Dublin senior football championship semi-final

Ballyboden St Enda’s 3-13

St Jude’s 0-9

Rónán Mac Lochlainn reports from Parnell Park

RYAN O’DWYER’S 12th-minute goal proved pivotal as Ballyboden St Enda’s saw off near neighbours St Jude’s by 13 points.

St Enda’s made their intentions clear from the first minute as James Holland opened the scoring, and three points by Luke O’Donoghue, Ryan O’Dwyer and Alex Gavin were just reward for their early dominance.

Another telling burst form Gavin allowed O’Dwyer to put further distance between the teams in the 12th minute as he powered a shot to the roof of Brendan Flynn’s goal from close range.

St Jude’s found some respite through scores by Darragh Rooney and Pat Spillane but with O’Dwyer, Colm Basquel and Ryan Basquel all on target, St Enda’s were maintaining their sizeable advantage.

Spillane and Kevin McManamon offered isolated moments of encouragement as the half evolved but another driving run from the highly impressive Gavin left Ballyboden 1-9 to 0-5 ahead by half-
time.

Far from building on that sizeable advantage, St Enda’s failed to show any of that cutting thrust in a forgettable first-half showing and they looked vulnerable at the opposite end as St Jude’s carved them open at regular intervals.

Alex Hassett, Liam Connerton and Spillane failed to avail of glorious chances of a goal that could have sparked an unlikely comeback, especially with Ballyboden suffering a scoreless period of
19 minutes.

Two McManamon points brough the deficit down to just four points by the 53rd minute but the contest was effectively settled three minutes later as Boden were awarded a penalty.

It was of little surprise to see Gavin the furthest player forward from a Shane Clayton-inspired counter-attack, and after Cormac McCartan had upended the wing-back Ryan Basquel clipped away the spot-kick.

There was sufficient time for Egan to rub further salt into the St Jude’s wounds as he beat Flynn at his near post in the 60th minute with Michael McDonald and Colm Basquel giving a late flourish to the final scoreline.

Scorers for Ballyboden St Enda’s: R Basquel (1p, 0-1f), R O’Dwyer 1-2 each, W Egan 1-1, C Basquel 0-3 (1f), A Gavin 0-2, L O’Donoghue, J Holland, M McDonald 0-1 each.

Scorers for St Jude’s: D Rooney (3f), K McManamon 0-3 each, P Spillane 0-2, A Hassett 0-1.

Ballyboden St Enda’s

• D Gogan
• S Clayton
• B Bobbett
• C Flaherty
• K Kennedy
• J Holland
• A Gavin
• C D’Arcy
• MD Macauley
• L O’Donoghue
• C Basquel
• W Egan
• R Basquel
• R O’Dwyer
• R McGarry.

Subs:

• P Dunleavy for Bobbett (46)
• M McDonald for Macauley (50)
• D O’Reilly for O’Dwyer (52)
• D Sweeney for McGarry (56)
• L McHugh for Kennedy (61).

St Jude’s

• B Flynn
• A Hassett
• C Fitzpatrick
• P O’Loughlin
• C McCartan
• O Manning
• K Lahiff
• C Murphy,
• T Lahiff
• D Kavanagh
• D Rooney
• D Sheehy
• P Spillane
• K McManamon
• L Connerton

Subs:

• D Sutcliffe for Sheehy (half-time)
• J Carty for Kavanagh (half-time)
• A Connolly for Connerton (40)
• S King for Murphy (50)
• C Guckian for Fitzpatrick (57)

Referee: Dave Feeney (Parnell’s)