St Brigids edge past Faughs in PTSB Championship Opener

St Brigid's 1-22

Faughs 1-17

Kieran O'Sullivan came alive when it counted for St Brigid's at O'Toole Park, registering the crucial scores to help secure victory in their PTSB Dublin SHC Group 2 opener.

Trailing by two points against last season's Dublin SHC 2 winners with 26 minutes on the clock, an O'Sullivan point ignited Brigid's who reeled off six on the trot.

That put them into a lead that they held all the way until full-time with O'Sullivan pouncing for his goal in the 56th minute to set the seal on a battling win.

Faughs lost no face in defeat as they pushed the 2019 finalists all the way but were unable to conjure the crucial scores as they chased the game throughout the second half.

Aedan Mostyn's 10th minute goal got Faughs going after a slow start and they briefly led before the first water break.

But a wides tally that ran well into double digits ultimately cost them as their opponents from Blanchardstown/Castleknock secured a deserved win.

Reigning All-Star Cian O'Sullivan started for Brigid's having missed the Leinster final with Dublin, and having appeared as a substitute in the All-Ireland quarter-final against Clare, and the full-forward clipped three points.

Experienced centre-forward Paul Winters delivered 0-8 though Kieran O'Sullivan really stood out with 1-5, all from play.

The exit of defender Andy Dunphy with an apparent injury was a blow to Brigid's, however, ahead of their Round 2 encounter.

Brigid's opened up a 0-5 to 0-1 lead before Faughs finally got going with the Mostyn goal - the corner-forward was cleverly fed by Niall Fitzgibbon - pulling them right back into it.

James O'Brien and Chris Bennett added points for Faughs and the record 31-times champions twice took narrow leads before a Winters point from a free tied it up at the first water break, 0-7 to 1-4.

Faughs kicked on again at the start of the second quarter and a Ciarán Nagle point in the 26th minute left them sitting pretty at that stage, 1-8 to 0-9 ahead.

But Brigid's finished the first half strongly, reeling off those six points in a row - Kieran O'Sullivan, Winters and Shane Meagher shared the scores between them - to lead 0-15 to 1-8 at the turnaround.

The third quarter was tight and tense and it was pretty much as you were at the second water break, Brigid's 0-18 to 1-12 in front, following scores from Winters again and Kieran O'Sullivan.

And Kieran O'Sullivan really kicked on in the last quarter, striking 1-2 in this period alone to effectively put the game beyond Faughs.

His 54th minute point was expertly crafted and he followed that with his team's only goal, capitalising on great work through the centre by Diarmuid Breslin.

Leading by seven points, 1-21 to 1-14, Brigid's had a vital cushion and relied on it as Faughs threw everything at them late on.

Cormac Dowd and O'Brien scored three points between them for Faughs and substitute Fergie Heavy had a shot at goal that ended up in the side netting.

But it was no robbery by Brigid's who were good value overall for their five-point win and they will hope to ultimately go further than last year's quarter-final appearance.

Scorers - St Brigid's: K O'Sullivan 1-5, P Winters 0-8 (4f, 1 65), C O'Sullivan 0-3, J McGuirk, S Meagher, D Breslin 0-2 each. Faughs: J O'Brien 0-7 (3f), A Mostyn 1-1, B Murray 0-3, C Bennett 0-2, N Fitzgibbon, C Nagle, C Brennan, C Dowd 0-1 each.

St Brigid's: A Nolan; L Doolin, E Leen, M Coyne; J Hannan, C Doyle, A Dunphy; A McGuirk, J McGuirk; S Crotty, P Winters, S Meagher; D Breslin, C O'Sullivan, K O'Sullivan. Subs: E Healy for Dunphy (47), J O'Neill for Coyne (60), D McLoughlin for Doyle (61).

Faughs: E MacNamara; C McCabe, L Gammell, C Leahy; S McDonald, C Byrne, J Kenny; O Walsh, C Dowd; J O'Brien, N Fitzgibbon, C Nagle; A Mostyn, B Murray, C Bennett. Subs: F Heavy for Walsh (h/t), C Brennan for Fitzgibbon (39), C Kenny for Byrne (55), C O'Mahony for Mostyn (58).

Ref: Mark Ryan.