​ADULT HURLING LEAGUE DIVISION ONE ROUND-UP - JUNE 18

ADULT HURLING LEAGUE DIVISION ONE ROUND-UP: JUNE 16

By Daire Walsh

Ballyboden St Enda’s continue to lead the way at the summit of the Adult Hurling League Division One table, after they recorded an emphatic victory over Crumlin at Pearse Park on Sunday morning.

This result means that either side of their meeting with Cuala on May 13 - which ended in a sharing of the spoils - the defending champions have registered three wins on the trot. They most recently edged past the challenges posed by Na Fianna and St Brigid’s, setting them up perfectly for the visit to their southside rivals.

Crumlin were searching for a first league triumph of 2019 and despite the absence of some key figures in the ‘Boden line-up, they fell to a 5-34 to 0-5 defeat. Joe Fortune’s men are currently two points clear of Cuala, who continue to have a game in hand on the pace-setters.

The Dalkey outfit remain firmly on the track for a title push, courtesy of their own 2-22 to 0-16 success at the expense of St Jude’s in Tymon North. Not far behind in third spot are Kilmacud Crokes, 3-16 to 1-14 winners over Lucan Sarsfields at Silver Park.

Whilst it was a difficult start to the campaign for the 2018 county finalists, their form has been imperious since they drew with Whitehall Colmcille in mid-May. They followed up that stalemate by getting the better of St Vincent’s and Ballinteer St John’s in narrow fashion and they convincingly made it four wins in seven against Lucan in the Leopardstown venue.

Following back-to-back reversals to St Jude’s and Kilmacud, Ballinteer returned to winning ways at Collins Avenue. They were made to work for the two points by a determined Whitehall Colmcille, however.

With Sean Gray in excellent form, the hosts led 0-9 to 0-8 during the interval. Nevertheless, there was no reason for John’s to panic and the influential Aodhan Clabby turned the tie in their favour on the resumption.

His outstanding haul of nine points proved crucial towards their eventual success, but Glenn Whelan, James Gilligan and Danny McCarthy were others to impress. They contributed 0-2 apiece for the Marlay Park side and it was McCarthy’s brace of sideline cuts that significantly galvanised Sean Lane’s charges.

Rob Aherne also added a score and even though Whitehall brought it right down to the wire, it was Ballinteer who ultimately prevailed (0-15 to 0-13).

Meanwhile, Craobh Chiarain occupy fourth place in the top-tier thanks to their deserved 3-18 to 0-14 triumph over Na Fianna at Clonshaugh. Cian Derwin, Conor Ryan and Paul Kelly finished with four points each to their name, while Gary Kelly, Eugene Farrell and Damian O’Reilly also stood out.

Yet, it was Chiarain’s ruthless goal-scoring streak that allowed them to build an insurmountable buffer against last year’s runners-up. James Finn, Ciaran McGouran and Francis Usanga all rattled the net to give them a third home win of the term.

It was a profitable day out in Abbotstown for St Vincent’s, who had eight points to spare over St Brigid’s (4-14 to 0-18). The Marino side have claimed two wins on the bounce and they remain in the top half of the league standings as a consequence.