Junior 1 All County Football Championship Quarter Final.

30/08/2020. Vs. Kilmacud Crokes Venue: Silver Park.

 Result: Kilmacud Crokes 1.17 Ballyboden St. Endas 0.10

 Sunday morning saw the Junior A footballers make the short journey to a sunny Silver Park to take on Kilmacud in the quarter final of the championship. No stone had been left unturned in preparation under the guidance of Tony and Richie with great effort made in training since the start of the championship back in July. The hosts got off to a very fast start with several points scored before a well taken point from Damien Kenny opened the scoring for Ballyboden. The first half water break gave the team a chance to regroup and further points from Damien(2) and Ciaran Cashman narrowed the gap. Dylan Walsh and Luke Basquel were winning good ball at midfield with the full back line of Barry O’Donnell, Michael Dunne and Joey Donohoe  restricting the space available to the Kilmacud attack. The hosts then added further points to leave the half time score at 0.13 to 0.04 when referee, Darren Malone, sounded the half time whistle.

The half time discussion focussed on getting a good start to the second half with captain, Adam Farrell, asking for a major effort for the next thirty minutes.

The team quickly got into their stride with early points from Enda Cashman and Dylan. Dean Ralph, David Gilheaney and Charlie Mc Partland in the half back line were now moving forward at pace from the back with the hard running Luke Grady at centre forward causing problems for the home defence. Further points from Laurence Murphy, Dylan and Enda narrowed the gap to four points. Stephen Moran and Colm Humphreys were making an impact following their introduction. A brilliant save from the Kilmacud goalkeeper denied Damien a green flag following very good work by Aidan Garvey. A well worked goal from Kilmacud followed by a few points stretched their lead again. Stuart Warren, Kevin Cronin and James McTernan worked hard on their introduction.

Pressure was piling on the Kilmacud goal at this stage but some very good blocking by the defence prevented the ball crossing the line. A well taken point from Dylan closed the scoring to leave the full time score at 1.17 to 0.10 in favour of the hosts. While the result was disappointing, there has been a fantastic effort made by the entire squad throughout the championship. Qualifying from a very competitive group was a great achievement and the future is very bright for this squad.

Thanks to Jack Nolan and Tony Basquel for umpire duty, Tony Walsh for doing the sideline and Carina Cashman for first aid.

A special thanks to Sean Gilheaney for his excellent photo work throughout the championship.

Junior A squad:

Adam Farrell, Barry O’Donnell, Michael Dunne, Joey Donohoe, Dean Ralph, David Gilheaney, Charlie McPartland, Dylan Walsh, Luke Basquel, Enda Cashman, Luke Grady, Aidan Garvey, Ciaran Cashman, Damien Kenny, Laurence Murphy, Allen Kennedy, Stephen Moran, Alex Craven, Colm Humphreys, Peter Gannon, Kevin Cronin, James McTernan, David Ward, Stuart Warren, Craig Irwin, Conor McHugh, Darragh Roche Rory Jordan, Kevin O’Reilly