St Jude’s 1-20

Naomh Mearnog 0-6

Kevin O’Brien reports from Parnell Park

LAST YEAR’S SEMI-finalists St Jude’s negotiated their Dublin SFC opener with minimal fuss this evening.

St Jude’s, who fell to Castleknock in the last four of this competition in 2016, were streets ahead a Naomh Mearnog outfit that offered very little resistance.

Cork senior panellist Niall Coakley kicked 0-7 while Dublin forward Kevin McManamon posted four points as St Jude’s avoided a drop into the Senior ‘B’ championship.

This was a contest riddled with unforced errors with occasional flashes of brilliance from McManamon, Coakley, centre-forward Ross O’Brien – who goaled from a penalty – and sub Declan Donnelly, the scorer of four points off the bench.

Naomh Mearnog operated with two spare defenders which meant hand passing and lateral play was the order of the day. To their credit St Jude’s pushed right up on their opponents and penned them in from kickouts.

It was no no means a flawless display, but St Jude’s were a class above their opponents and dominated them in the physical stakes.

Ross O’Brien hit the net from a fifth minute penalty to put St Jude’s 1-2 to no score in front. From that point the result never looked in doubt.

Cork forward Coakley had 0-4 to his name by the break, while McManamon looked lively and chipped in with a pair of frees in the first period.

It took Naomh Mearnog 14 minutes to get their first score from play and they would trouble the scoreboard just once more before the interval, with Jude’s leading at that stage by 1-8 to 0-2.

Coakley fired over three points after the restart, while McManamon curled over two before he was withdrawn after a good evening’s work on 54 minutes.

Donnelly and Enda Dalton added points off the bench as the game petered out in the second period.

Scorers for St Jude’s: Niall Coakley 0-7 (0-3f), Kevin McManamon 0-4 (0-2f), Declan Donnelly 0-4, Ross O’Brien 1-0 (pen), Paul Cunningham, Mark Sweeney, Ronan Joyce, Billy Sheehan and Enda Dalton 0-1 each.

Scorers for Naomh Mernog: Michael Gibbs 0-2, Jamie Walsh 0-2 (0-1f), Oisin Taylor 0-1 and Niall Murphy 0-1 (free).

St Jude’s

1. Paul Copeland

2. Ciaran Fitzpatrick
3. Paul Cunningham
4. Rob Martina

5. Tom Lahiff
6. Niall O’Shea
7. Paul Courtney

8. Colm Murphy
9. Seamus Ryan

10. Mark Sweeney
11. Ross O’Brien
12. Ronan Joyce

13. Niall Coakley
14. Kevin McManamon
15. Billy Sheehan

Subs
24. Chris Guckian for Courtney (8)
18. Oisin Manning for O’Shea (45)
20. Declan Donnelly for Joyce (45)
22. Enda Dalton for McManamon (54)
17. Cillian O’Reilly for Cunningham (56)

Naomh Mearnog

1. Ollie Freaney

2. Marcus Fitzmaurice
3. Frank Doyle
4. Andrew Killeen

5. Conor Grant
6. Jordan Briggs
7. Brian Doyle

8. Shane Carty
9. Oisin Taylor

10. Matthew Shortall
11. Jamie Storey
12. Jamie Walsh

17. Darren Byrne
14. Michael Gibbs
15. Niall Murphy

Subs
13. Aodhan Fee for Courtney (ht)

Referee: Barry Tiernan

*****

In the evening’s other games, Kilmacud Crokes secured an eye-catching 10-12 to 0-7 win over Erins Isle, while St Mary’s defeat Whitehall Colmcille by eight and Parnells saw off Final Ravens by six.

Dublin SFC first round results

Parnells 1-13 Fingal Ravens 0-10
Kilmacud Crokes 10-12 Erins Isle 0-7
Whitehall Colmcille 1-7 St Mary’s 1-15
St Judes 1-20 Naomih Mearnog 0-6

The42 GAA / SoundCloud

Why it’s a positive that ex-Kilkenny and Limerick seniors are to the fore for the Kildare hurlers

Michael Fennelly’s return from injury and how Davy Fitzgerald’s ban will affect Wexford