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League Title in Sight for Junior A Footballers as Intermediate Promotion is Guaranteed - Tue, 6 Nov 2007

St Brigids 2-12 Ballinteer St John 0-7

Little over ten months after suffering promotion play-off heartbreak, St Brigids Junior 1 footballers finally reached the promised land of Intermediate football after defeating third placed Ballinteer Saint Johns on Sunday morning. Even more remarkable, is that within the space of four years, the same group of players and management have hauled themselves up from AFL Division 8 to AFL Division 4, marking another astonishing landmark in St Brigids GAA club history.

Perhaps knowing that a second successive failed attempt at promotion would be too painful to take, the Castleknock outfit turned in a stunning second half performance, outscoring Ballinteer 2-05 to 0-3 to claim victory and with it promotion.

The game started off as a scrappy affair with both sides trading frees, leaving the scores level at 0-3 a piece after 15 minutes. But with the industrious wing forward pairing of Mark Kehir and Paddy McAvenue in fine form, Brigids soon edged ahead. In defence, Seamus 'Hands' Smyth was in inspired form and through his leaderships the Saints gave little away and went into the break the happier of the two sides, leading 0-4 to 0-6. The first goal in any game often proves deceive and it came the way of the Russell Park men within minutes on the restart.

Gordon Cribbons clever pass sent Paddy McAvenue through on goal and the young trainee Garda made no mistake, smashing the ball low into the bottom corner. Further points followed from the every reliable Paul Witty, who top scored with 0-8, while Willa Corbett swung over one of his customary long range scores to stretch Brigids lead to seven.

However, score of the day came courtesy of wing back Cian O'Sullivan, who after beating two defenders via a 30 yard run, had the composure to sell not one, but two dummies to the onrushing Ballinteer goalkeeper before nonchalantly sliding the ball into the empty net.

With promotion now assured, Brigids will claim the league title if they can overcome Kilmacud Crokes in their final league game in a fortnight's time. Regardless of the outcome, however, Noel Cassidy and his team know that their amazing adventure through the divisions of Dublin club football will continue at Intermediate level in February 2008.

St Brigids: Tomas Connolly, Tony Hughes, Seamus Smyth, Niall Ryan, Cian O'Sullivan (1-0). Allan Hughes, Eoin O'Sullivan. Kevin Bonfil, Dessie Carolan (0-1), Mark Kehir (0-1), Joe Cassidy, Paddy McAvenue (1-1), Paul Witty (0-8, 0-4 frees), Gordon Cribbon, Joe Toomey.

Subs: Willa Corbett (0-1) for Gordon Cribbon, Mossy Curran for Mark Kehir, Andrew Poole for Joe Toomey, Stephen Moore for Cian O'Sullivan

Half Time: St Brigids 0-6 Ballinteer 0-4

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