Skerries Harps claim victory over Raheny in PTSB Dublin Senior 1 Football Championship

SKERRIES 2-19 RAHENY 0-20

Skerries Harps got their PTSB Dublin Senior 1 Football Championship Group campaign off to a winning start when comfortably getting the better of a lacklustre Raheny by five points at Parnell Park on Friday night. 

Skerries claimed the SFC2 title last year and they looked well set at the break as goals from Greg McEneaney and Stephen Smith helped build a 2-8 to 0-8 interval advantage. 

That proved a sufficient buffer as they controlled the third quarter and while Raheny finished the contest with a flurry of late scores, they never looked likely to reel in their dominant opponents. 

Both signs showed understandable signs of rustiness in the early stages with Conor Baldwin seeing his low shot well blocked by Skerries goalkeeper Cormac Rocks in the 5th minute. 

The normally reliable Rob Hennelly missed the resultant ‘45’ as Skerries eventually opened the scoring in the 7th minute through midfielder Ethan Dunne.     

That lead was doubled in an instant through Finn McGinnis and Harps continued to impress with Ciaran Murphy extending their advantage with a fine effort in the 9th minute. 

Baldwin’s incisive run down the middle eventually yielded Raheny’s first score of the game courtesy of Darren Lunney three minutes later but they were fortunate to see Murphy’s powerful shot cannon to safety off Hennelly’s crossbar towards the end of the first quarter. 

They availed of that let-off to restore parity by the 18th minute thanks to Thomas Hurley and Lunney (free) before Skerries regrouped to reclaim the initiative briefly through Murphy and Smith. 

Raheny enjoyed a brief period of control that yielded a Brian Howard two-pointer and further points by Brian Fenton and Adam McAweeney but their lead was short-lived as their opponents plundered two goals in quick succession. 

McEneaney oozed class throughout and his calm finish past Hennelly was just reward for his efforts before he released Smith for another classy finish to raise their second green flag in the 27th minute. 

While Howard replied for Raheny soon after, Harps finished the half in the ascendancy as Rob Delaney’s two-pointer left six points between the teams by the turnaround.

Smith and Delaney extended that lead within four minutes of the restart and the former jinked through to take his personal tally to 1-3 as Raheny struggled to make any impression in the early stages of the second-half.

They were offered some brief respite through a two-pointed free from Hennelly but Harps replied in kind with Adam Fearon curling a superb two-pointer to restore his side’s nine-point lead. 

Points by Delaney, Eoghan O’Connor Flanagan and Dunne saw the dominant seasiders pile on the misery for Raheny despite a classy two-pointer off his left boot by Fenton in the 49thminute.    

To their credit, Raheny began to show their true worth in the closing stages as Hennelly converted a brace of two-pointed frees while Fenton jinked through for another score to leave five points between the sides. 

The impressive Fearon helped settle Skerries entering added time and there was sufficient time for McGinnis to fire wildly over the crossbar with his miss failing to deflect from an excellent Harps display.  

Scorers – Skerries Harps: S Smith 1-3; R Delaney 0-4 (1 P2); G McEneaney 1-0; A Fearon 0-3 (1 P2); E Dunne, F McGinnis, C Murphy 0-2 each; E Wilde (’45), P Kelly, E O’Connor Flanagan 0-1 apiece. Raheny: R Hennelly 0-6 (3 F2); B Howard 0-5 (2 P2); B Fenton 0-4 (1 P2); D Lunney 0-2 (1f); A McAweeney, C Ivers (f), T Hurley 0-1 apiece.

Skerries Harps: C Rocks; E Smith, P Wilde, A El Shamy; A Fearon, F O’Leary, E O’Connor Flanagan; E Dunne, T Deering; E Wilde, G McEneaney, F McGinnis; R Delaney, C Murphy, S Smith. Subs: P Kelly for E Wilde (38), M Kelly for Delaney (52), A Coleman for McGinnis (64). 

Raheny: R Hennelly; J Kearns, D Byrne, A Kinsella; C Malone, J Lunney, A McAweeney; B Fenton, S O’Leary; D Lunney, B Howard, T Hurley; C McAweeney, C Baldwin, S Magann. Subs: R Coyne for Malone (half-time), C Ivers for C McAweeney (half-time), F Brassil for Magann (36), K McGuirk for Lunney (44), B Dunne for Kinsella (52). 

Referee: Luke Lacey (Na Fianna).