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Ballymun Kickhams 1-19
Ballyboden St Enda’s 0-08
A dominant performance in the first half laid the foundation when Ballymun Kickhams edged a listless Ballyboden St Enda’s by 14 points in their disappointingly one-sided final of the Dublin Senior Soccer Championship at Parnell Park on Sunday afternoon.
In doing so, Kickhams claimed his first title since 2012 and his fourth overall, racking up more misery on Ballyboden’s dual players after their loss to Cuala in the equivalent of hurling a week earlier.
The competition started with over-scoring as both defenders struggled to adjust to the pace of the opening exchanges with Conal Keaney handing the starters the early lead with a point in the first minute.
Ballymun was quick to respond in kind, through a clever effort from Paddy Small and an effort from Cathal O’Tighe put Kickhams ahead in the fourth minute.
With Ballyboden losing regular goalie Darragh Gogan to suspension, their opponents took advantage of some misplaced reboots by Mark McNamee with Small and Dean Rock the main beneficiaries of Ballymun’s control in the middle third.
A little sporadic pressure from St Enda’s yielded breaking points from Keaney and Ryan Basquel, but these were isolated moments of joy as they played second fiddle for the rest of the time.
With a pair of Rock points in quick succession, Kickhams enjoyed a healthy 0-07-0-04 lead at the water break and the procession to the Ballyboden goal continued unabated in the second quarter.
A score from Fiach Andrews in the 20th minute tied the tie at double points before Rock, enjoying Donnycarney’s freedom at this stage, kicked out a trio of points in the game to reassert his team’s supremacy.
The misery continued for the champs as the half evolved as Andrews surpassed his second of the day and two more releases from Rock meant Ballymun had kicked ten unanswered points, leading to an interval lead from 0-14 to 0-04. .
Ballyboden’s shot left a lot to be desired in the first half and that trend continued into the restart with backup Alan Flood and Warren Egan as the main culprits.
By contrast, Ballymun scored from his first two attacks of the half, both through lively Keating as the widths continued to accumulate at the opposite end as the starters’ lack of confidence up front continued to manifest itself.
They finally achieved their fifth point of the afternoon in the 45th minute via a free Colm Basquel, ending a remarkable thirty-five-minute sterile period in the process.
Ballymun’s attacking intent faded as the half progressed, happy with the comfort that their main goal had been achieved long ago, and a penalty from Rock in overtime put the shine on an emphatic victory for a team. Kickhams outstanding.
Ballymun Kickhams: E Comerford; L Young, E Dolan, P McMahon; C Keeley, J Small, D Conlon; Elliott, J McCarthy; C McCormack, F Andrews (0-4), C O’Tighe (0-1); P Small (0-2), D Keating (0-3), D Rock (1-8, 1-0 feather, 0-3f).
Subs used: J Whelan (0-1) by O’Tighe (50), A McCaul by Keating (53), C McManus by McCormack (58), B Ashton by Elliott (60).
Ballyboden St Enda’s: M McNamee; S Clayton, K Kennedy, C Flaherty; Bobbett B, Nelson D, McDaid R; MD Macauley, A Waters; R McGarry, W Egan, D O’Reilly; C Keaney (0-3), R Basquel (0-3, 1f), C Basquel (0-2, 2f).
Subs used: A Flood for O’Reilly (break), D O’Mahony for Bobbett (half time), J Holland for Nelson (half time), S Lambert for C Basquel (50), T Hayes for McGarry (55).
Referee: Séamus Farrelly (Ballinteer St John’s)
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