Vincents smash Whitehall Colmcille in final round

Image Courtesy Mark McDonagh

ST VINCENT’S 5-22 

WHITEHALL COLMCILLE 1-15

St Vincent’s pulled away in the second-half on their way to a comprehensive nineteen-point victory over Whitehall Colmcille in their final Go-Ahead Ireland Dublin Senior Hurling Championship Group 2 encounter at Parnell Park on Friday night. 

The win secured a third victory in the group and their place in the knockout stages and there was no doubting their dominance against a Whitehall side without a number of key personnel 

It was St Vincent’s that held the upper hand by half-time as Darach McBride pounced for 1-3 in helping build a deserved 1-14 to 0-9 by the turnaround. 

The procession continued after the break as further goals from Tom Connolly, Stephen Williams, Kyle Ward and McBride allowed the Marino outfit to ease home by the final whistle.  

The locals were quickest from the blocks with early points from play by Brian Bolger andMcBride with Vinnies indebted to Dara Perry, as he produced a superb save to deny Eoghan O’Donnell in the 6th minute. 

While Paddy Spellacy added a fine point for Whitehall soon after, they fell further behind as the lively McBride added two points in quick succession, the second a sublime point from over the shoulder. 

Matters improved further for Vinnies in the 12th minute as McBride cut inside a couple of defenders before leaving Ronan Murray helpless with a powerful shot into the top corner. 

Another Perry save to deny O’Donnell once again highlighted the threat that Whitehall carried up front and they limited the damage through successive scores by O’Donnell, Conor Sheedy and Cormac Costello (f). 

However, a quartet of points from John Hetherton saw St Vincent’s establish a healthy lead and they moved eight points clear by the break thanks to further scores by Williams and Harry Curley.

Any semblance of a contest was eroded in the early stages of the second-half as Connolly began to exert a strong influence on proceedings as he clipped over a brace of early points. 

His goal from McBride’s pass effectively settled the issue as early as the 39th minute with a Williams goal two minutes later adding further pain to the Whitehall following. 

Bolger added two smart scores prior to the end of the third quarter before Spellacy showcasedhis free-taking abilities with a hammered effort that flew past Perry and a plethora of defenders on the goal line. 

Back came St Vincent’s as they plundered two goals within sixty seconds through substitute Ward and a superb McBride effort that proved a stunning conclusion to a dominant display. 

Scorers – St Vincent’s: R McBride 2-3; J Hetherton 0-8 (5f, 1 ’65); T Connolly 1-3; B Bolger 0-4; S Williams 1-1; K Ward 1-0; B Moorehouse-Carroll, J Mulcahy, H Curley 0-1 apiece. Whitehall Colmcille: P Spellacy 1-4 (1-3f); Eoghan O’Donnell 0-6; C Sheedy 0-3; C Costello (f), N O’Connor 0-1 apiece. 

St Vincent’s: D Perry; J Brady, M O’Farrell, R Dunne; S Mulcahy, B Moorehouse-Carroll, H Curley; M Sweeney, C Burke; T Connolly, B Bolger, S Williams; D McBride, J Hetherton, J Mulcahy. Subs: K Ryan for J Mulcahy (half-time), K Ward for Ryan (36), O Mulcahy for Sweeney (45), D Peel for Williams (45). 

Whitehall Colmcille: R Murray; E O’Reilly, J Thorp, D Ryan; S Foran, E Moran, Enda O’Donnell; A McDermott, C Costello; N O’Connor, C Sheedy, J Raftery; S Kellett, Eoghan O’Donnell, P Spellacy. Subs: D Noonan for Ryan (half-time), N Carroll for Kellett (half-time), R Kerins for Costello (half-time), S Thorp for Enda O’Donnell (50).  

Referee: Thomas Gleeson (Naomh Fionnbarra).