Round Up of the weekends Go-Ahead Ireland Senior 1 Football Championship Games

All-Ireland champions Cuala pulled away in the second-half on their way to a flattering 3-16 to 0-8 victory over Lucan Sarsfields in their Go-Ahead Ireland Dublin Senior 1 Football Championship clash at Parnell Park on Saturday afternoon.

The holders were far from their fluent best initially but three Niall O’Callaghan points and a Cillian Dunne brace left them leading by 0-8 to 0-5 at the interval. 

An Eoin Kennedy goal in the opening minute of the second-half doubled their advantage and they took control from that juncture, adding further goals from Peter Duffy and Con O’Callaghan by the final whistle.  

The other Group 3 encounter went right down to the wire as Raheny finished on the front foot to edge Thomas Davis by 0-22 to 1-18 in O’Toole Park. 

Former Mayo goalkeeper Rob Hennelly top scored for Raheny with three two-pointed frees, and they finished the game strongly through points by Cuan Malone, Thomas Hurley, Jack Fagan and Colin McAweeney. 

In Group 1, Ballyboden St Enda’s proved too strong for near neighbours Ballinteer St John’s, winning by 4-18 to 1-14 at Parnell Park on Saturday afternoon. 

Ryan O’Dwyer scored 2-2 in the opening quarter and while an own goal by John McGuire at the end of the half offered hope to St John’s, Daire Sweeney popped up with two goals in the third quarter to ease Boden home. 

At the Clann Mhuire grounds in Naul, Na Fianna bounced back from their heavy Round 1 defeat to St Enda’s when defeating St Vincent’s by 5-18 to 0-19. 

The bulk of the damage was done by half-time as they led by 3-7 to 0-6 with two goals apiece by Conor Baxter and Sean Caffrey augmented by another green flag from David Lacey. 

On Friday night, Paul Mannion delivered an exceptional performance in helping championship favourites Kilmacud Crokes to ease past St Jude’s by 2-24 to 0-11 in Parnell Park. 

The three-time All Star was instrumental in Crokes seizing the early initiative with his five first-half points from play along with Darragh Dempsey’s 7th minute goal building a 1-11 to 0-5 lead by half-time. 

The procession towards the St Jude’s goal continued after the turnaround through early points from Dara Mullin, Dempsey and Paddy O’Connor and Shane Walsh effectively settled the issue when netting from Mannion’s pass in the 41st minute. 

Mannion kicked nine points in total, including a trademark two-point effort at the end of the third quarter, while Walsh finished the contest strongly as he ended with 1-5 to his name. 

Earlier that evening, Ballymun Kickhams improved significantly from their opening round draw with Templeogue Synge Street when comfortably defeating a lacklustre Castleknock by double scores (1-19 to 0-11). 

Dillon Keating top scored for Kickhams with 1-4, with his goal arriving early in the second quarter, while a trio of Dean Rock scores pushed Ballymun into a 1-11 to 0-4 advantage by half-time. 

Rock added another three points upon the restart as his side cruised home through late scores from Cameron McCormack and Alan Hubbard. 

Elsewhere in Group 2, Whitehall Colmcille scored goals at critical times when overcoming Templeogue Synge Street by 4-10 to 0-18 in O’Toole Park. 

Cormac Costello led the way with a personal tally of 2-6 and with Sean Gannon plundering two further goals, they withstood some late pressure with Sean Foran completing their scoring with a brace of two-pointers. 

SFC1 Group 1: Ballyboden St Enda’s 4-18 Ballinteer St John’s 1-14; Na Fianna 5-18 St Vincent’s 0-19. 

SFC1 Group 2: Castleknock 0-11 Ballymun Kickhams 1-19; Whitehall Colmcille 4-10Templeogue Synge Street 0-18. 

SFC1 Group 3: Cuala 3-16 Lucan Sarsfields 0-8; Raheny 0-22 Thomas Davis 1-18.

SFC1 Group 4: Kilmacud Crokes 2-24 St Jude’s 0-11; Clontarf 0-7 St Sylvester’s 1-5.