Ballyboden made work to make Dublin semi-final
Footballs before the AIB GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Club Championship semi-final match between St Brigid's of Roscommon and Castlehaven of Cork at FBD Semple Stadium in Thurles. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
This was far from the beautiful game Gaelic football is supposed to have come. Similarly, it was nothing resembling the convincing manner in which Ballyboden St Enda’s reached this stage.
In their three group games, Ballyboden had posted a whopping 10-57 and won by an average of over 13 points. Castleknock, with former Westmeath manager Jack Cooney in their management set-up, had heard their bark and duly tried to muzzle them with a defensive block.
It was a success to a point – Ballyboden never went more than two scores ahead and Castleknock led 1-3 to 0-5 at the break – but ultimately there wasn’t enough impetus in Castleknock’s counter-attacks to pull of a surprise in Parnell Park.
The closest Castleknock came to levelling the game in additional time was a last-resort kick into the edge of the square, which Ballyboden goalkeeper Hugh O’Sullivan didn’t negotiate but nobody in blue and gold could touch to the net.
For Ballyboden, Daire Sweeney and Cein Darcy were excellent. Between them, they produced all but one of their team’s scores. Sweeney’s two-point free five minutes into the second half put them into a lead they retained until the end.
He raised another orange flag in the 48th minute and followed it up with a white a minute later to give Ballyboden a cushion that in the context of a low-scoring game seemed comfortable.
Rob Shaw brought Castleknock level with a score in the 54th minute but their attacks had become sparse and the result was right even if the experience was a sobering one for a Ballyboden team that had been so free-scoring.
Only insomniacs would have been satisfied with the first quarter. Ryan Basquel converted soon after Ballyboden won the throw-in but the next score didn’t come until the 10th minute when Sweeney spun over a point.
He obliged with a free two minutes later after midfielder Darcy was fouled but it was mundane stuff. A well-drilled if limited Castleknock were content to sit back into a block in front of their goals and wait for Ballyboden to err in possession.
Ballyboden made themselves easy to snare with just how one-dimensional they were. There was little audacity in how they went for scores and next to no two-point attempts made.
For the most part, Castleknock’s tactics worked and a rare attack of theirs was rewarded in the 14th-minute with a goal. Darragh Warnock followed in on a Shaw point that dropped short and brought his team level.
Corner-back Rob O’Shea sent over a piercing point less than two minutes later and Castleknock could feel their rearguard action was justified. Ciarán Kilkenny looked at ease in a deeper centre-back role and was able to knit moves for his running backs as well as forwards.
After Cein Darcy squared the game, it was the decorated Kilkenny who restored Castleknock’s advantage in the 23rd minute when he came off the left wing and clipped over a tidy point.
Sweeney levelled matters once more in the 29th minute but with an additional time point Castleknock midfielder Kevin Stephenson ensured the underdogs went into the interval a point to the good.
D. Sweeney (0-8, 1 tp, 1 tp free, 1 free); C. Darcy (0-2); R. Basquel (0-1).
D. Warnock (1-0); R. O’Shea, C. Kilkenny, K. Stephenson, G. Dermottroe (free), R Shaw (0-1 each).
H. O’Sullivan; B. Bobbett, S. Clayton, C. Flaherty, A. Gavin, P. Healy, H. Donaghy; C. Darcy, J Holland; J. Madden, D. Sweeney, M. O’Gara; R. O’Dwyer, C. Basquel. R. Basquel.
P. Dunleavey for M. O’Gara (40); K. Kennedy for P. Healy (42): D. O’Reilly for R. Basquel (54).
S. Maloney; R. O’Shea, C. Murphy, T. Quinn; R. Shaw, C. Kilkenny, C. Chawke; D. Clarke, K. Stephenson; E. McSherry, L. Swan, B. Galvin; D. Leonard, D. Warnock, G. McDermottroe.
S. Forker for D. Leonard (48); E. O’Brien for E. McSherry (50); A. Hughes for B. Galvin (60).
B. Tiernan (O’Dwyer’s).
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