Dublin Fire Department 1-18

FDNY 2-08

IN a very entertaining encounter, the Dublin Fire Department used a second half display when they outshot their hosts New York 1-9 to 0-4 to take the Lord Mayor's Cup on Saturday under a beautiful autumn sun. With conditions perfect, they overcame a slim deficit at the half and used impressive individual displays by Seanan Moylan and Alan Moore to secure the victory.

Dublin Fire Brigade jumped out into an 0-6 to 0-2 lead in the first 15 minutes of this entertaining contest as they used the efficiency of frees to easily get on top. New York did have a huge break to pull back into the game when a long ball into Barry Annette was secured by the full forward, but he was pulled down for a penalty by his marker before he could get a chance off. Aiden Dennis dispatched expertly to the top left corner of the net to pull the deficit back to one.

Moylan, the former Dublin player, continued the good form with a further brace for the travel team, with Lar Sweetman, who is presently on the Dublin hurling squad, a major force in the proceedings at this time.

Again, however, New York stormed back. Sean Carbin had a point from play before Brendan Murphy cantered in and took the wise decision of fisting over for a point.

Another long ball into the full forward area - this was working well for a ten minute period - was pulled down by Annette, and this time he was able to flick to Carbin. Carbin evaded two tackles and blasted to the net for a 2-4 to 0-9 point lead. It came seconds before the halftime buzzer to give renewed hope for the home side.

New York continued their resurgence with a point to open the second half from Mike Reilly when Carbin made a wise choice to give the ball to a better placed teammate.

Dublin, however, used sustained pressure in the next five minutes to put a pair of points on the board to level the game, and then jumped in front when Alan Regan took a pass in the middle and buried the ball low to the net.

The teams swapped points from frees, with Jerry O'Riordan tapping over from the sod while Moylan used the from the hand variety.

Dublin had settled to the task now, and they were making it increasingly hard for the FDNY to carry the ball out of the defense. The long ball that had been so successful to this point was now absent.

Wides from Carbin and Jerry O'Riordan showed commitment, but they needed more. When Moore, Paul O'Riordan and Moylan from a free cancelled out two points from Dennis Kiely and Carbin, the score was 1-17 to 2-8 with five minutes on the clock. It was left to man of the match Moore, however, to finish the scoring with a point on the run for the visitors.

Tadgh Fallon was on hand for the game as he continues his recovery from an accident last year. The former Dublin player and Robert Emmitt's clubman lost a leg in the accident, and it was fantastic to see him on the sidelines as a part of the selection team for the Dublin squad. Well done Tadgh.

Connie Ring, who is a nephew of the great Cork hurler, Derek Dowling, who played for Dublin seniors and Conor Keegan all excelled at the back. Jim King had a couple of brilliant runs at goal. Paul O'Riordan, who represented Wicklow, Lar Sweetman, and Seanan Moylan, who was clinical from frees and Alan Moore all did untold damage, particularly in the second half.

New York with Brian Quinn using his full bench constantly had stars in Dermot Hayes, John Walsh, who had a couple of patented for him towering catches in the middle of the park, Sean Carbin, Barry Annette and Mike Reilly.

FDNY: 1 John Joe O'Sullivan, 2 Jack Meaney, 3 Sean Fitzpatrick, 4 Pat Lenihan, 5 Bernie Madden, 6 Tom McHugh, 7 Dermot Hayes, 8 John Walsh, 9 Dave Daly, 10 Sean Carbin (1-2), 11 Dennis Kiely (0-1), 12 Mike Reilly (0-1), 13 Aiden Denis (1-0), 14 Barry Annette (0-1), 15 Jerry O'Riordan (0-2). Subs: Brendan Murphy (0-1), Billy Donaghue, Brian Kehoe, Sean White, Pat Lyons, Eddie Boles.

Dublin: 1 Donal Brennan, 2 Andy Callen, 3 Dermot Dowling, 4 Sean Leonard, 5 Connie Ring, 6 Conor Keegan, 7 Paul Donnelly, 8 Ciaran O'Keefe, 9 Jim King (0-1), 10 Paul O'Riordan (0-2), 11 Lar Sweetman, 12 Martin Troy, 13 Alan Moore (0-6), 14 Seanan Moylan (0-7), 15 Vinnie Carroll (0-2). Subs: Ger Ryan, Ger Coughlin, Dennis Finnerty, Ron Tulie, Alan Regan (1-0).

Referee: Tommy Fahey (Waterford),