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Fulham Irish hold off fierce St Kiernan's fightback to claim London crown
11 November 2023; Niall O'Leary of Fulham Irish during the AIB Connacht GAA Football Senior Club Championship quarter-final match between Ballina Stephenites, Mayo, and Fulham Irish, London, at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park in Castlebar, Mayo. Photo by
Niall O'Leary scored a crucial goal for Fulham Irish

Fulham Irish 1-10 St Kiernan's 1-08

Fulham Irish earned a fifth-ever London SFC title after holding off a fierce St Kiernan's fightback on a 1-10 to 1-08 scoreline at Ruislip.

Played in awful conditions, even if the English capital avoided a weather warning from Storm Boelo, the central London side appeared to have the job all but done 10 minutes into the second half as they led 1-10 to 0-00 at McGovern Park.

Managed by former player Hurl Dockry, Alan Kelleher, Cormac Duffy and Con Gordon, Fulham were three points up inside 10 minutes - midfielder Sean Hawkshaw with a fine score in the middle of that run as he stepped inside and curled over.

The one-way traffic continued to the break as Fulham Irish went in seven points up, and when they tagged on a further 1-03 without replay at the start of the second half it seemed more a question of whether or not their opponents would trouble the scoreboard.

Niall O'Leary was the goalscorer for the champions, his low finish coming after a fine team move with Sean Caffrey at the heart of it.

But from there, not only did St Kiernan's trouble the scoreboard, they absolutely dominated the final 20 minutes as the game turned on its head.

Kerry's Ruairi Burns got them off the mark in the 44th minute and this was quickly followed by a goal from Sean Tucker.

Sean Rock then raised an orange flag and kicked a pair of frees, either side of a Tucker point, to leave it 1-10 to 1-06.

Matthew McCormack followed it up with another two-pointer to bring the gap back to just two points with five minutes remaining.

However, they were unable to add to their tally as Fulham Irish just held on to win their first title since 2023.

Watch Cuala v Kilmacud Crokes in the Dublin Hurling Championship final from 7pm on Saturday on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player

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