The draw has taken place for the Under 21 A Football Championships 2025.
The first round or quarter-Finals will be played on Saturday - November 8th
A few good ties in there, our poll below seem to fancy Crokes mostly, then Boden and Lucan with Vincents not far behind then Na Fianna.
If that is in any way accurate (not a given!) we should see wins for Boden, Crokes, Na Fianna and Vincents - the last two could be close?
Our poll on who would win the u21 champsionship came back with:
More details to come, but for now ...
It was a comfortable home win at Páirc Uí Mhurchú as Ballyboden St Enda’s saw off St Sylvester’s by 2-16 to 0-11.
The hosts served early notice of their intent right from the off when Callum O’Dwyer rattled the net with a goal in their very first attack. Although Rory Guiden kept the visitors in the hunt with a brace of two-pointers, a cracking goal—again from O’Dwyer meant St Enda’s went in at the break with a significant lead of 2-5 to 0-4.
Ballyboden pushed on well after half-time thanks to the efforts of Fionn Keating, Evan Nugent, and Leon Murphy (0-2). O’Dwyer was truly lethal on the day, finishing up with a personal tally of 2-10, including three two-pointed frees.
Very good win for Judes over Na Fianna.
Ballinteer St John’s secured their place in the semi-finals after seeing off St Vincent’s with a final score of 1-15 to 0-13.
The home side, Vincent's, flew out of the traps and raced into an early five-point lead, with Michael O’Rowe doing the damage. But a couple of points each from Jack Long and Joey Quirke meant St John’s clawed their way back to leave the teams deadlocked at 0-10 apiece by the time they went in at the break.
Harry Curley continued to be effective for St Vincent’s, but a goal from Long handed the visitors the initiative. They held out with relative comfort in the end, with Cody Graham and Pat Coleman excellent up front for the winners.
What a result by Castleknock, taking out the favourites!
Castleknock are through to the last four after putting in an impressive performance to beat Kilmacud Crokes 2-13 to 0-17 down at Somerton Park.
Dylan Clarke was brilliant throughout for the home side, operating at half-forward. His tireless display was rightly rewarded with four crucial scores, while at the other end of the pitch, Michael Padden excelled at full-back.
The crucial goals came from Oisin Toland and Rueben Cahill. With Aaron Donnelly saving a Crokes penalty, Castleknock just edged home in the finish, thanks to influential showings from the likes of Cillian Clarke, Ben Foley, Conor O’Brien, and Michael Sweeney.
The competition is slightly disjointed now after the preliminary round, where Judes beat Na Fianna. Judes now progress to meet Lucan in the last Quarter Final. Whereas in the Semi-Final, Ballinteer St. John's meet Ballyboden St. Enda's.
Boden had a convincing win over Syls in the first round, and with Lucan, they are our joint second favourites for the title. Callum O'Dywer seems to be a real livewire of a forward.
Balinteer had a good win over Vincents and will not be overawed by their opposition in the semifinal, especially not at home in Marley Park.
Verdict - Southside Derby, so it should be a great game of football.
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Judes come into this on the back of their good prelim round win over Na Fianna, so they will be full of confidence.
Lucan are coming into this cold but seem to be rated by our voters, so it'll be interesting to see who comes out on top.
I think giant killers Castleknock await the winners of this in the Semi-Final.
Verdict - Judes have a game under their belts, so they will possibly be sharper than on undercooked Lucan?
Great result for BSJ -scored two goals in injury time - Troy Parrot Style stuff!
DCB Report says:
Ballinteer St John’s advanced to the final of the Go-Ahead Ireland Dublin Under 21 ‘A’ Football Championship when overcoming near neighbours Ballyboden St Enda’s by 2-14 to 2-13 on the all-weather pitch in Ballinteer Community School on Saturday afternoon.
The visitors looked well set for a comfortable win as Callum O’Dwyer’s goal pushed them nine points clear with ten minutes remaining but St John’s refused to accept their fate as they completed a stunning comeback.
A trio of Joey Quirke frees and an excellent Pat Coleman score brought the home deficit back to a more manageable five points and when Mark McNally was upended close to goal, John Clair converted the resultant penalty to add further momentum to the Ballinteer challenge.
A turnover at midfield allowed the hosts one final shot and while the two-point effort dropped short, a scramble on the line culminated in Jack Long flicking to the net for the game defining score.
It was a tough loss for the holders, given the dominance that they enjoyed for the large part through the individual displays of Evan Nugent, Oisín Byrne and Darragh Delaney.
The latter chipped in with 1-1 but his contribution and 1-4 from O’Dwyer and four Mark McGlynn points proved in vain against a home team best served on the day by Carl McDonnell, Coleman and Conor Quinn.
Dublin County Board Article here.
Took extra time to separate these two - great win for Judes to cap a good week for them underage this week.
It proved similarly thrilling at the 12th Lock as St Jude’s progressed to a semi-final meeting against Castleknock when edging Lucan Sarsfields by 2-18 to 2-14 after extra-time.
The hosts raced into an early four-point lead with Rian Doherty impressing from centre-forward and they entered the break leading by 0-8 to 0-6.
The initiative remained in Lucan’s favour in the second-half despite St Jude’s goalkeeper Joe Moore saving a Doherty penalty but a late 1-1 from Billy Shouldice saw the visitors force extra-time.
The Templeogue outfit began to take control of matters through the scores of James O’Loughlin and Shouldice while Sean Kirwan and Cian Langan impressed at the opposite end.
Both Oisín Costello and Eoghan Costello were hugely influential throughout as Paul Nolan confirmed their last-four berth with a second St Jude’s goal.
Dublin County Board Article here.
Semi-Final - 2PM - Saturday November 29th
Judes beat fancied Lucan team after extra time to make it to the Semi-Final against Castleknock.
Should be a good game in Somerton Park with the winner progressing to meet the surprise winners of the other semi-final between Balinteer v Boden, with Balinteer scoring two late goes to win the game, having been 9 pints down late on.
Result:
Judes are through to the final against Balinteer St.Johns with this narrow win over Castleknock.
More details to follow
TBC
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