Castleknock confirm Quarter-final spot with victory over Templeogue Synge Street

CASTLEKNOCK 5-19

TEMPLEOGUE SYNGE STREET 0-18

Castleknock confirmed their place in the last eight of the PTSB Dublin Senior 1 Football Championship when getting the better of Templeogue Synge Street by sixteen points at Parnell Park on Saturday afternoon.

The writing was on the wall at half-time as Castleknock led by 2-12 to 0-6 with goals by Conor Chawke and Lenny Cahill either side of the first-quarter mark just reward for their dominance.

The second-half was a far more even affair in terms of possession but Castleknock were allowed to ease home by the final whistle as Kevin Stephenson, Cahill and Ger McDermottroe raised further green flags.

There was a lively start to proceedings with Rob Shaw joining the attack to kick the opening score within forty seconds while James McCormack levelled matters after a strong surge from midfield.

That score proved an isolated moment of positivity for Synger as they struggled for primary possession in the first quarter and they fell three points behind by the 8th minute following points by Senan Forker, Ben Galvin and Cahill.

The latter clipped over two frees in quick succession and while Harry O’Donovan kicked an excellent point by way of riposte, the Synge Street challenge unravelled towards the end of the first quarter.

An alarming gap down their right flank was exposed by Shairoze Akram and while his initial shot was repelled by Max Fitzgerald, the ball bounced kindly to Chawke, who powered home into the roof of the net.

Eoin Sawyer clipped over a point in an instant and he turned provider in the 16th minute as a Fitzgerald kick-out was intercepted and Cahill had the simplest of tasks of firing home into the empty net.

The influential Forker added his second point two minutes later but TSS gradually found some rhythm with a Lorcan O’Dell points preceding a brace of frees from Scott McConnell.

The chances continued to arrive at both ends as Ciarán Kilkenny stamped his class on proceedings with two late points with a tidy effort from McConnell reducing the Synge Street deficit to twelve points by the turnaround.

While McConnell added an early free upon the restart, it wasn’t long before normal service was resumed as Forker kicked another solo score before he provided the assist for Stephenson to roll home past Fitzgerlad in the 35th minute. 

Further salt was added into the Templeogue wounds as Cahill provided a calm finish three minutes later with Niall Scully partially offsetting that goal as he converted a two-pointed free. 

The likes of McConnell, O’Dell and substitute James Patterson all kicked scores as Synge Street enjoyed some promising moments in attack but substitute McDermottroe was keen to make an impact as he initially helped himself to four points when introduced. 

A goal followed in added time as Barry Dignam, receiving his second booking, upended Danny Leonard and McDermottroe left Fitzgerald helpless from the resultant penalty. 

Scorers – Castleknock: L Cahill 2-4 (0-3f); G McDermottroe 1-4 (1-0pen, 0-2f); S Forker 0-4; K Stephenson, C Chawke 1-0 each; B Galvin, R Shaw, C Kilkenny 0-2 each; E Sawyer 0-1. Templeogue Synge Street: S McConnell (3f), L O’Dell (3f) 0-5 each; N Scully (F2) 0-2; J McCormack, H O’Donovan, E Sheehan, C Curran, J Patterson, D Mulvihill 0-1 apiece.

Castleknock: J Vahey; A Hughes, T Quinn, R O’Shea; R Shaw, C Kilkenny, E Walsh; S Forker, K Stephenson; D Clarke, S Akram, C Chawke; L Cahill, B Galvin, E Sawyer. Subs: S Boland for Walsh (39), G McDermottroe for Cahill (41), N Millmore for Clarke (50), E O’Brien for Hughes (53), D Leonard for Galvin (53). 

Templeogue Synge Street: M Fitzgerald; L O’Keeffe, D Murphy, B Dignam; C Curran, N Scully, C Cunningham; J McCormack, S McCormack; C Murphy, A O’Toole, L O’Dell; C Finn, S McConnell, H O’Donovan. Subs: C Cooney for S McCormack (11), E Sheehan for Finn (half-time), C Mulvihill for O’Toole (half-time), J Patterson for C Murphy (40), D Mulvihill for Curran (53).  

Referee: Mark O’Shea (Na Fianna).