Beann Eadair secure PTSB Dublin Junior 1 Football title with victory over Geraldines P. Moran

BEANN EADAIR 3-20

GERALDINES PATRICK MORAN 3-10

Beann Eadair produced an accomplished display at O’Toole Park on Sunday to secure the PTSB Dublin Junior 1 Football Championship title at the expense of Geraldines Patrick Moran.

Bolstered by strong performances from Darragh McGhee and Shane Barrett, the Howth outfit developed a six-point cushion at the interval and continued to push on in the early stages of the second half. A resolute Geraldines did dig deep, however, and were just five behind at the beginning of the closing quarter.

Yet with Martin Hughes and others providing fresh impetus off the bench, Beann Eadair secured the silverware on offer to go alongside their previous Dublin Junior Football showpiece success from back in 1974.

Whereas Gers overcame Stars of Erin at the semi-final stage with eight points to spare (2-15 to 2-7), Beann Eadair recorded a convincing 2-21 to 0-8 triumph over Erin Go Bragh in the penultimate phase of the competition.

Neil Mulvihill’s side certainly came into the contest in high spirits and moved into an early three-point lead courtesy of unanswered efforts from McGhee (two) and Barrett. The Howth men also had a goalscoring opportunity during the opening exchanges, but additional scores by Luke Kellett and the increasingly-prominent McGhee helped to establish a five-point cushion.

While Gers – Junior 1 finalists as recently as 2021 - were still trying to find their feet in the Kimmage venue, the Cornelscourt side came roaring into life on 13 minutes. From a Conor Cannon ball at a tight left-hand angle, centre-forward Jason Ellard appeared to get the slightest of touches from a couple of metres out to raise the first green flag of the day.

Regardless of who got the credit for the goal, Gers were now in contention and a subsequent point from Liam Tyrrell reduced the gap to a bare minimum. This placed Beann Eadair under pressure for the first time in the action, but their response was emphatic.

After centre half-back Rohan O’Shea ventured forward to kick a fine point, full-forward James O’Neill was on hand to fire the ball home on the stroke of 20 minutes.

Gers fired back at the opposite end with an impressive two-pointer by centre-fielder Richie Barrett and roaming defender Lochlann McCabe raised a white flag as a direct reply to another excellent contribution from McGhee.

Yet Beann Eadair were posing a constant threat in attack and their second goal of the game arrived through the elusive Barrett in the 25th minute. This major was supplemented by successive points from Kellett, Barrett and wing-back Ronan Fitzpatrick, before Gers forward Dan Hussey eventually interrupted this scoring sequence by palming to the net in first half stoppage-time.

This was much-needed from a Gers point of view, but Beann Eadair still held a commanding 2-10 to 2-4 cushion heading into the second period.

Despite their opponents making a triple substitution at half-time in an effort to give themselves a greater chance of success, Beann Eadair immediately increased their advantage on the restart with another point from Barrett. Ben Kennedy followed up by adding his own name to the scoresheet and his side would move 11 points clear on 34 minutes when a speculative shot from half-forward Dylan Flanagan floated into the Gers net.

This left Geraldines P Moran with a mountain to climb, but there was a potential lifeline for Paul O’Connor’s charges as half-back Thomas Ryan also saw a shot from distance turned into a goal moments after Flanagan’s green flag score.

This offered Gers a new lease of life and following a booming two-pointer from full-back Craig Scollard, his defensive compatriot McCabe doubled his own personal tally to move the black and amber back to within touching range of their rivals.

Hughes and James Burke proceeded to split the posts at the far end of the pitch to ease any nerves the Beann Eadair faithful may have been experiencing, but Cannon and Ellard did likewise for Gers to ensure there was still some work to do before a victory was secured.

However, Beann Eadair impressively maintained their composure and were very much in the driving seat when Hughes, O’Neill and Fitzpatrick all found the range with consecutive points.

Cannon added his second of the half towards the end of normal time, but this was to be the final score of the game for Gers. After the impactful Hughes fisted over for his third point as a substitute, McGhee converted a brace of frees to help a jubilant Beann Eadair ease their way over the line.

Scorers – Beann Eadair: S Barrett 1-3, D McGhee 0-6 (2f), J O’Neill 1-1, D Flanagan 1-0, M Hughes 0-3, R Fitzpatrick, L Kellett 0-2 each, R O’Shea, J Burke, B Kennedy 0-1 each. Geraldines Patrick Moran: J Ellard 1-1, D Hussey, T Ryan 1-0 each, C Cannon 0-2 (1f), R Barrett 0-2 (P2), C Scollard 0-2 (P2), L McCabe 0-2, L Tyrrell 0-1.

Beann Eadair: J O’Gorman; A Keogan, C Bradley, H Sanfey; R Fitzpatrick, R O’Shea, J Burke; M Haas, L Kellett; D McGhee, B Kennedy, D Flanagan; J Kenehan, J O’Neill, S Barrett. Subs: M Hughes for Flanagan (38), D Weston for Keogan (51), C Flanagan for Haas (57), D Rattigan for O’Neill (59), L Horgan for Fitzpatrick (62).

Geraldines Patrick Moran: C McCabe; A Tallon, C Scollard, J Mooney; D Lavelle, L McCabe, T Ryan; R Barrett, L Tyrrell; A Dalton, J Ellard, D Hussey; C Cannon, P Brogan, S Hussey. Subs: A McDonnell for Lavelle, M Tyrrell for D Hussey, K Quinn for S Hussey (all h-t), J McGovern for Dalton (46), R Traynor for Ellard (61).

Referee: Colin Doyle (St Vincent’s).