Raheny overcome Thomas Davis at O'Toole Park in PTSB Dublin Senior 1 Football Championship

PTSB DUBLIN SENIOR 1 FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP GROUP 3

RAHENY 2-22

THOMAS DAVIS 2-18

By Daire Walsh

Brian Fenton and Brian Howard were in excellent form at O’Toole Park on Saturday as Raheny finished their PTSB Dublin Senior 1 Football Championship Group 3 campaign in fine style with victory over Thomas Davis.

Colleagues for several years at inter-county level (they were named together at midfield on the All Star team of 2018), Fenton and Howard registered an impressive combined haul of 0-14 in this game – including a number of fine efforts from distance.

The northsiders were already destined for a relegation play-off following their defeats to Skerries Harps and Na Fianna in recent weeks, but this will give them plenty of confidence as they now embark on the relegation play-offs in this season’s top-tier. Assured of a quarter-final place heading into this game, Davis still fought gallantly to claim a positive result and were in the shake up right until the end – thanks in no small part to the scoring prowess of Fionn Murray (1-10) and Mark Nolan (1-3).

It was Howard who got the ball rolling in this game as he split the posts in clinical fashion for Raheny inside the opening 60 seconds of the play. Yet Eanna O’Toole was on hand to cancel out this score and midfielder Adam Waddick also responded to a Cuan Malone point with a similar effort at the opposite end of the ground.

Although there was some patient build-up from both sides during the early exchanges, Nolan and Raheny’s Cian Ivers kept the scoreboard ticking over for their respective teams. Chris Sallier did edge Davis back in front, but even though the Tallaght outfit held onto this slender lead for a number of minutes, Raheny custodian Rob Hennelly (an All-Ireland winner with Mayo earlier this summer) stepped forward to convert a one-point free on 16 minutes.

Raheny were slowly beginning to establish themselves as an attacking force and they were through for the maiden goal of the contest moments after Hennelly’s equaliser. Following a swift attack, Conor Baldwin picked out Ivers for a palmed finish from close-range.

This was supplemented by a superb point off his left foot by former Dublin stalwart Fenton, only for Davis to squeeze back into contention with unanswered contributions by Sallier (mark) and Nolan. Malone and Sean Magann were on target as the action developed, but a strong end to the opening half left Thomas Davis very much in the reckoning.

After Murray opened his account with an exceptional two-point free off the outside of his right boot, a Nolan score off an advanced mark left the Kiltipper Road men a single point adrift (1-7 to 0-9) at the interval.

This left the tie delicately poised on the resumption, but there was just 15 seconds on the clock when Fenton kicked a two-pointer off a ‘solo and go’ straight from the throw-in.

This heralded a breakneck start to the second period as Murray kicked three points in as many minutes (two from play and one ‘45’) to bring Davis back on level terms. However, a Howard two-pointer after Fenton had brilliantly fielded a Hennelly kick-out had Raheny motoring once again and the ever-industrious half-forward added a fine solo score off a resulting move.

Further points arrived through the boots of Magann and Ivers, and with Sam O’Leary flicking home off an enticing Baldwin delivery towards the square in between these single efforts, Raheny appeared to be firmly in the driving seat moving into the final-quarter.

Thomas Davis weren’t prepared to give up their 100% record without a fight though and consecutive points from Murray (free) and All-Ireland winner Cian Murphy gave them a new lease of life.

Yet another Fenton two-pointer kept Raheny in the driving seat, but a clinically-taken Murray goal on the stroke of 50 minutes had Davis back within touching distance. A Howard two-pointer with the outside of the boot stalled their momentum to a degree, at least until an additional 0-4 tally by the increasingly-dangerous Murray - a two-point free included in this haul.

Fenton had raised a white flag in advance of the latter, but Raheny’s lead was back to a bare minimum when Davis' Nolan found the net at a tight left-hand angle on 58 minutes.

This threw down the gauntlet to a Raheny side that were searching for a morale-boosting victory, but Enda Varley’s charges held firm in a frantic finale. After Fenton brought his individual tally to 0-8 with another majestic two-pointer, substitute Colin McAweeney fisted over in stoppage time to leave Raheny with four to spare upon the final whistle.

Scorers – Raheny: B Fenton 0-8 (3 P2), B Howard 0-6 (2 P2), C Ivers 1-2 (0-1f), S O’Leary 1-0, C Malone, S Magann 0-2 each, R Hennelly 0-1 (f), C McAweeney 0-1.Thomas Davis: F Murray 1-10 (2 P2, 0-2f, 1 ‘45’), M Nolan 1-3 (0-1 mark), C Sallier 0-2 (1 mark), C Murphy, E O’Toole, A Waddick 0-1 each.

Raheny: R Hennelly; J Kearns, A Kinsella, R Coyne; C Hehir, J Lunney, B Dunne; B Fenton, S O’Leary; C Malone, B Howard, C Baldwin; E Smyth, C Ivers, S Magann. Subs: A Bourke for Hehir (38), K McGuirk for Smyth (44), C McAweeney for Ivers (51), F Brassil for Baldwin (56), T Hurley for Magann (60).

Thomas Davis: R Crilly; S Kennedy, J Lambert, A Shorten; F Lynch, C Murphy, É O’Toole; A Waddick, R Deegan; S Benton, M Nolan, S Farrelly; R Fahey, F Murray, C Sallier. Subs: S O’Byrne Braiden for O’Toole (h-t), K Young Byrne for Fahey (42), E Kirby for Lynch (45), O Kelly for Deegan (48), D Ogbanna for Shorten (56).

Referee: Paul Faughnan (St Patrick’s, Palmerstown).