AHL 1 Roundup - 24th June

ADULT HURLING LEAGUE DIVISION ONE ROUND-UP: JUNE 24

Canice Maher was the man of the hour for St Jude’s at Russell Park on Saturday evening, when his late point helped the league leaders to secure a dramatic 1-14 to 1-13 victory over St Brigid’s in Division One of the Adult Hurling League.

A midweek triumph against Naomh Fionnbarra had helped the Tymon North men to remain in pole position, and thanks to the scoring prowess of Diarmuid McLoughlin, Colm O’Callaghan and Joe McManus, they were in the driving seat during the first-half.

O’Callaghan displayed unerring accuracy from placed-balls, and a goal midway through the opening period from McLoughlin ensured that Jude’s established a 1-8 to 0-5 interval lead. In addition to O’Callaghan’s final tally of 0-6, Joe McManus also contributed a personal haul of 0-3.

However, a resilient Brigid’s forced their way back into the reckoning, before Jude’s eventually claimed the spoils with a magnificent long-distance point from Maher. They have accumulated 11 points from seven games to date, but following their hard-earned 1-14 to 0-13 success over Parnell’s at Chanel on the same day, Kilmacud Crokes are just one point adrift of their southside rivals.

Caolan Conway and Oisin O’Rourke were in fine scoring form throughout for Kilmacud, but although Oisin O’Carroll and corner-back Liam Cantwell also excelled, they trailed by three points (0-7 to 0-10) at the midway point.

This left the visitors with ground to make up after the restart, but despite playing against the breeze, Crokes managed to take control of the action. Conway finished as top-scorer with a grand total of 0-9 (0-5 from frees), and O’Rourke also chipped in with four points from play.

Yet, it was a 50th-minute goal by Ronan Hayes that enabled them to move into the ascendancy, and Crokes ultimately had four points to spare over their Coolock counterparts.

Ger Arthur came to the rescue of O’Toole’s at St Mobhi Road, as his injury-time score meant that they shared the points with Na Fianna at the end of a gripping encounter. Gavin King was a major source of scores for Na Fianna, and with Joey Boland, Fergal Breathnach and Dara O Maleoidigh also delivering accomplished performances, they had a fourth league win of 2017 in their sights.

However, a penalty save by the evergreen Brendan McLoughlin from King at the end of the third-quarter kept O’Toole’s within touching distance. A majestic sideline cut by the aforementioned King moved Na Fianna back in front during the closing stages, but Arthur’s dramatic intervention eventually left the sides tied at 0-17 apiece.

Meanwhile, Ballyboden St Enda’s registered their third win in succession at the expense of Crumlin at Pearse Park on a scoreline of 2-22 to 0-15, and there were also victories for All-Ireland champions Cuala (1-18 to 1-13) and Craobh Chiarain (1-16 to 1-10) in their respective home fixtures with St Vincent’s and Naomh Fionnbarra.

By Daire Walsh