St Brigids defeat Ballyboden St Endas in tight battle at O'Toole Park - PTSB Dublin SHC 1

PTSB DUBLIN SENIOR 1 HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP GROUP 2

ST BRIGID’S 0-25

BALLYBODEN ST ENDA’S 2-17

St Brigid’s delivered an impressive second half performance against Ballyboden St Enda’s at O’Toole Park on Saturday afternoon to make it two wins from two in Group 2 of the PTSB Dublin Senior 1 Hurling Championship.

Four points adrift at the interval, Brigid’s outscored their opponents 0-16 to 0-10 on the resumption to build on their victory over Faughs in the same venue seven days earlier. Paul Winters was in fine scoring form throughout with an astonishing closing tally of 0-15, while Kieran O’Sullivan, Cian O’Sullivan and Andrew Dunphy also shone brightly at various stages in the action.

Ballyboden had been aiming to make amends for a two-point defeat to Lucan Sarsfields at Parnell Park in the opening round of fixtures last weekend, but the tables were turned on the southsiders in the latter stages of their latest competitive outing. While they did go close to claiming a draw in a tension-filled finale, Boden are still searching for their maiden win of the 2026 championship.

Yet despite conceding a point to Brigid’s wing-back Dunphy with just 10 seconds on the clock, Ballyboden had reason to be cheerful when David Gleeson got on the end of a long delivery by netminder Conor O’Donoghue to fire a third minute goal from play.

The Firhouse Road men immediately followed up this major with points courtesy of centre half-forward Niall McMorrow and Gleeson himself, before the increasingly-influential McMorrow cancelled out a score from his opposite number Winters.

Brigid’s were battling against a stiff breeze in the first half, but kept themselves in the hunt when Winters and Kieran O’Sullivan both found the range in quick succession.

Either side of the first-quarter mark, both teams continued to match each other’s efforts with neither set of forwards able to develop a consistent purple patch. A Jonathan O’Driscoll point for Ballyboden was supplemented by three place-ball scores from McMorrow, but a 0-4 haul in the space of just 12 minutes from the ever-reliable Winters ensured Brigid’s were still very much in the reckoning.

They looked set to enter the break a single point adrift when Winters knocked over another free heading towards the end of the half, but Boden suddenly re-established daylight between the teams when Brigid’s custodian Alan Nolan inadvertently diverted the ball into his own net.

This left Ballyboden 2-7 to 0-9 in front moving into the second half, but their determined Russell Park counterparts immediately reduced the gap with another Kieran O’Sullivan point after the restart.

Ballyboden had missed a number of opportunities in the opening period, but they boosted their prospects when midfielder Aidan Mellett and McMorrow found the target in clinical style.

However, Brigid’s were hoping to make significant headway in the second half now that the elements were in their favour and their scores eventually started to flow as the tie progressed. While Winters added to his already-excellent personal tally with a pointed free, Diarmuid Breslin, Kieran O’Sullivan, Dunphy and Shane Maher also split the posts as five points on the bounce suddenly had Brigid’s back on level terms by the 39th minute.

Ballyboden appeared to settle back into their stride when Luke Mulligan Lynch and Gleeson pointed from awkward angles and Niall Ryan was also on hand to cancel out Alan Nolan’s successful long-distance free. Brigid’s restored parity once more with contributions from the central attacking axis of Winters (with his first from open play) and Cian O’Sullivan inside the final-quarter, but Ballyboden were proving themselves to be stubborn adversaries.

Even though a Winters equaliser was squeezed in between it, Mellett and David Keogh twice helped the seven-time champions to reclaim a one-point advantage.

Nevertheless, Brigid’s didn’t panic and another scoring blitz swung the pendulum in their favour with the finishing line in sight. Complimenting four more points from Winters (including a free inside his own half), Cian O’Sullivan superbly found the range off a sideline cut to help leave his side with a 0-24 to 2-14 buffer on 58 minutes.

There was still some time for Ballyboden to wrestle the game back into their control and three points without reply from Keogh, Fionn Murphy and James Norris suddenly left them within touching distance of at least a draw in stoppage-time.

Brigid’s held their nerve, however, and another Winters free in the 66th minute left them with just enough in reserve to secure the spoils in this compelling affair.

Scorers – St Brigid’s: P Winters 0-15 (11f), K O’Sullivan 0-3, C O’Sullivan 0-2 (1 s/line), A Dunphy 0-2, A Nolan 0-1 (1f), S Maher, D Breslin 0-1 each. Ballyboden St Enda’s: N McMorrow 0-6 (2f, 1 ‘65’), D Gleeson 1-2, A Nolan own goal, A Mellett, D Keogh 0-2 each, L Mulligan Lynch, N Ryan, J O’Driscoll, F Murphy, J Norris 0-1 each.

St Brigid’s: A Nolan; M Coyne, E Leen, D Ryan; J Hannon, C Doyle, A Dunphy; A McGuirk, J McGuirk; S Maher, P Winters, S Crotty; K O’Sullivan, C O’Sullivan, D Breslin. Subs: R McLoughlin for Coyne (33), J O’Neill for McGuirk (39), J O’Connell for Doyle (48), B Moran for Dunphy, C McIntyre for Maher (both 63).

Ballyboden St Enda’s: C O’Donoghue; L Mulligan Lynch, K Kennedy, B McGuire; J Madden, S O’Connor, J Lambert; L McDwyer, A Mellett; N Ryan, N McMorrow, E Behan; D Gleeson, D Keogh, J O’Driscoll. Subs: J Norris for Behan, J McGuire for Lambert (both 41), F Codd for O’Driscoll (45), F Murphy for McDwyer (50), D Durkin for Mellett (59).

Referee: Chris Mooney (St Pat’s, Palmerstown).