Round-Up of the Go-Ahead Ireland Senior 2 Semi-Finals

Skerries Harps withstood a superb second-half comeback from St Patrick’s Donabate to claim a 1-15 to 1-11 victory in their absorbing Go-Ahead Ireland Dublin Senior 2 Football Championship semi-final in the Clann Mhuire grounds in Naul on Saturday afternoon

Of course, the victory ensured their spot in Senior 1 for 2026 and they looked to be cruising back to the top-flight as they dominated matters in the first-half, leading by 0-11 to 0-2 at half-time. 

However, St Patrick’s are nothing if not resilient as they swung the momentum back in their favour, levelling matters by the 54th minute only for Harps to regroup impressively and clinch the precious win through a goal on the counter-attack by substitute Ciaran Murphy. 

Scores from Stephen Smith, Eoin Wilde, Harry Dawson and Rob Delaney were augmented by a mammoth two-pointed free by goalkeeper Shane Davis as Skerries controlled the first-half, restricting their opponents to a solitary two-pointed free by Dylan Knight Sands.  

St Patrick’s were a different proposition after the break as Clyde Burke scored three points and further scores from Stephen Dempsey and Adam Dunne reduced their deficit even further. 

Knight Sands pounced for a goal at the start of the final quarter and another cracking two-pointer from Burke left the sides deadlocked at 0-14 to 1-11 with six minutes remaining. 

It was at this juncture that Skerries reversed their fortunes thanks largely to the growinginfluence around the middle third of Killian McGinnis, Greg McEneaney and Ethan Dunne. 

As Donabate sought a levelling point, the hugely influential Fionn O’Leary forced a turnover at one end with Murphy on hand to lob the game-defining goal in injury time. 

It proved similarly tight across in O’Toole Park as St Oliver Plunkett’s/Eoghan Ruadh defeated Erin’s Isle by 1-14 to 0-13. 

There was very little to separate the teams in a cagey opening-half with Neil Clerkin’s goal in the 23rd minute edging Plunkett’s into a 1-5 to 0-6 interval advantage. 

The free-taking of Tadhg Gorman kept the Finglas outfit in the hunt initially and his personal tally of 0-8 (7f) saw Erin’s Isle edge in front by 0-11 to 1-7 by the 50th minute. 

The greater experience of Plunkett’s began to kick in during the closing stages as the likes of Gareth Smith (0-4) and Ted Furman (0-3) added vital scores to see their side finish on the front foot. 

Both Ollie Gaffney and Davin Lynch scored two points apiece for Isles but Plunkett’s completed a deserved success through a trio of Irinel Popa points and further scores from Conor Tyrrell, Cillian Hayes, Luke Hughes and Conor Walsh.      

SFC2 Semi-Finals: Skerries Harps 1-15 St Patrick’s Donabate 1-11; St Oliver Plunkett’s/ER 1-14 Erin’s Isle 0-13.