Round-Up: PTSB Dublin Junior Football Championship Semi-Final

Geraldine P. Morans and Beann Éadair will contest this year’s PTSB Dublin Junior 1 Football Championship decider following their semi-final victories over Stars of Erin and Erin Go Bragh at O’Toole Park on Sunday afternoon. 

The first encounter saw Beann Éadair pull away in the second-half on their way to an ultimately comfortable 2-20 to 0-8 win against Erin go Bragh. 

It proved a tight opening quarter as Beann Éadair enjoyed plenty of possession but were unable to make it count due to the excellence of Erin Go Bragh goalkeeper Tom Bowe, who made a series of superb saves. 

The seasiders finally made the breakthrough thanks to a goal from James O’Neill but a trio of frees by Sean Bowe, all won by Sean McLoughlin, and further points from Barry Padden and Ethan Ballagh left the contest delicately poised at 1-6 to 0-5 by half-time. 

With the breeze at their backs, Beann Éadair began to showcase their two-pointer talents in the second-half and while Bowe continued his heroics between the sticks, a goal from Rohan O’Shea effectively settled the issues. 

The Dublin 15 outfit featured three sets of brothers while Stephen Walsh togged out alongside his son Alex Walsh but their efforts and two points from play from Cathal Burke proved in vain by the final whistle. 

O’Shea and O’Neill impressed throughout for the winners with Cillian Bradley, Ben Kennedy and Darragh McGhee also to the fore as Beann Éadair secured promotion to the Intermediate Football Championship for 2027. 

They will be joined by a Geraldine P. Morans team that also found their form after the break when seeing off a determined Stars of Erin by 2-15 to 2-7 at the Kimmage venue. 

The Glencullen side impressed against the breeze in the first-half with goals from Noah Sinclair and Cian Sinclair (penalty) reflecting their battling efforts while two points from play by Joey Boland left them well placed at half-time, trailing by just 0-9 to 2-2. 

Gers were indebted to captain Richie Barrett in the first-half as he kicked four points that included a massive two-pointer while Conor Cannon, Liam Tyrrell, Dave Lavelle and Paddy Brogan also chipped in with scores. 

Stars of Erin were unable to make the most of the elements in their favour for the second-halfwith their opponents dominating midfield and they were restricted to just three points, shared by Noah Sinclair and Will Keane. 

This allowed Gerladine P. Morans the chance to finally put daylight between the teams and with their bench making a positive impact on proceedings, they pounced for crucial goals through Jason Ellard and substitute Kevin Quinn. 

Both players also chipped in with points and with Daniel Hussey bagging a brace of scores, they pulled away by the end with Brogan adding his second score of the contest. 

PTSB JFC1 Semi-Finals: Erin Go Bragh 0-8 Beann Éadair 2-20; Stars of Erin 2-7 Geraldine P. Morans 2-15.