It was do or die for the St Brendan’s Football 2nd XV, in partnership with Stoneybatter Pride of Place, if the team were to get into the knockout stages for the second consecutive time and thus, extend the season by two weeks.
St Sylvesters from Malahide were the visitors to Longmeadows this Sunday Afternoon in Round 3 of the Go Ahead Junior 5 All County Championship.
Before we see how the 2nds got on, here is a wrap up with the Ladies Football and Camogie sides.
The St Brendan’s Camogie team, sponsored by Comtech Engineering and Ryans of Camden Street were defeated by Setanta 3-10 to 6-6 in the third and final round of the Junior 3 Championship, The Dark Force Camogs have one more game to play in the 2025 season on October 5th away to Erins Isle on the Final of the Junior 3 Shield.
The St Brendan's Ladies Football 1st XV, Sponsored by McGowans brought the curtain down to their 2025 season on a disappointing note with defeat in the Semi Final of the Junior B Shield, 1-11 to 2-15 against Fingallians on September 10th.
With the 1st XV gone for the season, the 2nd XV bid to extend their season by two weeks and started the game positively when Conor ‘Doyle’ Hayden won a turnover after St Sylvester’s won the throw and played the ball to The Landlord Andy Moran to stormed through the defense for the first point of the afternoon.
But that was so good as it got for The Darkest Force as The Malahide outfit grabbed the contest by the scruff of the neck and hit 2-4 by the 12th minute, Moran scored point number 2 after a jersey tug on full forward Declan Grogan. Moran’s bid for a hat trick of points ended with a shot that went wide, but the referee gave an advantage for an earlier infringement, however, Dylan ‘Not The Galwayman’ McHugh saw his free in sail wide.
Dave McAllister was fully alert to avoid a third goal when a point blank save, another point blank save and then the Syl’s full forward blasted wide. St Brendan’s were guilty of putting guilt edged chances wide, Alan ‘Mack Hansen’ Pierce saw his shot sail wide at the last possible moment.
St Sylvester’s did manage to score a third goal to put the outcome beyond doubt before half time. St Brendan’s however, welcomed back Micheal ‘The DJ’ Cahill to the team and made his presence felt with his sides third point.
One more minute was played before the half time whistle and a 3-7 to 0-3 lead for the away side, whereas Half Time Entertainment was supplied by four dogs running around the pitch, unfortunately, they left unpleasant stuff behind them for the start of the second half.
The second half had more of an end of term vibe to it, St Sylvesters started the half with 2 singles, one from open play and the second from a free in. Moran however scored a 2 pointer, then a single to make it 3-9 to 0-5 as the sunshine was replaced with heavy showers.
St Sylvesters increased their tally to 4-15 whilst the heavens opened in abundance. Paddy McGuinn was black carded for reasons unknown to this writer and Moran would score a goal to put some respectability on the board as the showers was replaced with sunshine.
John Tuffy and Billy Kelly decided to put themselves on as substitutes and as Moran hit another point, Kelly supplied Tuffy with possession and showed his side how it's done with a 35 meter point.
And with that, that was that and the St Brendan’s Football 2nd XV, joined the 1sts on the Championship scrapheap for 2025, despite the disappointment of a premature end to the season, there is lots to build on for 2026.
Final Score from Longmeadows, St Sylvesters 4-18 St Brendan’s 1-9
