BALLYBODEN ST ENDA’S 2-15 BALLINTEER ST JOHN’S 0-9
Champions Ballyboden St Enda’s kept their ‘drive for five’ dream alive when overcoming Ballinteer St John’s in this Evening Herald Dublin SHC ‘A’ quarter-final at Parnell Park on Saturday.
While Boden held the upperhand for most of the game it took a Tim Sweeney goal 12 minutes from time to finally shake of St John’s.
Sub Sweeney made the perfect impact on his introduction when he whipped the sliotar to the net from a tight angle as St John’s keeper, Louis O’Flaherty, batted out a long point effort from the influential Dean Curran to push Boden 2-12 to 0-8 clear and into the last four.
The Firhouse Road side held a 1-7 to 0-6 interval advantage after a evenly enough balanced opening 30 minutes with St John’s midfielder, James Gilligan, converting two very long-range frees as well as a superb point from play.
Conor McCormack’s goal in the ninth minute when he kicked the sliotar to the net from close range following a powerful run by Shane Durkin through the heart of the St John’s cover was the crucial score of the opening half.
It was one of the few occasions, however, that Boden fully unlocked their opponents as the likes of Cormac O’Brien and Frank O’Donoghue provided a robust last line of defence.
However, up front Ballinteer did not have the firepower to test the champions, however, Dublin minor of this year Aodhan Clabby did score one of the best of the game when he thundered through the Boden defence and despite shifting several full-blooded challenges held his balance to sweep the sliotar over the bar one-handed.
SCORERS – Ballyboden St Enda’s: P Ryan 0-8 (0-6f, 0-1 65), C McCormack, T Sweeney 1-0 each, D Curtin, S Lambert, E Carroll 0-2 each, M Travers 0-1. Ballinteer St John’s: J Maher (0-1f), James Gilligan (0-2f) 0-3 each, A Clabby 0-2 (0-1f), S Lane 0-1.
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