St Vincent’s 0-14
St Oliver Plunkett’s 1-10
ST VINCENT’S HELD off a late St Oliver Plunkett’s rally to retain their Dublin senior football title before a packed house in Parnell Park tonight.
A late Alan Brogan goal and a pointed free by his brother Bernard cut the deficit St Oliver Plunkett’s were facing to a single point.
But they couldn’t engineer a leveling score in the dying moments and the reigning AIB All-Ireland senior club football champions held on to advance to the Leinster series.
In truth St Vincent’s, who lead 0-7 to 0-5 at the end of a high quality opening half, deserved this victory. Their second-half performance was excellent with Gavin Burke, Ciaran Dorney, Ruairi Trainor and Shane Carthy all stepping up to the plate in attack to share out 0-10 from play between them.
St Vincent’s main marksmen Tomas Quinn and Diarmuid Connolly were closely watched throughout by the Plunkett’s defence. The star duo still made important contributions despite their scoring impact being limited but St Vincent showed the array of forwards options they possess as others impressed.
It was another night of disappointment for St Oliver Plunkett’s as their search for a first title goes on in the wake of previous losses in the deciders in 2008 and 2011. They started brightly and competed strongly in the opening period with Bernard Brogan and Gareth ‘Nesty’ Smith both showing up well.
They were ahead 0-5 to 0-4 by the 20th minute mark when Alan Brogan pointed but then St Vincent’s powered home like a train before half-time. Dorney leveled the teams with a point before Quinn and Burke raised white flags in quick succession before the break to give the winners a 0-7 to 0-5 half-time advantage.
Bernard Brogan shot the first point of the second-half but then St Vincent’s took over to string together a series of points and they surged clear by 0-12 to 0-7 entering the final quarter. With seven minutes left, St Vincent’s remained in command as they held a 0-14 to 0-9 lead but Trainor saw his goal bound shot brilliantly saved by Alan O’Mara as Plunkett’s hung in there.
Then Alan Brogan rose highest to palm home a high ball to the net and Bernard’s 59th minute pointed free left trailing by the minimum. But they couldn’t find the equaliser they craved and St Vincent’s held on to set up a Leinster quarter-final tie on November 9th with Portlaoise or the Wexford champions.
Scorers for St Vincent’s
Ciaran Dorney, Gavin Burke 0-3 each, Shane Carthy, Ruairi Trainor 0-2 each, Diarmuid Connolly, Eamon Fennell, Tomas Quinn (0-1f), Cameron Diamond 0-1 each.Scorers for St Oliver Plunkett’s
Bernard Brogan 0-5 (0-3f), Alan Brogan 1-1, Gareth Smith 0-3 (0-1 ’45), Paraic Lee 0-1.
ST VINCENT’S
1. Michael Savage
2. Kevin Bonnie
3. Jarlath Curley
4. Hugh Gill
5. Brendan Egan
6. Ger Brennan
7. Mick Concarr
8. Eamon Fennell
9. Daith Murphy
10. Gavin Burke
11. Diarmuid Connolly
12. Shane Carthy
13. Ruairi Trainor
14. Ciaran Dorney
15. Tomás Quinn
Subs
18. Cameron Diamond for Murphy (39)
21. Tiernan Diamond for Dorney (50)
20. Mark Loftus for Fennell (55)
22. Cormac Diamond for Carthy (57)
ST OLIVER PLUNKETT’S
1. Alan O’Mara
2. Rory O’Connor
3. Shane Lyons
4. Eamonn Clarke
5. Declan Lally
6. James Brogan
7. David Kelly
8. Craig Dunleavy
17. Paul Brogan
25. Daragh Brogan
11. Conor Walsh
12. Alan Brogan
13. Niall Walsh
14. Bernard Brogan
15. Gareth Smith
Subs
9. Ross McConnell for Paul Brogan (27)
17. Paul Brogan for Daragh Brogan (44)
21. Paraic Lee for Lyons (47)
19. David Matthews for Niall Walsh (55)
Referee: Dave Feeney (Parnell’s)