Last Sunday saw two big championship knockout games played side by side in Marlay in front of a big crowd .

The semi final saw us pitched against St Pats of Donabate  on a damp but lush Marlay pitch. 

The first 10 minutes saw both sides slow to settle ,with numerous wides . Indeed  the best chance feel to us ,when a goal opportunity was cleared off the line. The first score ,a long range free by John Clair arrived in the 12th minute which was quickly followed by an equaliser. Immediately after Pats got their first goal. We turned over Pats on our own 20 metre line but instead of playing it into space we got turned over . Pats moved the ball quickly and fisted to the net, despite Peter O Curry’s  best effort. We hit back with 3 long range frees from John Clair to bring the score level after 25 mins. We then got fully into our stride . Jack Kennelly playing at centre back made a great run through the middle of the Pats defence and a layoff to Eoghan Seoige saw Seoige been pulled down for a penalty. The penalty taken by Johnny Quirke was well saved by the keeper but Joey followed up on the rebound to finish to the net. With strong running by the forwards we were forcing Pats into conceding frees which John Clair converted. Joey Quirke scored a great point off his left before we got our second goal. Shane Mc Cann showed that he has not lost his touch for scoring spectacular goals ,when he lobbed the keeper from the Pats  20 metre line. So we went in 9 points up at half time ,having scored 2-6 in the second quarter.

We got the first score of the second half when John Clair worked hard to get a lay off to Eoghan Seoighe for a point. Pats got 3 of the next 4 points to leave 8 in it on the 40th minutes. We were moving the ball very well ,which included a beautiful bit of play by Jack Long ,saw him do everything right except beat the keeper. Our third goal came when a shot for a point by John Clair came off the crossbar but Joey Quirke finished the ball to the net. We followed up a point , when Andrew O Reilly delivered a quality pass to John Clair to  score from a tight angle. Against the run of play, Pats got their second  goal ,when their forward was left standing unmarked in our goalmouth . We responded well again when Jack Kennelly laid off to Joey Quirke to score a point. On the 45th minute we were still 10 points up. Pats had a short period of dominance when they kicked 2 points and brought off a great save from Peter O Curry. However we finished strong with points from Sam Tully, Cian Barry ,reflecting the strength of our bench and Eoghan Seoige. Final score BSJ 3-15 St Pats 2-7. 

A comprehensive win with all players including subs contributing to the performance. Best for BSJ was Peter O Curry , very stable in goal , Finn Nolan at corner back, Jack Kenneally was a leader at centre back as well as making good attacking runs, Dara Kennedy at mid field, Andrew O Reilly still only U18 and starting to make an impact at adult level, Joey Quirke after a slow start ended up with 2-3 and Jack Long working hard at corner forward. MOTM goes to John Clair, who when we struggled in the first half , kicked some great points from frees and continued to do so in the second half with scorers also from play. 

So we head off To Ballgriffen on Sunday 20th for the final against Fingallians at 11. We look forward to the occasion and wish management and players the best of luck. 

Our Junior A team met Naomh Mearnog in the QTR Final of the Junior 2 Championship

Mearnog started the stronger and kicked the first couple of points before we got on the scoreboard, but as the half wore on we got a bit of a foothold in the game and reduced the deficit with points from David Quinn, Lughaidh Lynch and Michael De Faoite. Injuries had a serious impact on the team and we lost, Oscar Cronin, Matthew Priestly and Ronan Birmingham in the first half. We did manage to get the final few scores of the half and went in at half time one point in arrears on a scoreline of 5 points to 4,

Johns started the second half strongly and soon levelled the match with points from Mark Erdis and Connor Browne , and over the next 20 minutes the teams traded points leaving the game level going into the last 10 minutes. We were enjoying lots of possession but were finding it hard to turn this into scores and far too often we got turned over, having worked hard to win possession. Naomh Mearnog kicked 2 scores in a row to gain a 2 point lead in the last 5 minutes. We continued to put up a strong fight but when a high ball into the box was not dealt with, Mearnog got the goal that ensured they ran out winners on the day. Final Score BSJ 0-10 Naomh Mearnog 1-13. 

Best for BSJ were Gavin Fahy, Joe Wolfe, Danny Fanning, Michael De Faoite and Matthew Naughton. It was a great effort by the lads and the injuries on the day really hampered us. It has been a good year for the team and if we can get a better conversion rate for the chances we create ,we can make great progress next season . We finished in fourth in Div 8, three points off a promotion spot. When we reflect back on the games we were in a strong position for example against Parnells and Erin go Breagh and lost there is no doubt that we can get that promotion next year. Many of the players were playing in their first year of Adult football and that experience will bring them on. 

Well done to all the players ,and to the management team of Conor , Frankie and Ronan for their efforts during the year .

The QTR Final has been confirmed for the 20th October with a 3 PM throw in, in Marlay Park with our neighbours Wanderers providing the opposition