Massive win for Minors footballers in Championship - Match Report

The sun shone brightly over Somerton on Sunday morning, a welcome break after a week of heavy rain and swirling winds, as Ballinteer St John’s and Castleknock met for the 2025 Minor B Football Championship Final. A strong crowd gathered on both sides of the pitch: the home support lining the north side, Ballinteer settling to the south. Referee Brian O’Brien confirmed his umpires, both captains, Castleknock’s Cillian Beere 10 and Ballinteer’s Mark Power 9 decided their ends, and the stage was set.

Castleknock opened the brighter. Within the first two minutes, their number 11, Cillian Breen, landed a superb two-point effort to ignite the home support. BSJ absorbed the early pressure but settled quickly, working the ball through controlled build-up play. Captain Mark Power curled a brilliant outside the boot point to get his side moving, followed by two well-struck scores from Billy McDonnell 14.

At 15 minutes, Harry O’Connell 13 split the posts with a free from outside the arc to give Ballinteer the lead: Castleknock 0-3, BSJ 0-5.

BSJ’s defensive structure was excellent throughout the opening half through Mark Cosgrove 6 and Peter Cullinan 2, compact, disciplined, and forcing Castleknock into low-percentage, long-range efforts. Conor Quin 10 added another from play before Castleknock responded with a two-pointer from Jack Reid 6 to keep them in touch.

 

But Ballinteer dominated the second quarter. Scores from Tommy Cullen 15, Tommy Dillon 8, Max Morrison 12, and another pair from McDonnell pushed BSJ firmly into control at the break:
 Castleknock 0-5, BSJ 0-12.

Castleknock, now playing into the car-park end, emerged determined after halftime. The opening minutes were cagey, both sides showing understandable respect given the stakes. In the 5th minute, Castleknock found the breakthrough they needed through Oran O’Connell 14 finishing clinically to cut the margin to five: CK 1-5, BSJ 0-13.

The third quarter became a balanced exchange. Castleknock added points through Jake O’Neill 7 and Glen Barker 13, while McDonnell continued his reliable form. Entering the final quarter, the score stood at CK 1-7, BSJ 0-15.

Then came the decisive moment. In the 18th minute of the second half, Tommy Cullen 15 broke through the Castleknock defence and palmed a vital goal, a superbly taken finish that stretched the Ballinteer lead beyond reach. BSJ closed out the game with further points from McDonnell and Cullen, sealing a composed and impressive victory.

Final Score:
Castleknock 1-7 — Ballinteer St John’s 1-17

➢ Billy McDonnell 0-8

➢ Tommy Cullen 1-3

➢ Mark Power 0-1

➢ Conor Quin 0-1

➢ Max Morrison 0-1

➢ Tommy Dillon 0-1

➢ Harry O’Connell 0-2 2 Point score

 

A powerful performance from a team whose season has been defined by growth. After a difficult league campaign marked by early losses, this young Ballinteer side found their rhythm as the year progressed, gelling, maturing, and building momentum. Topping their championship group, winning hard-fought knockout games against Naomh Olaf and Skerries Harps, and then producing a composed display in the final shows just how far they’ve come.

 

Management: Jack Lundy, Carl McDonnell, Paul McDonnell.
Players: Ronan Murray 1, Peter Cullinan 2, Tomás Taylor 3, Pearse Glendon 4, Charlie Reynolds 5, Mark Cosgrove 6, Alex Deally 7, Tommy Dillon 8, Mark Power 9, Conor Quinn 10, Donal O’Meara 11, Max Morrison 12, Harry O’Connell 13, Billy McDonnell 14, Tommy Cullen 15, Jack Kelly 16, Tadhg O’Shea 17, Ruadhan Kenealy 18, Oscar Palmer 19, Cillian Noonan 21, Mark Garry 22, Jack Glass 23, David O’Meara 24, Hugo Horan 25, Sean Regan 26, Andy McDonnell 27, Donal Clair 28, Teddy Quirke 30, Luke O’Rourke 31, Morgan Delicato 33, Tommy Dillon 34.

Management: Rónán Duffy.
Players: Daniel Fox 1, Eoin Casey 2, Fionn Duffy 3, Cillian O’Brien 4, Caoimhinn O’Neil 5, Jack Reid 6, Jake O’Neill 7, Luke Mulgrew 8, Tadhg Coyle 9, Cillian Beere 10, C, Cillian Breen 11, Lorcan Doyle 12, Glen Barker 13, Oran O’Connell 14, Cathal Boyle 15, Ben Finney 16, Tom Plunket 17, Conor McGarry 18, Daniel Brady 19, Lochlann Byrne 20, Cormac Seery 21, Jamie Brogan 22, Daniel Webb 23, Luke Ryan 24, Euan Roche 26, Christian Flood 29, Cillian McCabe.