Cuala 0-14; Kilmacud Crokes 1-10
If you had told the proverbial man and his dog before this Dublin SF final that Kilmacud would hold Cuala talisman Con O’Callaghan to a mere point tin this south Dublin derby clash, then the only expectant outcome would have been a fourth win on the trot for the holders.
That is precisely what happened, points wise — and the six-time All-Ireland winner seeing red as well in injury time. Yet Cuala overcame such setbacks to claim their first ever Dublin senior football title at Parnell Park on Sunday.
In the club's hour of need, we got just what the doctor ordered as medical professional and veteran Dubs defender Mick Fitzsimons was the star of the show, scoring two huge first-half points as he drove the Dalkey-based club to a historic victory.
Mind you, it seemed that their efforts were about to unfurl late in the game as O’Callaghan saw red on the cusp of the hour while Crokes stunned their opponents with a late Luke Ward goal, thanks to great ground work from Paul Mannion, to level the game at 1-9 to 0-12.
These are typical scenes when Crokes, often playing below themselves, come late to plunder the spoils but on this occasion, their determined neighbors refused to accept the script and instead wrote their own dramatic denouement.
Almost five minutes beyond the hour and deep into injury time, they won a free from an awkward angle and against the wind and not unexpectedly Luke Keating's effort fell short but luckily wing-back Eoin Kennedy was in the right place at the right time to fist over the decisive score.
Scorers – Cuala: L Keating (0-2f), C Doran 0-3 each; M Fitzsimons 0-2; E Kennedy, P Ó Cofaigh Byrne, P Duffy, N O’Callaghan, C McMorrow, C O’Callaghan 0-1 each. Kilmacud Crokes: P Mannion 0-4 (0-1f, 0-1m); S Walsh 0-3 (0-1f); L Ward 1-0; C Dias, D Mullin, H Kenny 0-1 each.
Cuala: R Scollard; D Conroy, M Fitzsimons, E O’Callaghan; E Kennedy, C McMorrow, D O’Dowd; P Ó Cofaigh Byrne, P Duffy; C Dunne, C O’Callaghan, C Doran; L Keating, N O’Callaghan, C Ó Giolláin. Subs: C Groarke for Ó Giolláin (43), C Mulally for Dunne (48), M Conroy for D Conroy (56).
Kilmacud Crokes: D Burns; M Mullin, T Clancy, D O’Brien; M O’Leary, A McGowan, J Murphy; B Shovlin, R O’Carroll; H Kenny, C Dias, D Mullin; P Mannion, P O’Connor, S Walsh. Subs: C O’Connor for O’Leary (43), T Fox for Kenny (45), L Ward for Murphy (53), S Cunningham for O’Connor (61).
Ref: S McCarthy (St Vincent’s).
.St Loman's, Mullingar 1-15 The Downs 2-12
St Loman's won 3-0 on penalties after extra-time
From the time Shane Dempsey drilled home his side’s only goal of the game after seven minutes, St Loman’s always appeared slightly the more lightly to go on and win this keenly contested replay at Cusack Park, Mullingar on Saturday.
They led by that same goal 1-5 to 0-5 at the interval but lost their way in the second-half where the Downs made up the ground by scoring 1-5 to the holders 0-5, ensuring a 1-10 all draw at the long whistle, though the challengers had two efforts which just fell short in the dying moments.
Extra time saw the excitement increase as firstly the Saints prodded over two points before they were rocked by an Ian Martin goal which gave his side the slight edge.
St Loman's were leading by 1-12 to 1-10 when Ian Martin found the net to nudge his team ahead eight minutes into the first period of extra-time.
The Downs kept their noses in front on the changeover with Kelvin Reilly and sub Matty Cunningham swapping points to leave the scoreboard delicately poised at 2-11 to 1-13 for the Downs. John Heslin leveled before Niall Mitchell likewise converted a free before Ronan O’Toole floated over the equalizer to bring the game to penalties.
The Downs unraveled in the spot kick series with three shots saved while Heslin, Sam McCartan and O’Toole all hit the back of the net to secure their eighth title in the past dozen years.
