[caption id="attachment_68170" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Coolderry's Cathal Parlon, right, and Keith Rossiter of Oulart-the-Ballagh reach for the sliotar during the Leinster club final."]
OFFALY'S Coolderry proved yet again that nothing can be taken for granted in sport when they upset Oulart-The-Ballagh from Wexford to claim the Leinster Club Senior Hurling Championship title.
Complete outsiders prior to the start of the competition, Coolderry were deserved 1-15 to 1-11 winners in Sunday's final at Nowlan Park. Not many had seen it coming, least of all perhaps Oulart-The-Ballagh.
While the victory is a marvelous win for a club like Coolderry and in general for Offaly hurling, it is yet another massive disappointment for the Wexford champions. Oulart have now lost two Leinster deciders in a row, both coming within the current calendar year.
The reason is that the 2010 final against Kilkenny's O'Loughlin Gaels had to be delayed until January because of the bad weather. This time around, Oulart had already seen off the current Kilkenny champions James Stephens, so they had every reason to hope for that overdue title.
It would have been a fitting tribute to their manager Liam Dunne before he moves on to take over the Wexford job. Maybe though they underestimated Coolderry. Certainly, the Offaly champions felt that the media didn't give them due recognition in the lead-up to Sunday's encounter.
Yet, Coolderry had decisively beaten the highly rated Dublin champions Ballyboden St Endas at Parnell Park in the semi-final. Some felt that Ballyboden didn't do themselves justice but the truth was that Coolderry were too good.
They were also, it has to be admitted, too good for Oulart-The-Ballagh. Sadly, for the Wexford outfit they simply weren't accurate enough, hitting 14 wides compared to just five for their opponents.
All had seemed well when Oulart raced into a 0-3 to 0-1 early lead. But their lack of shooting accuracy meant that they were 0-6 to 0-5 adrift at the interval.
Coolderry knew they were in with a real chance. Although Oulart equalized just after the break, Coolderry were to take control with a 1-2 blitz.
Cathal Parlon showed good opportunism to get the goal, while Barry Teehan and Brian Carroll added points. It was the beginning of the end for Oulart.
By the time the game entered the final 10 minutes, Coolderry were 1-15 to 0-11 clear. Oulart, to the credit, battled until the end with Paul Roche pulled back a goal but they just couldn't manage another score.
Parlon (1-3) and Damien Murray (0-6, four from frees) finished as joint top scorers, with Brian Carroll contributing 0-3. Afterwards Coolderry manager Ken Hogan explained that
the fact so many had dismissed their chances added to their hunger.
"When you're written off like we were, it gives you great incentive." stressed Hogan. "That wouldn't have been enough on its own, but these lads are great competitors and they showed it again today."
Liam Dunne took the defeat on the chin, stating: "It's bitterly disappointing but I'd have to say on the day that Coolderry deserved to win. We didn't take our chances but there's good character in our squad and I've no doubt we will be back."
Coolderry will now face Connacht champions Gort in the All-Ireland semi-final in February. But Ulster champions Loughgiel Shamrocks dot not yet know whoc their will face in the other semi-final.
That's because Sunday's Munster final at Semple Stadium between Crusheen from Clare and Limerick's Na Piarsaigh finished in a draw. Either side could have won.
Crusheen must have though that they were on their way to a historic victory when they led by 0-11 to 1-4 early in the second half. Na Piarsiagh weren't hurling well in the muddy November conditions but they did have an inspirational figure in the 18-year-old Shane Dowling.
Dowling contributed 1-7 but, in the dramatic closing stages, appeared to go for a goal when a point seemed the better option. Either way, neither he nor No Piarsaigh were complaining.
"It was a tough physical game with a lot of hard hitting and I think a draw was a fair result." admitted Dowling. The real problem for Na Piarsiagh was that they depended too much on Dowling.
"We know that at least half of our forward line didn't perform to the best of their ability. Then again, you perform as well as you are let and Crusheen are a fair oufit," stated Na Piarsaigh manager Sean Stack.
Exactly right. The Clare oufit had the better of it for long stages, leading 0-9 to 1-3 at half-time. Full-forward Gerard O'Grady's power caused Na Piarsaigh big problems with his ability to bring others into play.
That lead was extended to 0-11 to 1-4 before Na Piarsiagh, inspired by Dowling, finally got their act together. So much so, that Crusheen had to rely on a late free from Pat Vaughan to draw level and earn a replay which will take place at Semple Stadium next Sunday.
Crossmaglen win another title
VERY little changes on the Ulster Club Senior Football Championship scene. Yet again, Crossmaglen Rangers have emerged as the champions after beating Burren from Down by 2-11 to 0-10 in Sunday's final.
The victory at the Athletic Grounds in Armagh was quite comfortable, although Burren weren't helped by the red card shown to midfielder Anton McArdle within the opening 15 minutes. Whatever chance they had, McArdle's dismissal put an end ot it.
Crossmaglen were collecting their fifth Ulster title in six years and their ninth in all. And Oisin McConville's presence has been central to that success..
The 36-year-old McConville showed that he can still deliver as he struck home the important first goal before eventually finishing with 1-2. Obviously, Burren's chances were dealt a major blow with the sending off but even at that early stage Crossmaglen had looked the more potent outfit.
They had made an impressive start and, once McConville banged home their first goal, the task was always going to be too great for the Down champions. To be fair, Burren's 14 men battled really well, with Donal O'Hare keeping the scoreboard ticking over to be only 1-7 to 0-5 down at the interval.
They also made Crossmaglen work hard in the second half but inevitably the defending champions got the goal through substitute Kyle Carragher that made victory absolutely certain.
McConville paid tribute to joint team managers Tony McEntee and Gareth O'Neill. "They have turned the whole thing around and taken things up a notch over the last few years. The younger players have stood up like men," he said.
Crossmaglen will now face the winners of next weekend's Munster final between Dr Crokes and UCC in February's All-Ireland semi-final. If Connacht champions St Brigid's from Roscommon can overcome Fulham in next Sunday's quarter-final, they will face the Leinster title-holders in the last four.
But the Leinster Championship is still only at the semi-final stage with St Brigid's from Dublin taking on Portlaoise (Laois) and Athy (Kildare) facing Garrycastle (Westmeath).
Staunton is the hero
CORA STAUNTON scored 1-9 to help Carnacon from Mayo beating Dublin's Na Fianna by 2-12 to 2-4 in the All-Ireland Women's Football Club final.
Staunton was magnificent in helping the Mayo outfit take control from an early stage. The led 1-7 to 0-2 at the interval and always looked capable of keeping Na Fianna at bay.
Under-strength Leinster, Munster win by big margins
LEINSTER and Munster continue to stay second and third respectively in the Rabo Direct Pro 12 League following weekend victories.
The Leinster team traveled to Italy to beat Treviso 30-12, while Munster had even more to spare when they got the better of Edinburgh 34-17 at Thomond Park. Both of the Irish sides fielded understrength line-ups.
That's what made the wins noteworthy. In Leinster's case, Eoin O'Malley added to his reputation in the centre by scoring another try, with wing Fionn Carr and No. 8 Leo Auva'a also getting over for tries.
Given that Treviso beat Leinster 29-13 in last year's corresponding fixture, coach Joe Schmidt was well pleased. He said: "Eoin O'Malley did really well for his try, he showed great awareness to spot the gap and great acceleration to get through. Ian Madigan (out-half) is another player who is growing all the time."
Leinster only trail leaders the Ospreys on points difference while Munster are three points further adrift. They did, however, do their chances of catching the two leaders a lot of good by scoring four tries to collect a bonus point against Edinburgh.
Wings Simon Zebo and Luke O'Dea got two of them, centre Danny Barnes another and the other was a penalty try. Forwards coach Anthony Foley paid tribute to the emerging talent, commenting: "There's an amazing talent out there and sometimes we overlook it."
Unfortunately, things didn't work out quite so well for Ulster and Connacht. Ulster went down 17-9 to Glasgow in Glasgow, only managing three penalties from Ian Humphreys, while Connacht were beaten 17-6 at home by leaders the Ospreys.
Sadly, this was their seventh defeat in row in all competitions after a very promising start to the season.
Dublin's Sweeney takes cross-country title
JOE SWEENEY from the Dundrum club in Dublin displayed his considerable potential by retaining the Irish Inter-County cross-country championship in Sligo on Sunday.
The tall 26-year-old made light of the difficult muddy conditions on the Sligo racecourse to win by 46 seconds from Andrew Ledwith of Meath. He will now lead the Irish team in the European Championships in Slovenia on Sunday week.
The women's title went to Sara Louise Tracey from Meath.
Egan gets gold after beating Brazilian
ON the amateur boxing front, Kenny Egan and Con Sheehan to claimed gold in the Olympic Test Event finals in London.
Light-heavyweight Egan had to come from behind to beat Brazilian Yamaguchi Florentino. The Olympic silver medalist trailed 7-3 before hitting back to win 22-20.
Sheehan had thing much easier against Evgenious Lazaridis of Greece at super-heavyweight. The Tipperary man won 16-4.
