ireland Dublin Senior 1 Football Championship were confirmed over the weekend with Ballymun Kickhams cruising into the last eight after their comfortable 1-15 to 0-8 win over St Sylvester’s on Saturday afternoon.
A brace of Carl Keeley points set Ballymun on their way while at the opposite end, goalkeeper Seán Currie stalled any potential Syls momentum when repelling Sean Guiden’s 14th minute penalty.
After both Paddy Small and Dean Rock had spurned earlier goal chances, Kickhams finally found the net in the 24th minute as Robbie Bolger fired home following an excellent pass by Leon Young, prompting a deserved 1-8 to 0-3 interval lead.
Guiden chipped over three points from placed balls after the break but Rock was proving hugely efficient for Ballymun, with his five second-half scores bringing his personal tally of 0-8 by the final whistle.
Kickhams will be joined from Group 3 by a Ballyboden St Enda’s side that pulled away in the second-half en route to a 4-13 to 2-8 victory over local rivals Ballinteer St John’s at O’Toole Park.
Daire Sweeney top scored for Boden with 2-4, and with Ryan O’Dwyer adding 1-4 and Colm Basquel 1-3, they eased home thanks to strong performances by Céin D’Arcy, O’Dwyer, James Holland and Ross McGarry.
In Group 1, Cuala completed their third successive win as they proved far too strong for Fingallians, prevailing by 4-21 to 0-9 at O’Toole Park.
Con O’Callaghan top scored with 2-6 and with Luke Keating (1-4) and Niall O’Callaghan (0-4) in fine form, Cuala pulled thanks to a Cillian Dunne goal and two points apiece from Conor O’Brien, Charlie McMorrow and Eoin Kennedy.
Clontarf claimed the second qualifying spot as two goals inside a minute helped them overcome St Jude’s by 3-13 to 1-11 in Parnell Park.
Points by Liam Connerton and the impressive Kevin Lahiff handed Jude’s the early initiative but a trio of Kieran McKeon frees and a Matthew McMahon score saw Clontarf take control of matters.
A brilliant finish by Charlie Meehan in the 19th minute handed ‘Tarf their first goal and soon after Jack McCaffrey burst forward before delightfully releasing Matthew Barrett for a precise finish past the helpless Brendan Flynn.
Connerton replied in an instant with an excellent strike across Brian Dufficy but McKeon kicked two points from play to push his side 2-8 to 1-5 clear by the interval.
Despite not scoring for the first eighteen minutes of the second-half, Clontarf managed to maintain their lead and pushed for home in the final quarter through points by McKeon, John Hanley and Conor Rooney before McKeon converted a penalty with the last kick of the contest.
On Sunday afternoon, Ger McDermottroe kicked five points as 14-man Castleknock delivered a battling display when overcoming Raheny by 0-14 to 0-11.
Raheny failed to avail of their numerical advantage following the 6th minute dismissal of Tom Quinn with Luke Swan, Ciaran Kilkenny and Ben Galvin adding crucial scores for the winners.
They are joined in the last eight by Na Fianna, who finished their Group 3 campaign undefeated after drawing with Lucan Sarsfields by 1-20 to 4-11 in O’Toole Park.
Elsewhere, Kalem O’Brien scored an injury-time point as St Vincent’s drew by 0-10 to 1-7 with Skerries Harps, clinching second spot in Group 4 behind holders Kilmacud Crokes, who also shared the spoils when finishing even with Thomas Davis on a 0-11 to 1-8 scoreline.
SFC1 Group 1: Fingallians 0-9 Cuala 4-21; Clontarf 3-13 St Jude’s 1-11.
SFC1 Group 2: Na Fianna 1-20 Lucan Sarsfields 4-11; Raheny 0-11 Castleknock 0-14.
SFC1 Group 3: Ballyboden St Enda’s 4-13 Ballinteer St John’s 2-8; Ballymun Kickhams 1-15 St Sylvester’s 0-8.
SFC1 Group 4: Kilmacud Crokes 0-11 Thomas Davis 1-8; Skerries Harps 1-7 St Vincent’s 0-10.
