August 10, 2025
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Our Senior Men opened their Championship campaign in Balgriffin with a gripping clash against St Judes — and for long spells, it looked like Syls might pull off am opening win.
The first half was a high-quality shootout, with both sides trading scores at pace. By the 10-minute mark it was 0-5 apiece, and at 25 minutes still deadlocked at 0-9 each. With the wind at our backs, Syls racked up five of our six match 2-pointers in that opening period — a vital weapon in keeping level with the sharpshooting Judes attack.
Half-time arrived with the scoreboard locked at 0-12 to 0-12.
The second half started perfectly for Syls. Just a minute after the restart, Ed Stenson struck for our only goal — following up after his initial shot came back off the post — to put us two points ahead and send the blue-and-green support into full voice.
Inside the last 10 mins, Sean Guiden’s 2-point free had us still two clear. Then Judes responded with a 2-pointer to level, but a Syls point from play nudged us back in front by one.
Then came the decisive swing — Judes landed back-to-back 2-point frees before adding another long-range 2-pointer to move four ahead. Sean Guiden’s free in injury time cut the gap to two, and deep into stoppage time Rory Guiden’s 2-point effort to level just dropped agonisingly short. Judes broke upfield to tag on the final point with just about the last kick of thrilling game, sealing a 0-24 to 1-18 win.
Judes’ shooting efficiency was remarkable — 21 scores from just 26 shots, including 6/7 frees, and a second half where they landed 0-12 from 10 attempts on target (three of them 2-pointers). Leitrim forward Darragh Rooney was in sublime form for Judes, finishing with an unconfirmed but estimated 0-16 (0-8 from play).
So given these stats this was a massive effort from Syls, full of hard work, ambition, skill, and grit and really deserved more from the game. It sets a strong tone for the rest of the campaign — plenty to build on, and the belief that we can compete strongly in this championship.
Syls Scorers:
Sean Guiden 0-9 (2 F2, 2 F1, 1 2P)
Alex Wright 0-3 (1 F2)
Ed Stenson 1-0
Rory Guiden 0-2 (1 2P)
Jack Boyne 0-2 (1 2P)
Paidi White 0-1
Ben Gaynor 0-1
💙💚 Well done lads – the battle has just begun. #SylsAbú #OneClubYourClub #SylsChampionship
(Thanks to statman Paul O'Meara for providing key stats)
The first half was a high-quality shootout, with both sides trading scores at pace. By the 10-minute mark it was 0-5 apiece, and at 25 minutes still deadlocked at 0-9 each. With the wind at our backs, Syls racked up five of our six match 2-pointers in that opening period — a vital weapon in keeping level with the sharpshooting Judes attack.
Half-time arrived with the scoreboard locked at 0-12 to 0-12.
The second half started perfectly for Syls. Just a minute after the restart, Ed Stenson struck for our only goal — following up after his initial shot came back off the post — to put us two points ahead and send the blue-and-green support into full voice.
Inside the last 10 mins, Sean Guiden’s 2-point free had us still two clear. Then Judes responded with a 2-pointer to level, but a Syls point from play nudged us back in front by one.
Then came the decisive swing — Judes landed back-to-back 2-point frees before adding another long-range 2-pointer to move four ahead. Sean Guiden’s free in injury time cut the gap to two, and deep into stoppage time Rory Guiden’s 2-point effort to level just dropped agonisingly short. Judes broke upfield to tag on the final point with just about the last kick of thrilling game, sealing a 0-24 to 1-18 win.
Judes’ shooting efficiency was remarkable — 21 scores from just 26 shots, including 6/7 frees, and a second half where they landed 0-12 from 10 attempts on target (three of them 2-pointers). Leitrim forward Darragh Rooney was in sublime form for Judes, finishing with an unconfirmed but estimated 0-16 (0-8 from play).
So given these stats this was a massive effort from Syls, full of hard work, ambition, skill, and grit and really deserved more from the game. It sets a strong tone for the rest of the campaign — plenty to build on, and the belief that we can compete strongly in this championship.
Syls Scorers:
Sean Guiden 0-9 (2 F2, 2 F1, 1 2P)
Alex Wright 0-3 (1 F2)
Ed Stenson 1-0
Rory Guiden 0-2 (1 2P)
Jack Boyne 0-2 (1 2P)
Paidi White 0-1
Ben Gaynor 0-1
💙💚 Well done lads – the battle has just begun. #SylsAbú #OneClubYourClub #SylsChampionship
(Thanks to statman Paul O'Meara for providing key stats)
