Ranelagh Gaels take on St Josephs on Sunday morning in their 3rd league match of the campaign. Two points are vital to keep their Division 8 ambitions on track.

The Gaels sit on 2 points in the Division 8 table with a win and a defeat recorded so far. The league is the prime focus this year after the recent Championship exit.

A midweek challenge match (report below) at Synge Street got the week off to a winning start and the Gaels will be looking to keep that up on Sunday. The game throws in at 11.00 at the Fairview Park.

Gaels vs Synge Street
Ranelagh Gaels prepared for their vital weekend league clash with a victory in a challenge match at Templeogue Synge Street on Tuesday evening.

The weather at times resembled Monsoon season as opposed to a summers evening, resulting in testing conditions for both sides.

The Gaels got off to the perfect start with a goal from Conor Harnett but the hosts took the initiative and were the better team throughout the first half. Goals win matches though and two more followed for Ranelagh, courtesy of full-forward Tiernan McNamara.  Micheal at centre-back was seeing a lot of the ball and Barry made many of his customary driving runs from the 40.

It was five scores a piece at the break but the goals left the visitors four points to the good, 3-2 to 1-4.

A deluge of rain made second half conditions tough for the players but with the driving wind at their backs the Gaels held the upper hand; in fact Synge Street only managed a goal in the entire second period.

Brian Regan and Conor drove forward from midfield and scoring chances were plentiful. There was potential for a big score to be racked up but poor decision making up front left the scoreboard moving along rather slowly. The direct approach wasn’t being taken with responsibility being passed from one player to the other and chances being passed up. Alan Kelly showed the way, scoring a fine effort off his left after entering as a substitute.

Templeogue heads dropped in the final quarter and couldn’t cope with the running game of the opposition. Denis Doolan, continuing his comeback from injury, gave a stirring display at corner back; he had an abundance of pace beside him in the full-back line courtesy of Tadhg and Corky.

So at the end it finished Ranelagh Gaels 4-7 Templeogue Synge Street 2-4 and its back to the league this Sunday at St Josephs.