Round-Up of The Go-Ahead Ireland Senior 1 Football Championship Round 3

This weekend saw the conclusion of the group stages of the Go-Ahead Ireland Dublin Senior 1 Football Championship with Cuala confirming their place in the last eight when overcoming Thomas Davis by 3-19 to 2-12 at O’Toole Park on Saturday afternoon.

Despite a strong start from Thomas Davis, the holders eventually took control of matters through goals from Niall O’Callaghan and Cal Doran with a late penalty from Chris Sallier trimming their lead to 2-7 to 1-6 by half-time. 

A Fionn Murray goal early in the final quarter offered feint hope to the Tallaght outfit but Cuala finished on the front foot with substitute Cathal Ó Giolláin scoring 1-2 while Charlie McMorrow excelled over the hour with five points from play. 

The All-Ireland champions enter the quarter-finals from Group 3 alongside a Lucan Sarsfields team that proved too strong for Raheny, prevailing by 0-25 to 2-11. 

A blitz of ten unanswered Sarsfields points in the second-quarter proved Raheny’s undoing and while they scored second-half goals via Conor Baldwin and Sean Grenham, Lucan eased home with Mark Lavin top scoring with 0-11.     

Kilmacud Crokes confirmed top spot in Group 4 as they picked up their third consecutive win when defeating St Sylvester’s by 2-23 to 1-14. 

A trio of two-pointed scores by Paul Mannion and four points from play by Joe Quigley helped Crokes cruise into a 0-17 to 0-7 interval advantage. 

Mannion’s penalty within two minutes of the restart increased that lead but Syls bounced back well through a Fionn Fitzpatrick goal only for Kilmacud to complete the scoring through a Dara Mullin goal in added time. 

Last year’s runners-up are joined in the quarter-finals by a Clontarf team that secured a precious 1-15 to 1-11 win against St Jude’s in O’Toole Park. 

Luke O’Boyle pounced for Clontarf’s goal in the second-half and while Kevin Lahiff raised a green flag at the opposite end, ‘Tarf had enough in the tank with Senan Ryan and Kieran McKeon sharing six points from play. 

On Sunday afternoon, Ballymun Kickhams secured top place in Group 2 as they finished strongly to account for Whitehall Colmcille by 0-27 to 1-18. 

The sides were deadlocked at 0-9 apiece at half-time with Eoghan O’Donnell’s goal in the 39th minute and the dismissal of Ballymun’s Eamon Hill five minutes later adding momentum to the Whitehall challenge. 

However, Kickhams responded superbly, with Dean Rock landing a trio of two-pointed scores in the final quarter, while Jamie Grant was also to the fore as he kicked a brace of insurance points in added time. 

Castleknock are the other team to emerge from Group 2 as they recovered from an eleven-point deficit to get the better of Templeogue Synge Street by 1-24 to 2-11 in O’Toole Park. 

Scott McConnell and Lorcan O’Dell netted for Synger inside the opening ten minutes but a string of points from Kevin Stephenson, Ger McDermottroe, Conor Chawke, Andrew Hughes, Ciarán Kilkenny and Luke Swan saw Castleknock trim their arrears to the bare minimum (2-7 to 0-12) by half-time. 

Kilkenny’s goal at the end of the third quarter maintained their momentum with both McDermottroe and Chawke finishing with five points apiece. 

In Group 1, Ballyboden St Enda’s advanced as group winners following their comfortable 2-16 to 0-12 at Parnell Park. 

Daire Sweeney impressed up front for the winners with his 48th minute goal effectively settling the issue while substitute Peter Healy added gloss to the final scoreline when netting five minutes later. 

Most of the drama was reserved for across the Liffey in Kimmage as Na Fianna pipped Ballinteer St John’s to second spot by virtue of their thrilling 1-16 to 1-15 success. 

A Sean Caffrey goal in the 16th minute saw Na Fianna enter the break with a narrow 1-8 to 0-10 lead and while a Jack Lundy penalty helped St John’s to regain the lead, two David Lacey points and a 66th minute score from Killian Deeley was enough to squeeze the Glasnevin side into the knockout stages.   

SFC1 Group 1: Ballinteer St John’s 1-15 Na Fianna 1-16; Ballyboden St Enda’s 2-16 St Vincent’s 0-12.

SFC1 Group 2: Ballymun Kickhams 0-27 Whitehall Colmcille 1-18; Castleknock 1-24 Templeogue Synge Street 2-11. 

SFC1 Group 3: Cuala 3-19 Thomas Davis 2-12; Raheny 2-11 Lucan Sarsfields 0-25.  

SFC1 Group 4: Kilmacud Crokes 2-23 St Sylvester’s 1-14; Clontarf 1-15 St Jude’s 1-11.