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BALLYMUN KICKHAMS 2-15
TEMPLEOGUE SYNGE STREET 2-15
A late Luke O’Brien point earned Templeogue Synge Street a deserved share of the spoils as they drew with Ballymun Kickhams in their entertaining Go-Ahead Ireland Dublin Senior 1 Football Championship clash at Parnell Park on Friday night.
Goals from Paddy Small and Dillon Keating handed Kickhams the early initiative but an O’Brien goal five minutes before the break saw Synge Street trail by just 2-9 to 1-9 at the interval.
A second O’Brien goal offered a lifeline to Synge Street in the final quarter and they availed of the late sending-off of Leon Young to claim a deserved draw through injury times scores by the hugely influential Niall Scully and O’Brien.
Synger made a bright start to proceedings with Niall Scully pointing within seventeen seconds only for Dean Rock to level matters from Ballymun’s first attack two minutes later.
Rock (free) and Lorcan O’Dell exchanged points as the first quarter evolved but the impressive Scully was once again showcasing his scoring talents when kicking an excellent two-pointer in the 9th minute.
Templeogue’s lead didn’t last long however as a patient move from the resultant kick-outallowed James McCarthy the time to release Paddy Small through on goal and the Dublin attacker rounded Max Fitzgerald before firing home from close range.
Rock added his third point in the 13th minute but Synge Street were more than holding their own at this stage as they restored parity by the end of the first quarter through successive scores by Cillian Finn and Scully (free).
Kickhams finally put distance between the teams as Dillon Keating coolly shot past Fitzgerald from Rock’s pass in the 20th minute and points from Keating and Paddy Small pushed them five points clear and seemingly in control.
However, goalkeeper Evan Comerford had already made a point-blank save before he was left helpless in the 25th minute as Luke O’Brien put the finishing touches to a well-worked Synge Street move.
Davy Leonard and McCarthy replied with points for Ballymun but a brace of O’Dell scores late on trimmed the Kickhams lead to three points by half-time.
Ballymun wasted little time in building their lead as Paddy Small, Leonard and Carl Keeley all added points from play within three minutes of the restart.
Their opponents remained in touch courtesy of scores from Scully (free) and O’Brien but a two-pointed free by Rock at the end of the third quarter edged the sporadically impressive Ballymun into a six-point lead.
They remained vulnerable at the back however and while McCarthy did well to stop Scott McConnell in his tracks in the 56th minute, O’Brien was on hand to crack an unstoppable shot into the roof of Comerford’s net.
The momentum was all with the underdogs at this juncture, even more so when Young was dismissed in the second minute of added time, and their efforts gained a tangible reward as Scully (free) and O’Brien handed them a surprising but well-merited draw.
Scorers – Ballymun Kickhams: P Small 1-4; D Rock 0-6 (1F2, 2f); D Keating 1-1; D Leonard 0-2; J McCarthy, C Keeley 0-1 apiece. Templeogue Synge Street: L O’Brien 2-2; N Scully 0-8 (1 P2, 4f); L O’Dell 0-3; S McConnell (f), C Finn 0-1 apiece.
Ballymun Kickhams: E Comerford; E Dolan, L Young, E Hill; J McCarthy, J Small, C Tighe; B Ashton, C McCormack; C Keeley, D Leonard, F Andrews; D Keating, P Small, D Rock. Subs: R Bolger for Keeley (Temp, 30-31), J Grant for Ashton (38), Bolger for Andrews (46), D Conlon for Tighe (49), A Hubbard for Keating (55), A Conway for Keeley (61).
Templeogue Synge Street: M Fitzgerald; C Murphy, C Cunningham, G Holian; N Scully, D Murphy, B Waldron; J McCormack, S McCormack; E Scully, L O’Dell, E Sheehan; C Finn, L O’Brien, K O’Gara. Subs: K Hughes for Sheehan (Temp 34-38), Hughes for E Scully (41), S McConnell for Finn (46), C McKiernan for Holian (54), C Curran for D Murphy (60), R Holohan for O’Gara (61).
Referee: Dan Stynes (St Peregrine’s).