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BALLYMUN KICKHAMS were crowned Evening Herald Dublin AFL1 champions after an accomplished victory over a disappointing St Oliver Plunkett's/Eoghan Ruadh at a windswept O'Toole Park yesterday morning.
In doing so, Kickhams claimed their first senior football title since 1989 and the scenes of jubilation at the final whistle among players and supporters alike was testimony to the frustration and disappointment suffered by the Ballymun club over the preceding 20 years.
DISCIPLINE
Ballymun Kickhams are finally benefitting from the excellent work done by Paddy Christie and Ian Robertson among others at underage level, and the disciplined manner in which they reeled in Plunkett's in the second half suggests that the 'Mun could well regain their status as Dublin kingpins in the not too distant future.
The likes of Dean Rock, Alan Hubbard, Collie Moore, Eoin Dolan, Ted Furman and Philip McMahon were integral parts of Christie's U21 winning teams of the past two years and they all made significant contributions yesterday in what was a very mature and composed display by Ballymun.
Kickhams were also grateful to the superb roving performance of Davy Byrne, who was instrumental in all that was good about Ballymun, and his goal-saving block on Jason Sherlock after 21 minutes was typical of his selfless attitude and endeavour over the hour.
For Plunkett's it was another forgettable display on the big stage with few players showing their true potential but there were mitigating factors in the absence of Michael Brides, Conor Evans and David Sweeney, while Anthony Moyles was clearly hampered by injury throughout the 60 minutes.
In addition, talismanic forward Alan Brogan could only start on the bench after suffering a wrist injury last week, and his introduction midway through the second half failed to produce the desired impact as Plunkett's struggled to utilise his talents to any great effect.
The game started in a slightly scrappy fashion with both sides struggling to adapt to the strong breeze blowing towards the Crumlin End, favouring the Navan Road side in the opening half and the deadlock was finally broken in the ninth minute by Sherlock with a nicely taken point after good work from Shane Dunne.
Within a minute, Gareth Smith had doubled Plunkett's lead, judging the breeze to perfection after a free- flowing move involving Moyles and Sean McGuinness and by the end of the first quarter Bernard Brogan added two frees to leave four Plunkett's four points to the good.
However, this scoreline belied some impressive build-up play from Ballymun, with Karl Connolly and James Burke attacking well from wing-back to create a number of scoring opportunities which Rock, Derek Byrne and James McCarthy failed to capitalise on.
A Smith free on 19 minutes moved Plunkett's further ahead but Rock finally found his range to land two difficult frees approaching the break as Kickhams gained tangible reward for their enterprise, in particular the driving runs of Moore and Brain McCullagh from midfield.
Plunkett's finished the half in the ascendancy with further points from Smith and McGuinness but their five point interval lead looked inadequate considering the strength of the breeze, which in hindsight proved to be the case.
Rock opened Ballymun's second-half account with another free two minutes into the resumption but from the resultant kick-out, Seán Currie showed superb reflexes in keeping out Sherlock's first-time attempt from close range and although Smith and Rock traded frees soon after, Ballymun assumed complete control from that point on.
Davy Byrne added a glorious point on 39 minutes and then created a similarly impressive score for the marauding Burke four minutes later as Kickhams raised the intensity and although half-backs James Brogan and Liam Fleming in particular worked hard to plug the gaps in the Plunkett defence, their inability to gain primary possession was proving an increasing problem for Mick Galvin's charges.
Further points from Hubbard and Rock midway through the half had Kickhams on level terms but four consecutive wides undermined their territorial dominance prior to Rock striking for the game's solitary goal on 57 minutes.
It arrived after the ubiquitous Byrne and Moore combined well to send the classy centre-forward through on goal and his finish was absolutely impeccable, with a bullet of a strike past substitute keeper Eoin Somerville from 10 metres.
CAMEO
Although Smith responded with a free entering injury time, Kickhams pushed on in added time, with Elliot Reilly playing an important cameo role and points from the impressive Moore, Connolly and substitute Kevin Leahy ensured a well deserved five point win for Kickhams, much to the delight of manager Declan Sheehan.
“It's great to win a senior title after all these years, and the lads deserve it for all the work they've put in over the years.
“They're a great panel of players who aren't afraid of hard work and in that sense they're very easy to work with.
“The hard work was done in the first-half today when we battled extremely hard in containing Plunkett's and we were good enough in the second half to reap the rewards of our hard work and push on for the win,” he added.
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