Castleknock with convincing win over Templeogue

Image Courtesy Niall O'Connell

CASTLEKNOCK 1-24

TEMPLEOGUE SYNGE STREET 2-11

Ger McDermottroe, Conor Chawke and Ciaran Kilkenny were all in fine scoring form at O’Toole Park on Sunday as Castleknock overcame a shaky start to eventually get the better of Templeogue Synge Street in Group 2 of the Go-Ahead Ireland Senior 1 Football Championship.

11 points adrift with less than 12 minutes gone in the contest, Castleknock subsequently rallied and trailed by the bare minimum at the interval. They continued to build confidence moving into the second half and with McDermottroe, Chawke and Kilkenny delivering a combined tally of 1-12, the Somerton Park outfit came out on top in clinical style.

This victory – coupled with Whitehall Colmcille’s defeat to Ballymun Kickhams at Parnell Park – means ‘Knock will now progress to the knockout rounds of the Senior 1 Championship. Despite playing some enterprising football over the course of their group campaign, Templeogue Synge Street now find themselves in the top-tier relegation play-offs.

TSS were hoping to bounce back from a four-point defeat to Whitehall at the same venue 15 days earlier and couldn’t have dreamt of a better start to the action. Before the clock had even reached one minute, inside forward Scott McConnell palmed the ball to the net off an incisive attack that was instigated by a surging run from Dublin senior footballer Lorcan O’Dell.

While Castleknock initially responded with a pointed free from McDermottroe, ‘Synger’ continued to attack in waves and proceeded to create additional daylight between themselves and their opponents. After he had joined the aforementioned McConnell in registering a brace of points, O’Dell fired home a rebounded goal on the stroke of 10 minutes after his original shot had been stopped by Castleknock’s Sam Maloney.

TSS were playing with great intent during these early exchanges and they moved 2-6 to 0-1 in front when five-time All-Ireland SFC champion Niall Scully and McConnell found the range in quick succession.

Castleknock had struggled to contain their southside counterparts up to this point, but the 2016 finalists fired back with a second McDermottroe free on 13 minutes. This was quickly supplemented by a two-pointed score from goalkeeper Maloney and their first effort from play by midfielder Dylan Clarke inside the second-quarter.

TSS did reinforce their authority when O’Dell kicked a fine point off an advantage in the 19th minute, but Castleknock were becoming far more of a threat and continued to chip away at their deficit as the tie wore on.

By the end of normal time in the opening period, ‘Knock were just four points in arrears thanks to consecutive contributions from Kevin Stephenson, McDermottroe, Chawke and Andrew Hughes.

An extended spell of stoppage-time presented them with an opportunity to keep the scoreboard ticking over and courtesy of further points by Chawke, Luke Swan and Kilkenny (who became more and more influential as the action progressed), Templeogue’s lead stood at just a single point – 2-7 to 0-12 – heading into the dressing rooms.

This represented a significant turnaround for Castleknock when you consider how precarious it had looked in those early moments. Although it was an initially cagey opening to the second half, ‘Knock edged in front for the first time on 39 minutes when McDermottroe followed up an earlier effort from Chawke by swinging over a point off his left boot.

This threw down the gauntlet to TSS, but Michael French’s side were back in the driving seat when Fitzgerald stepped forward from his goal to superbly knock over a two-point free.

Yet Castleknock didn’t panic and with the final-quarter on the horizon, they claimed a crucial score that acted as a catalyst for their eventual 10-point success. After Chawke fed him possession off an intercepted TSS kick-out on 43 minutes, Kilkenny unleashed a dipping shot that drifted over the head of Fitzgerald and into the back of the net.

The momentum was now with Castleknock and even though ‘Synger’ defender Cathal Murphy made an outstanding block to deny McDermottroe a goal, Dara Brady’s charges were relentless in their pursuit of additional scores.

Courtesy of unanswered efforts from Maloney (a two-pointer), Darragh Warnock, Chawke, Kilkenny and Chawke again, Castleknock were eight in front approaching the hour mark. However, O’Dell took advantage of a ‘solo and go’ to kick a point for TSS and with 10 minutes of additional time to be played, there was still a chance for last year’s Senior 2 finalists to turn the game on its head.

Scully also added to their tally before the final whistle was sounded, but with McDermottroe, Evan McSherry, Clarke and Hughes all finding the target at the opposite end, Castleknock emerged as deserving winners.

Scorers –Castleknock: G McDermottroe (2F), C Chawke 0-5 each, C Kilkenny 1-2, S Maloney 0-4 (2 2PF), A Hughes, D Clarke 0-2 each, K Stephenson, E McSherry, L Swan, D Warnock 0-1 each. Templeogue Synge Street: L O’Dell 1-4 (0-1F), S McConnell 1-3 (0-1F), N Scully 0-2, M Fitzgerald 0-2 (2PF).

Castleknock: S Maloney; R O’Shea, T Quinn, C Murphy; R Shaw, S Forker, A Hughes; D Clarke, K Stephenson; B Galvin, C Kilkenny, E McSherry; C Chawke, L Swan, G McDermottroe. Subs: E Walsh for Forker (11), D Warnock for Stephenson (49), D Leonard for Galvin (52), S Boland for Shaw (58), L Cahill for McDermottroe (64).

Templeogue Synge Street: M Fitzgerald; C Murphy, C Cunningham, B Dignam; G Holian, N Scully, A O’Toole; J McCormack, S McCormack; C Curran, L O’Dell, F Dignam; S McConnell, L O’Brien, K O’Gara. Subs: K Hughes for F Dignam (41), C McKiernan for Murphy (47), B Waldron for Curran (49), C Finn for McConnell, E Sheehan for Holian (both 57).

Referee: Kevin Doherty (Garda Westmanstown Gaels).