Na Fianna (Dublin) 0-17; Loughrea (Galway) 0-16
Semi-finals are there to be won, no matter what way it happens. Teams who win handsomely often put themselves at a psychological disadvantage for the final - but for sure that is one thing Na Fianna won’t have to worry about in the run up to next month’s showdown with Cork side Sarsfields following their less than emphatics one-point victory over Galway side Loughrea in Thurles on Sunday.
The Mobhi Road outfit were poor in the first half, so poor in fact that you wonder if they were freezing on the big occasion. What we saw on the changeover was a totally different outfit to the opening 30 minutes. Now instead of indecision and sloppiness, there was a determination and a conviction as the players went about their business.
Even so, it was no one way march to victory as Loughrea went stride for stride with the Dublin and Leinster champions until AJ Murphy broke their hearts four minutes into added time with the point which decided the issue - a bit like a snooker game it was the best to 33 and the men in primrose and blue had the one point extra at the sound of the long whistle.
The winning score though was a thing of beauty which reflected how Na Fianna have perfected their team play. Colin Currie sent a low ball down the wing where Ciaran Stacey took control and hand-passed with radar-like precision into the unmarked full forward who needed no second asking to split the post. Na Fianna fans went wild in the stand and who could blame them?
Remember they had failed to get their noses in front until three minutes before the hour chime of this game and even then had to show their mettle by going again once their game opposition found an equalizer.
It was a case of Currie powder keeping the team fed as Colin Currie was the team’s go-to man with 10 points to his credit on the day.
Newly appointed Dublin manager Niall Ó Ceallacháin will be a double agent for a few weeks more as he looks after the county players on one hand and seek to drive this excellent club group to ultimate glory against Sars on the other.
After three games in Leinster to Galway’s none in Connacht, you would have put your money on Na Fianna starting the sharper of the two outfits. If you did, you couldn’t have been more wrong as Tiernan and Cullen Killeen’s point came as soon as play commenced and it was 0-7 to 0-2 as they continued to outsmart their eastern based opponents.
With the aforementioned Currie and his brother Sean finding the range along with Brian Ryan and Donal Burke strangely quiet, the winners were lucky to be only four off the pace at the interval, 0-10 to 0-6.
The Westerners continued to find scores easier and when the Dublin outfit scuffed a goal chance, you again wondered if they would find their rhythm before it was too late. Even Colin Currie’s radar was off as he sent two free awry but then they began to get their act together.
The same Currie nailed a pair of free and when Ciarán Stacey struck for a point, the game changed complexion despite Ian Hanrahan’s point for Loughrea. Currie landed another brace but Stacey failed again with his second big goal chance of the afternoon.
This allowed their opponents to make statements with a point from sub Jamie Ryan and further scores from Anthony Burns and Tiernan Killeen though another two goal chances for the Dubs yielded only a point as Murphy volleyed over instead of into the back of the net.
Those goal chances, while not taken, gave Na Fianna a new belief and they dominated the closing stage with the same Currie scoring three points on the spin first to level and then to edge the North Dublin side in front.
Tiernan Killeen leveled matters with a free on the cusp of the hour mark for a fourth time. When the game was in the melting pot, the astuteness of Stacey saw him deliver a perfect pass and Murphy did the rest.
Na Fianna: J Tracey; S Burke, C McHugh, K Burke; P O’Dea, L Rushe, P Feeney; B Ryan (0-1), S Currie (0-2); J Meagher, D Burke, C Stacey (0-1); C Currie (0-10, 0-7f, 0-1 65), AJ Murphy (0-3), G King Subs: D Clerkin for King (25), T Brennan for Clerkin (47), S Barrett for O’Dea (57), D Ryan for Meagher (59, temporary).
Loughrea: G Loughnane; P Hoban, J Coen, K Hanrahan; S O’Brien, S Morgan (0-3f), B Keary; I Hanrahan (0-1), Cullen Killeen (0-1); Caimin Killeen, T Killeen (0-5, 0-3f), J Mooney (0-1); A Burns (0-2), N Keary, Darren Shaughnessy (0-2) Subs: J Ryan for Keary (40), Dylan Shaughnessy for Darren Shaughnessy (56), V Morgan for Caimin Killeen (57).
Ref: C Lyons (Cork).
