For the third consecutive season, the Brian Dillons Junior (A) Footballers have qualified for the semi-final of the City Division Junior (A) Football Championship, as a result of their, 0-11 to 1-5, victory over Bishopstown, which was played at Ballinlough on Tuesday evening, 30th July, 2013.

                        The Brian Dillons Manager, Kieran Hanley and his selectors, must be relieved with this victory, but, cannot be happy with the performance of the team as they had to endure some anxious moments in the closing stages as Bishopstown  came in search of the equalising goal, when, in truth, Brian Dillons should have been home and hosed at that stage.   It was yet another Jeykll and Hyde performance by the Brian Dillons team, where they completely dominated the opening half and were struggling for most of the second half.

                 Forced to make four changes in personnel from the previous Championship win over St. Michaels, Brian Dillons had Paul McCarthy, James Murphy, Darren McGrath and Dave O"Donoghue in for James Kirby (emigrated), Cillian Brosnan (serving a one match suspension), Martin Corbett and Philip O"Brien (both injured ).  Brian Dillons began brightly with midfielder, Darragh Brosnan pointing in the opening minute , which was followed by similar scores from John Horgan (free) and Tomas Lawrence which gave them a three point lead after seven minutes play. Completely dominating in all areas of the field, Brian Dillons drove forward in search of further scores and were most unlucky not to find the net on two occasions, when both Mark Buckley and Tomas Lawrence were through on goal only to see their shots beat the Bishopstown "keeper and come back off the upright.   Bishopstown opened their account when, in one of their rare attacks , they pointed in the eleventh minute. Worse was to follow for Brian Dillons, however, two minutes later, when sloppy defending allowed Bishopstown score a goal which, completely against the run of play, put them into a 1-1 to 0-3 lead. Brian Dillons quickly recovered their composure after this setback and continued to dominate for the remainder of the first half.  John Horgan brought the sides level with a fine point after fourteen minutes and further points flowed from Dave O"Donoghue (2) John Horgan (2, 1 free), and Shane Maher to put Brian Dillons comfortably ahead, 0-9 to 1-1, at the interval. Shortly before the half-time whistle, Brian Dillons were denied another goal when John Horgan was through one on one with the Bishopstown "keeper only to see his shot brilliantly saved by the goalkeeper at the expense of a "45.

                Leading by five points at the interval and should have been further ahead, Brian Dillons, were in a strong position after completely dominating the first half.  However, their overall performance dipped in the second half, which allowed Bishopstown back into the game.. Three points in the opening five minutes of the second half by Bishopstown left them only two points behind.... 1-4 to 0-9.  Brian Dillons were losing their grip on the game with misplaced passes and careless play which saw Bishopstown grow in confidence and put  the Dillons defence under tremendous pressure for long periods of the second-half. Dave O"Donoghue, who had a most impressive outing, had Brian Dillons first score of the second half when he pointed after eleven minutes and one minute later, Bishopstown scored again.... 0-10 to 1-5.

  In the fifteenth minute of the second- half, Dave O"Donoghue was again on the mark when he pointed to restore a three point lead for Brian Dillons.  Remarkably, this was to be the last score of the game as both sides were held scoreless for the final quarter. John Horgan spurned a great chance of a goal, with ten minutes remaining, when he attempted to lob the ball over the advancing Bishopstown "keeper, only to have the ball hit the upright, once again, and roll harmlessly wide.  At the other end of the field, Bishopstown, in search of an equalising goal, were foiled by a magnificent save by the Brian Dillons "keeper, Paul McCarthy, who, incidentally, had a fine outing in ,this, his first Junior (A) Championship outing. In the end, Brian Dillons held on for a 0-11 to 1-5 win and so, qualified for a tilt at Whites Cross in the semi-final.

               Scorers for Brian Dillons were; Dave O"Donoghue, 0-4; John Horgan, 0-4 (0-2 frees); Darragh Brosnan, Tomas Lawrence and Shane Maher, 0-1 each.  The Brian Dillons team lined out as follows; (1) Paul McCarthy; (2) Dylan O"Donoghue; (3) Edmund Hussey; (4) James Murphy; (5) Niall Fahy; (6) Cian McCarthy; (7) Michael Noonan; (8) Tomas Lawrence; (9) Darragh Brosnan; (10) Darren McGrath; (11)

Dave O"Donoghue; (12) Shane Maher; (13) Mark Buckley;(14) John Horgan; (15) Chris Daly; Subs; Dave O"Leary for Shane Maher (39 mins.) John Noonan for Darren McGrath (45 mins.); Mark Walsh for James Murphy (45 mins.) Darren McGrath for Dave O"Donoghue , injured,(55 mins.).