Tom Lahiff in action for St Jude’s Photo by Moran Photography
St Jude’s happy enough with win
ST JUDE’S kicked off their Senior Football Championship with a win against St Sylvester’s last weekend in Balgriffin.
The game was certainly a tight affair being level at halftime but Jude’s would do just enough in the second half to establish a slim but firm lead, eventually winning the game by three points courtesy of a 0-24 to a 1-18 scoreline.
Manager Lar Wall spoke about his side’s performance.
“We were happy enough I suppose with our first half performance.
‘We were playing against the wind and it was 0-12 to 0-12, so we had done quite well, with the exception of conceding five two-pointers so we were a bit passive in defence in the first half, wouldn’t have been entirely happy with that.
‘But our attack was quite good and we were dominating the breaking ball, by and large in the first half and that gave us a platform for more attacks and we certainly were quite efficient.”
The second half would actually begin in the favour of Sylvester’s with them beginning to win more of the midfield battles and become more efficient in their attacks, slowly but surely Sylvester’s began to establish momentum and Jude’s would come out on top thanks to a late rally towards the end of the game.
Availing of some two pointers Jude’s put themselves into a strong position heading into the game against Kilmacud Crokes set to take place on Friday, August 22 in Parnell Park with an 8.30pm throw-in.
Darragh Rooney had an excellent game being Jude’s main attacking threat throughout the match, contributing with two pointers and regular scores.
Tom Lahiff impressed in midfield. The Intercounty player was pivotal in allowing Jude’s to survive that second half when Sylvester’s came into the game.
Wall spoke about the goals that the team had and the approach Jude’s took to preparing.
“Everyone has a goal of winning a county final but it’s really short-term with us.
‘It’s really looking at one performance to the next and seeing if we can bring the learning from one game to the next.
‘Keep going after stuff and keep improving in all aspects that we’re playing. Ultimately you’ve a lot of good teams in Senior 1 and on any given day will overturn the opposition and that’s just the way it is.”
“A big part of it is your focus. The team that gets their energy and aggressiveness and all those things right will have such an impact on the result and the game itself.
‘If you get that part right you have a chance but if you don’t get it up to scratch you can be turned over by anyone. We’re very focused on getting that part right and then trying to work on our game then as well.”
