Early goals pave the way for St Vincent’s past Ballyboden St Enda’s

St Vincent's 4-12 Ballyboden St Enda's 0-15: First-half goals by Diarmuid Connolly, Ciaran Dorney and Kevin Bonnie helped St Vincent's comfortably account for Ballyboden St Enda's by nine points in their Dublin SFC semi-final at Parnell Park.

St Vincent’s made the brighter start and took a dramatic early lead when Connolly raced onto Tomás Quinn’s measured pass before unleashing a sublime rising shot past the helpless Darragh Walsh from 14 yards.

Some of the foot passing from St Vincent's was a joy to behold in the early stages and they gained further reward for their efforts through well-taken points from play by Quinn and Gavin Burke.

St Enda’s gradually began to exert themselves on the contest and a brace of Andrew Kerin frees added to by Donagh McCabe’s superb solo score ensured Ballyboden trailed by just a point at the end of the first quarter.

However, all their previous good work was undone as St Vincent’s grabbed a second goal in the 17th minute with Quinn once again the provider as he outpaced Mark O’Sullivan before supplying Dorney for a facile palmed goal.

Ballyboden responded admirably to that setback and two superb Kenny Naughton points reduced their arrears while the roving Stephen O'Connor added a fine point as St Enda's enjoyed a n advantage in terms of possession.

Their defensive solidity was still in question however and a well-timed Connolly pass released corner-back Bonnie who fired a composed finish beyond the badly-exposed Walsh in the 27th minute.

A fourth goal arrived for St Vincent’s within four minutes of the restart as Quinn timed his pass to perfection when finding Connolly who nonchalantly beat Walsh from ten yards.

ST VINCENT'S: M Savage; K Bonnie (1-0), J Curley, H Gill; C Diamond (0-1), G Brennan, M Concarr; D Murphy, M Loftus; G Burke (0-2), D Connolly (2-2), S Carthy (0-2); R Treanor, C Dorney (1-1), T Quinn (0-4, 0-1 free). Subs: B Egan for Curley (30 mins), K Golden for Loftus (37 mins), A Baxter for Burke (56 mins), L Bree for Concarr (57 mins), R Pocock for Dorney (60 mins).
BALLYBODEN ST ENDA'S: D Walsh; P O'Brien, R McDaid, M O'Sullivan; S O'Connor (0-1), S Hiney, D Manley; M Macauley, D O'Mahony; D O'Reilly, R Basquel, D McCabe (0-1); K Naughton (0-3), C Keaney, A Kerin (0-10, 0-9 frees). Subs: C Gibbons for Manley (36 mins), A Flood for Basquel (52 mins), S Durkin for O'Sullivan (56 mins), S Gibbons for McCabe (59 mins).
Referee: Darragh Sheppard (St Peregrine's).