Clontarf finish strong to capture Dublin MFC ‘A’

Clontarf came with a storming finish to capture the Dublin MFC ‘A’ final in dramatic fashion at Parnell Park on Sunday afternoon when defeating Na Fianna 2-5 to 0-9.

The St Mobhi Road side led 0-9 to 0-3 at the break but in the proverbial ‘game of two halves’ the Clontarf lads dominated the second period and with wind advantage reeled in their opponents.

Goals from Rory Clarke and Paddy Smyth in the concluding minutes did the damage up front while Liam Howley excelled throughout at centre-back for Clontarf against a Na Fianna outfit that was reduced to 14 men midway into the second half.

Both goals were similar in creation and execution with long balls into the danger area creating the openings.

Clarke hit the first in the 56^th minute when he fielded the delivery before turning smartly and firing clinically to the roof of the net.

Just as the game ticked into injury time Smyth repeated the feat to secure victory for Clontarf.

It was a different story in the opening half with Na Fianna dictating matters with David Lacey and James Doran leading the scoring charge as Na Fianna built a deserved six-point advantage.

SCORERS - Clontarf: P Smyth 1-1, R Clarke 1-0, K Lillis 0-2 (0-2f), N Doran (f), T O’Flaherty 0-1 each. Na Fianna: D Lacey 0-3 (0-1f), J Doran 0-2, L Stacey, D McHugh, S Currie, J Foley 0-1 each.

CLONTARF: N O’Hanlon; M Byrne, C Doran, C Kyne; S Walsh, L Howley, S O’Shea; P Smyth, N Doran; L Ennis, K Lillis, R Goode; R Clarke, T O’Flaherty, J McDonagh. Subs: J Polion for Ennis (ht), J Higgins for Walsh (ht), C Walsh for Goode (44).

NA FIANNA: D O’Hanlon; C Kelly, P Feeney, R Mackey; E O’Dea, D Burke, L Stacey; C Caverly, D Ryan; S Currie, C Currie, D Lacey; D McHugh, J Foley, J Doran. Subs: R Byron for Stacey (50), J Stewart for C Currie (53), S O’Gorman for Foley (62).

REF: D O’Connor (Nh Mearnóg).