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John Small warms up (file pic). Laszlo Geczo/INPHO

John Small kicks late, league-winning score for Ballymun a week after the death of his father

Declan Small, the longtime Ballymun Kickhams chairman, passed away last week following a long illness.

JOHN SMALL KICKED a stoppage-time point to seal a Dublin Football League Division One title for Ballymun Kickhams on Tuesday night just a week after burying his father, Declan, who passed away following a lengthy battle with illness.

Small and his younger brother Paddy were joint captains of the side and lined out in difficult circumstances against a Ballyboden St Enda’s outfit who were unbeaten in 2019.

Declan Small was a longtime chairman of Kickhams and played a pivotal role in the club’s emergence as a significant force on the Dublin club scene over the last two decades.

On an emotionally charged evening at Parnell Park, it was son, John, who popped up in the 64th minute to split the sticks and seal league success for Ballymun, who in turn ended ‘Boden’s blemishless run through the calendar year.

Kickhams emerged on the right side of a 0-9 to 0-8 victory with the older Small brother kicking two of his side’s points.

Ballyboden were unable to add to their county and provincial championship triumphs, but the evening belonged to Ballymun and the Small family, with several Ballymun and Dublin team-mates of the Smalls paying tribute to the brothers and their late father in the game’s aftermath.

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