News Detail

Templeogue Synge Street 3-10

Crumlin 2-7

Tesco Junior E Championship final

On a night of firsts at Balreesk, Templeogue Synge Street claimed their maiden Dublin county championship title on Wednesday night in a topsy-turvy thriller against a Crumlin side who were playing in the first of two finals this week.

Leanne Dicker proved the heroine with an immense hat-trick on an evening when goal chances came thick and fast with both goalkeepers – Synger’s Gabrielle Ruane and Crumlin’s Stephanie O’Sullivan – pulled off a string of excellent saves.

It turned into a cracker in the second half after an initial period in which Templeogue looked likely to run out comprehensive victors, scoring 1-6 before Elaine Ryan finally got Crumlin on the board in the 28th minute.

But goals from Ciara Cullen reeled her side back into range with ten minutes remaining as Synger faced into a stiff second half breeze and could have made it yet more intriguing if either Nicola Johnson’s flashing shot or Elaine Buckley’s efforts had made it past Ruane. 

The line remained intact, though, allowing Dicker to close out the tie four minutes from time with her third goal to secure a memorable win.

Playing with the conditions, her side had begun like a house on fire, the graceful Kate O’Flaherty using her artful left foot to kick three successive points before Claire Doyle extended the margin.

It owed a lot to the speedy triangles being created in midfield through the likes of Aishling Dunne and Rachel Cleary whose quick hand-passing was a feature of the first half while Emma Hiney cleaned up everything at the back.

Dicker drove through for her first major in the 17th minute before O’Flaherty kicked a peach on the turn and Lucy O’Donovan caught another sweetly to make it 1-6 to no score after just 22 minutes and, with a series of wides also thrown in, it made for ominous signs.

But Crumlin gamefully fought back, eventually getting on the board after three waves of attacks with Elaine Ryan raiding from the back to garner the first score before Elaine Buckey played in the sprightly Mikeala Dunne to get a second on the stroke of half-time, 1-6 to 0-2 at the break.

And they carried that momentum through as Cullen began her scoring blitz with 1-1 inside a minute, her goal a top class, over the shoulder effort which saw the earlier margin reduced from nine to three in spectacular style.

Crumlin’s buzz was tamed briefly when Dicker emphatically raced through onto a one-on-one chance and banged home off the underside of the bar before Roisin O’Reilly drew the best of a series of O’Sullivan saves, getting an out-stretched toe to a corner-bound shot.

Elaine Buckley’s double saw Crumlin mount their second fightback, augmented by Cullen’s second goal as Catriona Fennelly and Buckley linked to pop the ball over the last defender to manufacture the opening.

Again the margin was down to three points and Crumlin were doing enough to create chances to snatch equal terms.

Their need to chase the game, though, had left space for Synger to attack and they snagged a couple of insurance points through Dicker and O’Flaherty for a 2-10 to 2-6 lead.

And the clincher came when O’Donovan and Dicker worked a super two-on-one move with the final defender with the latter coolly rolling home the goal.

Templeogue Synge Street: G Ruane, E Hiney, S Corbett, J Prendergast, A Hughes, A Dunne, S Gilroy, R Cleary, S Kavanagh, K O’Flaherty (0-4), C Doyle (0-1), R O’Reilly (0-1), C O’Flaherty (0-1), L Dicker (3-1), L O’Donovan (0-1)

Subs/panel: G O’Flynn, D Murray, A Scully, A Brew, L Hayes, F Murphy, J O’Dell, G Jones, J Mellotte, N O’Gara, P Murphy, H Crowe

Crumlin: S O’Sullivan, L Devlin, G Flynn, T O’Sullivan, S Howard, E Ryan (0-1), D Aspell, E Crosbie, C Knight, N Johnson, C Fennelly, M Dunne (0-1), A Buckley, E Buckley (0-2), C Cullen (2-3)

Subs: A McBride, Y Gallagher, J Browne, K Forde, L Devlin, M Madden, C O’Brien, Amy Kearns, Ashling Kearns, G Enright, M Ibrahim, H Swift, L Kelly, L McQuaid, N McKeon, D Cleary