Na Fianna defeat Whitehall Colmcille in high scoring PTSB SHC 1 tie

NA FIANNA 4-31

WHITEHALL COLMCILLE 4-13

Na Fianna secured their second successive victory in Group 1 of the PTSB Dublin Senior 1 Hurling Championship as they overcame Whitehall Colmcille by eighteen points in Parnell Park on Friday night.

Both teams registered wins in Round 1 but this contest was decided by half-time as Donal Burke’s excellent goal helped build a comfortable 1-20 to 0-6 interval lead for Na Fianna.

To Whitehall’s credit, they were far improved upon the restart as they netted through Enda O’Donnell (2), Paddy Spellacy and Jamie Raftery but goals at the opposite end from Liam Stacey, Darragh Meagher and Shane Barrett saw the Glasnevin outfit ease home by the final whistle.

The scores came thick and fast in an entertaining first quarter as Eoghan O’Donnell opened the scoring inside fifteen seconds and the Whitehall lead was doubled soon after through the pacy Jamie Raftery.

Na Fianna replied through Jack Meagher, Will Wheatley and Donal Burke (free) before Enda O’Donnell brought Colmcille back on level terms by the 6th minute.

Brian Ryan began to influence matters as he popped over a trio of points within six minutes while Wheatley and Burke also added to the Na Fianna tally as they began to click through the gears.

A sublime Conor Sheedy point offered Whitehall grounds for optimism but they suffered a body blow towards the end of the first quarter as Burke turned sharply before leaving Ronan Murray helpless with a clinical finish to the bottom corner.

Ryan added two further scores from play to leave Colmcille chasing shadows and with Meagher and Sean Baxter also on target, Na Fianna moved eleven points ahead by the 18th minute.

The goal required to ignite some Whitehall energy was denied them as Jonno Tracey dived superbly to his left when denying Paddy Spellacy while Murray was equally effective as he repelled Ryan at the opposite end.

The one-way traffic continued to the turnaround with defenders Paul O’Dea and Conor McHugh ambling forward for scores while a late Raftery point limited the Whitehall arrears to seventeen points at half-time.

Spellacy and Enda O’Donnell added points in the early stages of the second-half but some defensive uncertainty allowed Liam Stacey to race through unopposed in the 35th minute and his low shot proved too much for the exposed Murray.

Back came Colmcille with an immediate reply as Spellacy flicked the ball into Raftery’s path and his clever finish proved too much for Tracey and a superb Enda O’Donnell goal brought Colmcille’s deficit back to a more modest thirteen points.  

Darragh Meagher raised a green flag of his own in the 42nd minute but with Daire Gray becoming increasingly influential, Whitehall struck back with Enda O’Donnell and Spellacy also finding the net to reward their team’s improved showing.

A brace of Burke frees and a Tom Brennan point ended all hopes of an unlikely comeback while substitute Shane Barrett netted within seconds of being introduced to maintain Na Fianna’s perfect record to date.

Scorers – Na Fianna: D Burke 1-9 (0-6f, 0-1 ’65); D Meagher 1-2; B Ryan 0-5; S Barrett 1-1; J Meagher, W Wheatley 0-3 each; L Stacey 1-0; C McHugh, P O’Dea 0-2 each; S Baxter, S Currie, G Spollen, T Brennan 0-1 apiece. Whitehall Colmcille: Enda O’Donnell 2-4; P Spellacy (1-1f, 0-1 ’65), J Raftery 1-2 each; D Gray, Eoghan O’Donnell 0-2 each; C Sheedy 0-1.

Na Fianna: J Tracey; S Burke, C McHugh, C Kelly; P O’Dea, D Clerkin, P Feeney; W Wheatley, J Meagher; B Ryan, L Stacey, S Baxter; T Brennan, D Burke, S Currie. Subs: D Meagher for Baxter (41), R Fenlon for Kelly (41), D Ryan for Wheatley (47), G Spollen for J Meagher (47), S Barrett for Stacey (53).

Whitehall Colmcille: R Murray; K Nangle, J Thorp, E O’Reilly; L McCarthy, D Gray, S Dunphy; M Noonan, E Moran; J Raftery, P Spellacy, Enda O’Donnell; C Sheedy, Eoghan O’Donnell, M Gainey. Subs: S Kellett for O’Reilly (7), N Carroll for Sheedy (41), D Noonan for Dunphy (44).  

Referee: Seán Stack (Pobal Parnell).