McArdle is spot on for Syls

A GAVIN McARDLE penalty deep into injury time proved critical as St Sylvester's pipped Ballymun Kickhams by 1-12 to 0-14 in their eagerly-contested St Vincent de Paul Cup Final at St Clare's, DCU on Saturday afternoon.

With five minutes of added time having elapsed, Miceál McCarthy was impeded close to goal and McArdle stepped up to plant his shot beyond Seán Currie for the game's solitary and ultimately decisive goal.

By winning, the Malahide men repeated their AFL1 semi-final win over the county champions and Saturday's match mirrored the tightness of the league encounter with both sides enjoying sporadic periods of control. Kickhams played with the benefit of the elements in the first-half and led by 0-7 to 0-5 at the interval with the impressive Jason Whelan, Kevin Leahy and Dean Rock all finding the scoresheet.

Ballymun continued to impress after the break with Rock kicking two glorious points into the breeze but Sylvester's refused to buckle with Fionn Carney, Dave Galvin, John Coughlan and the lively Gary Sweeney all to the fore.

Rock struck the upright with a 53rd minute penalty and Syls took full advantage to reduce their deficit through scores from McCarthy, Nigel Dunne and Mark Brennan before McArdle's late intervention brought the cup back to Malahide.