Parnells 2-16
Round Towers 1-7
FOR 27 minutes this Danny Sullivan London SFC clash was moving along at a nice clip, but two Parnells goals inside 90 seconds decided the issue.
Round Towers, who had contributed handsomely to a lively start, couldn't recover meaning Parnells closed out the deal with the minimum of fuss after half-time.
It hadn't been that easy initially because a purposeful Towers burst had yielded five points in a row midway through the opening period. That spell demonstrated what they could do, but Parnells just had a more liberal sprinkling of class which they used wisely, especially in the closing stages.
Seamus Stenson was a key figure throughout for Parnells nailing two early points which signalled their intent. Towers, though, were gutsy for a while with Michael McGrath and Michael Dineen to the fore.
Having accumulated a 0-5 to 0-2 advantage Towers were gaining confidence, but Stenson, Niall Corkery, and Eanna Flaherty ensured Parnells remained very much in the hunt. Parnells were trailing by 0-6 to 0-5 as the interval approached when Evan Byrne was fouled in the square.
Stenson's conversion of the penalty was immaculate and a minute later Graham Glynn buried a goal following excellent approach play by Martin Carroll and Richie Dempsey. Suddenly Parnells’ interval cushion was 2-5 to 0-6 – Towers craved scores after the restart.
But Parnells restricted them impressively dictating the pace and pattern of the game; Flaherty clipped a string of delightful scores, while Corkery and Carroll's influence was significant at centrefield.
Evan Byrne, Stephen Devine, Glynn, and Flaherty stretched Parnells' lead to 2-9 to 0-6 before McGrath terminated a 25 minute search for a Towers score.
By now Flaherty was in the groove and Parnells' dominant midfield ensured the talented attacker was being fed plenty of possession. McGrath pinched a goal for Towers in the 46th minute, but it didn't matter hugely as six more points from Parnells followed on a satisfactory and encouraging afternoon for them.
Scorers for Parnells: S Stenson 1-4 (1-0 pen), E Flaherty 0-6, G Glynn 1-1, N Corkery 0-2, S Tierney 0-1, E Byrne 0-1, S Devine 0-1.
Scorers for Round Towers: M McGrath 1-2 (1f), C de Burca 0-2, M Dineen 0-2 (1f) L Mulgrew 0-1.
Parnells: K Noonan; R Corrigan, S O'Keefe, K Culhane; S Tierney, L Magee, R Dempsey; N Corkery, M Carroll; S Stenson, J Regan, S Devine; E Flaherty, G Glynn, E Byrne.
Round Towers: T Fitzgerald; T Kelly, P Gallagher, E O'Connor; C Dunne, R Gormley, O Bonner; C Daly, P O'Donoghue; C Ruane, M McGrath, L Mulgrew; M Dineen, C de Burca, S McMahon.
Referee: D Flanagan.
