Round-Up of the weekends Dublin U21 Hurling Finals

Naomh Barróg withstood some strong second-half pressure by Naomh Mearnóg to eventually claim a 2-14 to 1-14 victory in their Go-Ahead Ireland Dublin Under 21 ‘C’ Hurling Championship final in Páirc Barróg on Saturday afternoon. 

The hosts led by 1-10 to 0-7 at the break but were forced to dig deep with goals from Ben Flanagan (penalty) and Darragh Nolan worth their weight in gold by the final whistle. 

After a relatively even opening, the momentum swung in Barróg’s favour as Flanagan fired a penalty into the top corner in the 20th minute and a second home goal could have arrived soon after but for an outstanding save by Sean Gorey in the Mearnóg goal. 

The visitors took inspiration from that intervention as they reduced their deficit to a single point in the early minutes of the second-half with the lively Aaron Fahy leaving his marker for dead before crashing home into the roof of the net. 

The likes of James McNamee, Rian Kennedy, Tynam Neville and Jake Cregan all impressed in the Mearnóg defence with six Aaron Gahan points and a trio of Cian Madden scores keeping their ambitions alive. 

However, the concession of a second goal to Nolan undermined plenty of their positive play and with Joey Kinnane’s late attempt at a levelling score from a free being repelled by the home defence, they were left frustrated by the final whistle.   

For Barróg, it was a deserved success after an encouraging campaign with goalkeeper Podge Ryan, Matthew Sharry, Sean Duggan and Daniel Connolly shining in a defensive capacity. 

The front eight all contributed on the scoreboard with Flanagan top scoring with 1-3 while Aodhán Ó Donnchú’s four points and further scores by Mícheál Tierney, Daire Heffernan, Michael Clarke, Dylan Duggan, Donncha Heffernan and Kyle Comerford getting them over the line. 

Meanwhile, at Thomas Ashe Park, St Oliver Plunkett’s/Eoghan Ruadh took control after the break as they defeated Round Towers Lusk by 3-23 to 2-18 in their Under 21 ‘E’ decider. 

The final margin didn’t reflect the tightness of the exchanges with the brilliance of Lusk’s centre-forward Evan Ferguson helping his side to a 1-14 to 1-11 interval lead. 

The visitors remained in touch through the free-taking abilities of John Ryan, who netted in the first-half on the way to a personal tally of 1-12 (0-10f) while Cathal O’Flynn proved a hugely influential figure from centre-back. 

Goals upon the resumption from Eoghan Byrne and Ronan O’Flynn helped turn the tide in Plunketts’ favour with the former adding four points from play as the visitors built up an imposing tally through further scoring contributions by Cian Maguire, Dennis McSweeney, Tom Collins and Sean McCabe. 

While there was obvious disappointment for the hosts, the scoring returns of Ferguson and Karl Robinson showcased their abilities while Dylan Mulligan impressed throughout for Towers around the middle third. 

U21 ‘C’ HC Final: Naomh Barróg 2-14 Naomh Mearnóg 1-14.

U21 ‘E’ HC Final: Round Towers Lusk 2-18 St Oliver Plunkett’s/ER 3-23.