Cameron Diamond scored a 59th minute point for St Vincent's to dethrone Ballymun Kickhams in last night's Dublin Senior Football Championship Final Replay at Parnell Park. Vincent's bagged their first title since 2007, after Diamond's late point handed them the lead for the first time in this game. Tommy Conroy's men were forced to do it the hard way, with Kickhams powering to a 1-2 to 0-0 lead after just four minutes. Dean Rock was a doubt heading into this game after picking up an injury in the drawn encounter, but he certainly showed his brilliance, top-scoring with 1-5 over the course of the hour. Kickham's only goal came after just three minutes, with Rock cooly despatching a penalty kick, after Ted Furman had initially been subjected to a foot block by Vincent's keeper Michael Savage. Furman pushed Ballymun five points ahead, before Vincent's eventually got off the mark, thanks to a Diarmuid Connolly score. Vincent's dominated possession over the following 10 minutes, but struggled in front of the posts. The Marino men registered four wides in succession between the eighth and 13th minutes, before eventually coming unstuck with Ciaran Dorney bagging their only goal, after an assist from Tomás Quinn. A Quinn point tied the game in the 20th minute, but Ballymun stole a march before the break thanks to a trio of Rock points to ensure a 1-5 to 1-2 interval lead.
Ballymun moved four points clear inside 30 seconds of the restart, thanks to a Derek Byrne point but a brace of Quinn points brought his tally to three points although Rock pegged a point back for Kickhams. A fisted point from Liam O'Donovan handed Ballymun Kickhams a 1-8 to 1-5 lead with 14 minutes remaining, but they weren't to score over the remainder of the game. A brace of Quinn points cut the gap to the minimum, while Vincent's were really fired up when substitute Kevin Golden got their supporters to their feet, as he tied the game at 1-8 apiece with three and a half minutes of normal time remaining. Both sides were reduced to 14 men in the 53rd minute, with Diarmuid Connolly dismissed following an off the ball incident on Philly McMahon, with McMahon also headed for the sideline after his second yellow card. Conroy's charges had all the momentum when defender Cameron Diamond pushed the former All-Ireland champions ahead for the first time in the 59th minute. Next up for Vincent's is an AIB Leinster Club SFC quarterfinal against Westmeath champions St Loman's on Sunday at Cusack Park, Mullingar.
St. Vincents: Savage; M Concarr, J Curley, H Gill; C Diamond, G Brennan, B Egan; D Murphy, E Fennell; G Burke, D Connolly, S Carthy; R Trainor, C Dorney, T Quinn. Subs: K Golden for Murphy (40); A Baxter for Carthy (42); N Mullins for Dorney (55); R Pocock for Trainor (62).
Scorers for St. Vincents: T Quinn: (0-5, 4f); C Dorney 1-0; D Connolly 0-2; C Diamond, K Golden (1f) 0-1 each.
Ballymun Kickhams: S Currie; P McMahon, E Dolan, S George; A Hubbard, K Connolly, J Small; D Byrne, J McCarthy, E Reilly, A O'Brien, K Leahy; T Furman, D Rock, C Weir. Subs: D Byrne for O'Brien (23); M Brady for Leahy (59)
Scorers for Ballymun Kickhams: D Rock (1-5, 1-0pen, 4f); L O'Donovan, D Byrne 0-1 each.
