Dessie Farrell brought the curtain down on his illustrious playing career by helping his club Na Fianna stave off relegation from the senior ranks last night. The GPA chief executive, who made his senior club debut in 1988, scored two points and set up a first half goal for Tomas Brady as the Mobhi Road side overcame St. Mark's of Tallaght at Ballymun Kickhams to retain their top-flight status. Farrell also won two frees which were converted by another former Dublin star, Senan Connell. While Na Fianna prevailed in the end, it did not look too promising for them early on when Dublin hurling star David O'Callaghan caused their defence all sorts of problems with his darting runs. However, the introduction of Jude O'Sullivan at midfield brought the northsiders back into it and the sides went into the break level on 1-6 each with John Kelly scoring the St. Mark's goal in the 29th minute. It remained close until six minutes from time when Brady grabbed his second goal to push Na Fianna into a 2-12 to 2-6 lead, and there was no way back for St. Mark's after that. Tweet

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