The senior hurlers made it 4/4 in the Go-Ahead Dublin Senior 2 hurling championship on Saturday evening when overcoming Ballyboden St Endas 3-19 to 2-20 in Pairc Uí Mhúrchu.
Both sides looked evenly matched throughout the first half with the influential Sean Reilly (0-6) chipping in with a couple of well taken points. While centre back Jamie McDonnell (0-1) , Davy Keogh (0-2) and Anto Barrett (0-2) also got on the scoreboard to take a lead of 0-14 to 0-9 at the break.
Thomas Davis opened the second half at lightening pace as corner forward Davy Byrne (3-1) hit three well taken goals within the first 10 mins, after good team play by Sean Reilly and Kevin Ward. Further points from Kevin Ward (0-5 3f) and Adam Waddick (0-2) pushed Davis into a 9 point lead with 10 minutes remaining. Ballyboden rallied hard late on as they scored 1-2 in the final 5 minutes to reduce the deficit to just 2 points before the final whistle was blown.
The victory seals qualification to the knockout stages of the championship, a meeting with Kilmacud crokes in the final round will decide who finishes first place and advance to the semi final.
Thomas Davis scorers
D Byrne 3-1
S Reilly 0-6
K Ward 0-5 (3f)
A Waddick 0-2
D Keogh 0-2
A Barrett 0-2
J McDonnell 0-1
The Junior 1 hurlers bounced back from their round 3 defeat to Raheny as they overcame AHL5 side Castleknock in Somerton park.
Castleknock started the game brightly as they raced into an early 0-4 to 0-1 lead. Davis settled into the game after with an inform Glen Brogan (1-13 10f) contributing the bulk of the away team’s scores. Anto Deasy (2-0) once again provided the vital goals as he hit one goal in each half which proved crucial to the final scoreline. Ciaran Kavanagh pulled off a point blank save late on while James Byrne, Aaron Murphy Taylor and Evan Walsh all put in solid displays for the away teams defence on the day as they held out for a 5 point victory 3-15 to 0-19.
The win confirms a home quarter final on Sun Sept 29th with the opposition TBC.
The Junior 2 hurlers received there second consecutive walkover to make it 4/4, the team will now top the group and have a home quarterfinal to look forward too also on Sun Sept 29th.
Many thanks to Donal O’Toole for covering photography for both games.
