Ballymun Kickhams 1-16 St Judes 1-7:BALLYMUN KICKHAMS advanced to the final of the Dublin senior football championship following a comprehensive nine-point victory over St Jude's at Parnell Park yesterday afternoon.
The pivotal score of the game arrived in the 43rd minute when Ted Furman raced on to Elliott Reilly’s pass to fire home from close range, thus giving Kickhams an eight-point advantage.
In a lethargic contest, both sides took their time in finding their feet with Kevin McManamon and Dean Rock exchanging scores.
With James McCarthy and Davy Byrne dominating midfield, Kickhams assumed control of affairs and opened up a three-point lead by the 10th minute through scores from Dublin senior star McCarthy and a brace of points by Furman.
At the opposite end, McManamon was reasonably well marshalled by county colleague Philip McMahon, although he managed to land a superb free to reduce his side’s arrears in the 12th minute.
However, the momentum was maintained by Ballymun with Elliott Reilly and Shane Forde landing a point apiece and two further scores from influential centre-forward Kevin Leahy was just reward for their supremacy.
McManamon sprung into life in the 29th minute, rounding McMahon with ease with his subsequent goal-bound shot handled in the square by Eoin Dolan for a penalty that Declan Donnelly converted with ease.
Trailing 0-10 to 1-4 at the interval, St Jude’s reduced the deficit further through an excellent Ronan Joyce point in the 36th minute. But they failed to build on that score as Furman and Rock regained the initiative.
Furman’s goal soon afterwards, effectively settled the contest and further scores from Leahy and substitutes Derek Byrne and Andy O’Brien duly confirmed a first return to the final for since 1989.
BALLYMUN KICKHAMS: S Currie; Enda Dolan, P McMahon, Eoin Dolan; A Hubbard, K Connolly, J Burke; J McCarthy (0-1), D Byrne; E Reilly (0-1), K Leahy (0-3), J Whelan; T Furman (1-3), D Rock (0-4, two frees, one sideline), S Forde (0-1). Subs: D Byrne (0-2) for Forde (h-t), A O’Brien (0-1) for Furman (49 mins), C Weir for Leahy (55 mins), J Small for Whelan (56 mins), J Welby for Burke (59 mins).
ST JUDE’S: P Copeland; R Finnegan, G Roche, S Breheny; P Cunningham, C Guckian, S Ryan; C Murphy, G McManus; A Glover, B McManamon (0-1, free), R Joyce (0-1); D Donnelly (1-1, 1-0 penalty), K McManamon (0-2, one free), E Dalton. Subs: N O’Shea for Guckian (35 mins), P Maguire for B McManamon (40 mins), T McKeown for Glover (46 mins), J Donnelly for McManus (49 mins), D Gallagher (0-2) for Joyce (55 mins).
Referee: G McMahon (Kilmacud Crokes)
