Round Up: PTSB Dublin Senior 2 Hurling Championship

PTSB DUBLIN SENIOR 2 HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND-UP

By Daire Walsh

Impressive home wins for Commercials and Clontarf were amongst the highlights on Saturday as the PTSB Dublin Senior 2 Hurling Championship got up and running for 2026.

Commercials welcomed Ballyboden St Enda’s to Rathcoole in their opening game of Group 2 on Saturday evening and delivered an accomplished display before ultimately registering a 3-23 to 0-16 victory. A Dublin senior panelist who featured for the Sky Blues in their Leinster senior hurling championship final loss to Galway at Croke Park earlier this summer, Diarmaid Ó Dulaing led the scoring for Commercials in this contest with a final haul of 1-13 (1-9 of which came from placed balls).

However, Ó Dulaing was ably-assisted on the day with Daniel O’Kelly helping himself to a haul of six points that was complimented by a 1-2 tally from Dean Simpson. Additionally, the Morris brothers (Jack, Tadhg and Callum) also shone throughout for the hosts, while Kyle Butler was a steady and assured presence at full-back as Commercials convincingly came away with the spoils.

Next up for the Rathcoole men in Group 2 will be a visit to Martin Savage Park this coming Saturday against St Oliver Plunkett’s/Eoghan Ruadh, who enjoyed a fine win of their own against Naomh Mearnog in Portmarnock last weekend.

There was initially little to separate the teams in this contest with a goal from Ger Ryan helping Plunkett’s to establish a 1-8 to 1-7 interval cushion on away soil. It remained tight in the early stages of the second half, but with Tom Cullen and Conal Doohan delivering excellent defensive performances, the visitors eventually created a strong attacking platform.

After amassing six points on the bounce, the Navan Road side bolstered their prospects by bagging a second goal through Dennis McSweeney. Mearnog also raised a green flag in the closing moments of the contest, but Plunkett’s eventually came away with an accomplished 2-19 to 2-13 triumph.

Although there were winners from the above fixtures, Ballinteer St John’s and Castleknock had to be content with sharing the points at the end of their compelling battle at Marlay Park on Saturday.

Séamus Fenton was scorer-in-chief for Ballinteer in this game with a final haul of 1-5, but he had plenty of support around him over the course of the action. Dylan Bannon registered an excellent tally of 0-5, but Conor Quinn and team captain Tom Aherne also contributed three points apiece for the home team.

Castleknock proved themselves to be extremely worthy opponents, however, as they never allowed Ballinteer to build up a substantial lead in the tie. In the end, the teams were tied at 1-19 each and with four games still to play for both sides in the Senior 2 group stages, the point garnered from this encounter could yet prove to be vital.

Meanwhile, Clontarf enjoyed a perfect start to their Group 1 campaign on Saturday as they recorded a comprehensive 5-25 to 1-15 win over St Sylvester’s at St Anne’s Park.

Leading by just five points at the break (1-12 to 0-10) against their Malahide counterparts, Clontarf pushed forward on the resumption and will bring plenty of confidence into their upcoming fixtures.

Mikey Devine and Paddy Smyth were in excellent scoring form for the winners on the day, while Luke Hayes also chipped in with 1-1 as a substitute. In total, Clontarf had nine different scorers over the course of the action and will hope to continue this strong spread across their team in the coming weeks.

 The northsiders were also very solid in defence throughout as goalkeeper Rob McGill excelled along with Leo Sexton and Tom Briody in the full-back line.

 Elsewhere in Group 1 last weekend, Thomas Davis received a walkover from Kilmacud Crokes for their proposed encounter at Kiltipper Road.

Craobh Chiarain also hosted Raheny at Clonshaugh on Saturday and came away with a hard-earned 2-17 to 2-14 victory to get their 2026 campaign up and running in fine fashion.