Picture Courtesy Greg Franzoni
St Oliver Plunkett’s/Eoghan Ruadh confirmed their place in the semi-finals of the Go-Ahead Ireland Dublin Senior 2 Football Championship when accounting for St Mary’s Saggart by 2-12 to 1-12 in O’Toole Park on Saturday afternoon.
Early goals from Neil Clerkin and Paul Brogan had Plunkett’s leading by six points after ten minutes but St Mary’s dominated the remainder of the half, scoring eight points in the bounce.
Blaine Kelly led the line superbly for Saggart, who overtook their opponents following scores by Conor Jameson, Eoin Murray and Ciaran Howard before Plunkett’s crucially kicked the last two scores of the half to leave the teams deadlocked at 2-3 to 0-9 by the interval.
A goal from Kelly saw St Mary’s push three points clear upon the restart but with Clerkin, Ben McSweeney, Gavin Broughan and Paul Brogan impressing, their opponents hit back, scoring seven of the next eight points.
Gareth ‘Nesty’ Smith kicked some vital points during this period of Plunkett’s dominance, finishing the contest with 0-6 to his name, and with Seán Bugler adding three points, they did enough to prevail thanks to further scores by Irinel Popa and Conor Tyrell.
Earlier in the afternoon, Templeogue Synge Street withstood dome late St Brigid’s pressure to secure their semi-final berth with a 2-12 to 1-12 victory at the Kimmage venue.
With both Conal Cunningham and Conor McKiernan impressing at the back, Synger controlled the first-half with the scoring of Niall Scully helping build a healthy 0-9 to 0-3 lead by half-time.
A 36th minute penalty from Scully enhanced their control of events and Scott McConnell’s goal two minutes later left Brigid’s with a mountain to climb.
They managed to reduce their deficit to four points approaching added time as they converted a penalty of their own but Scully’s 1-5, McConnell’s 1-1 and two points apiece from Killian O’Gara and Lorcan O’Dell proved sufficient for Templeogue by the final whistle.
The first team to book a place in the last four were Whitehall Colmcille, who pulled away to complete an ultimately comfortable 3-13 to 1-6 victory over Scoil Uí Chonaill at Parnell Park on Thursday night.
The sides were deadlocked at 1-4 apiece at half-time but Colmcille assumed complete control upon the restart as they prevailed by thirteen points.
Scoil stayed on the hunt initially through points from Emmet Rogan, Rob Kennedy and Evan Doyle before Whitehall edged in front thanks to a Cormac Costello goal in the 23rd minute.
However, a superb goal by Brendan Murray six minutes later saw the teams on level terms by the interval.
Costello added 1-2 in the early stages of the second-half and while a brace of frees from Rogan brought Scoil to within three points by the end of the third quarter, Costello completed his hat-trick en route to a personal tally of 3-7 by the final whistle.
Adam McDermott excelled throughout for the winners, contributing three points from wing-forward, with the Whitehall scoring completed by Keith Campbell, influential midfielder Seán Foran and Rory Kerins.
The last spot in the semi-finals was decided on Sunday afternoon as Naomh Barróg defeated Naomh Olaf by 2-13 to 0-9 in O’Toole Park.
Their reward is a meeting with Templeogue Synge Street while Plunkett’s and Whitehall will contest the remaining semi-final.
The relegation play-offs also took place over the weekend with St Maur’s and St Patrick’s Donabate preserving their SFC2 status with wins over Ballyboughal and Round Towers Lusk respectively.
Go-Ahead Ireland SFC2 quarter-finals: Whitehall Colmcille 3-13 Scoil Uí Chonaill 1-6; Templeogue Synge Street 2-12 St Brigid’s 1-12; St Oliver Plunkett’s/ER 2-12 St Mary’s Saggart 1-12; Naomh Barróg 2-13 Naomh Olaf 0-9.
Go-Ahead Ireland SFC2 relegation: St Patrick’s Donabate 2-13 Round Towers Lusk 0-8; St Maur’s 0-15 Ballyboughal 1-11.
