Ballyboden St Enda's (Dublin) 1-11

St. Loman's (Westmeath) 0-9

Sam Molony's first half goal helped Ballyboden St. Enda's qualify for their first Leinster club football final at the expense of St. Loman's at Cusack Park, Mullingar.

The sides had been level on 0-4 each before Molony's strike just before half-time gave the Dublin champions the edge, and they kept their opponents at arm's length thereafter to set up a final date with record Leinster winners Portlaoise in Tullamore on December 6.

John Heslin posted 0-7 for the home side in what was a stop-start and free-ridden affair, but 'Boden were better balanced and more efficient, and Loman's misery was compounded by the late dismissal of Offaly star Ken Casey on a straight red card.

Donegal goalkeeper Paul Durcan returned from his Qatar base for the game and made a crucial save to deny David Windsor a 23rd minute goal. That miss came back to haunt Luke Dempsey's men when Conal Keaney set up Molony for the only goal to give the visitors a 1-7 to 0-6 interval lead.

Referee Fergal Smyth awarded a massive 29 frees in a disappointing second half which began with Dublin hurler Keaney slotting over three close-in frees in as many minutes. Heslin (three) replied with scores for Loman's, but they couldn't find a way back and it was left to Michael Darragh Macauley to seal Ballyboden's win with a fisted point.

Ballyboden St Enda's - P Durcan; B Dwan, S Hiney, S Clayton; R McDaid, D Nelson, S O'Connor; D O'Mahoney, M D Macauley (0-1); C Basquel (0-1), D Davey, D O'Reilly; S Molony (1-1), C Keaney (0-4f), A Kerin (0-4, 3f). Subs: D McCabe for D Davey, S Durkin for B Dwan.

St. Loman's - J Daly; J O'Toole, N O'Toole, S Flynn; G Glennon, D Whelan, G Grehan; P Sharry (0-1), A Gaffney; D Windsor, J Heslin (0-7, 6f), K Lynam; S Dempsey, K Reilly, K Casey (0-1). Subs: C Reilly for D Windsor, C Kilmurray for N O'Toole, R O'Toole for K Lynam, G Hickey for S Dempsey.

Referee - F Smyth.

Tweet

Most Read Stories