Slaughtneil (Derry) 2-19;
Portaferry (Down) 1-19
For once let us forget about the epics of Munster and Leinster hurling - instead dwell on Ulster hurling which has served us up some of the most scintillating hurling action in the Ulster club championship these past six weeks.
We had it in the semi-finals and on Sunday we had it in a final that possessed passion and poise, scores and saves, excitement and drama which saw the pendulum swing one way thanks to the Down side’s great start and then the other as the Derry boys came back from eight points down to win an absolute thriller at the Box-It Athletic Grounds.
Portaferry's pace and sharp, short interpass saw them control the tempo of the first half in which they rang the Slaughtneil lads ragged at times.
How could Portaferry be beaten, you asked at the interval? The answer came, as it often does - Goals.
Se McGuigan and Shea Cassidy lashed home two green flags and suddenly a one-way game was balanced on a knife-edge.
In fairness, Portaferry didn’t give up the ghost once they suffered those two sucker punches. Instead they got back up, cleared their heads and shot a goal of their own through sub Cathal Coleman to reaffirm their desire to be kingpins.
However the goals had done something to the Derry psyche and they began shooting out the lights with points from every angle - including two magnificent long range efforts from Ruairi Ó Mianain, with Jack Cassidy, Brendan Rogers and Cormac O’Doherty also on target.
Slaught now go forward where they will lock horns with shock Munster winners Sarsfields of Cork, who caused the hurling shock of the day by beating Ballgunner of Waterford, who were seeking their fourth provincial titles in a row.
Slaughtneil: O O’Doherty; F McEldowney, P McNeill, C McAllister; R Ó Mianain (0-3); C Coyle, Shane McGuigan (0-3); J Cassidy (0-3), M McGrath; M McGuigan, Se McGuigan (1-1), C O’Doherty (0-7 0-6f, 0-1 65); E Cassidy, B Rogers (0-2), S Cassidy (1-0) Sub: G Bradley for S Cassidy (46).
Portaferry: P Smyth; D Mallon, T Murray, R Smyth; B Trainor, C Taggart, C Milligan; M Conlan (0-3), S Conlan; N Fitzsimmons (0-2), F Turpin (0-2), E Sands (0-1); D Sands (0-2), T McGrattan (0-9, 0-6f, 0-2 ’65) N Milligan Subs: C Savage for C Milligan (49), C Coleman (1-0) for N Milligan (49), C Fay for Fitzsimmons (52), P Doran for Trainor (58)
Ref: C Cunning (Antrim).
Sarsfields (Cork) 3-20; Ballygunner (Waterford) 2-19
No one, least of all Ballygunner, saw this coming.
After hammering the same opposition by 17-points at the quarter-final stages last year, everyone assumed that the Waterford superpower would again prove too strong as they sought to complete a provincial four-in-a-row.
From the off, Sarsfields went about their task with deadly intent and racked up the first four scores before the Deise man got going.
Then Jack O’Connor shot a goal to keep the momentum going and even when the Gunners came back to level, the Cork boys kicked on to lead by three points again at the interval.
In some ways, it was a game the Cork reps had to keep giving to get enough space to go down the final straight ahead of their esteemed opponents.
Ultimately it was Shane O’Regan who became the Sars hero when he shot no less than 2-3 in the 15 minutes he was on the field to leave Ballygunner with no way back, despite the fact that they tried everything they knew to get their noses in front.
In a game in which they were almost always in the lead except when pulled back to level pegging, it was his arrival which proved a bridge too far for their opponents. It helps too when those two goals came in the last five minutes, allowing them to become the first Rebel winners since the great Newtownshandrum team of 2009.
In an endearing aside, it was great to see the Sarsfields squad delight in bringing the Billy O'Neill Cup, dedicated to the club’s founder, bring home the vessel to Riverstown for the first time in its history, with Conor O’Sullivan lifting the trophy as captain.
Sars will now advance to face the Ulster champions Slaughtneil in the All-Ireland semi-final.
Sarsfields: B Graham; P Leopold, C O’Sullivan, E Murphy; B Murphy (0-1), C Roche, L Elliott (0-2); Colm McCarthy (0-1), Cathal McCarthy (0-1); D Kearney (0-4), D Hogan (0-5, 0-3f), C Darcy (0-1); J O’Connor (1-2), J Sweeney, A Myers Subs: S O’Regan (2-3) for Myers (45), K Murphy for Colm McCarthy (50), E O’Sullivan for Sweeney (59), C Leahy for Kearney (60+2).
Ballygunner: S O’Keeffe; T Foley, B Coughlan, I Kenny; H Ruddle, Philip Mahony, R Power; C Sheahan (0-1), P Leavey (0-1); M Mahony, Pauric Mahony (1-8, 1-7f), P Hogan; K Mahony (0-1), D Hutchinson (1-2), P Fitzgerald (0-5) Subs: C Power (0-1) for Hogan (45), S O’Sullivan for Power (54), C Tobin for M Mahony (58), A O’Neill for Foley (60), S Harney for Coughlan (60+1).
Ref: J Murphy (Limerick).
Na Fianna (Dublin) 2-22; Kilcormac/Killoughey (Offaly) 2-16
What about that for a Dublin double! Just a few hours after Cuala had become the first Dublin club to win provincial senior titles in hurling and football, Na Fianna replicated that feat by beating Offaly champions Kilcormac-Killoughey at Croke Park on Saturday evening.
They had a much less frantic ending to their game than their southside fellow Dubliners, though credit a young KK side for fighting back to within a point in the second half only for an AJ Murphy goal in the 41st minute to seal the issue.
For a moment a surprise had seemed on the cards when burly Conor Mahon got in for a goal in the 39th minute. However they couldn’t keep the pace up and once Murphy struck, it was like a dagger to the heart of the Offaly boys who never really got a look in after that.
Na Fianna came out of the block flying, determined to make up for their one point reverse at this same stage to Kilkenny champions O’Loughlin Gaels last year.
They dominated and with man of the match and skipper Donal Burke running riot with outrageous scores from play and backed up by Colin Currie with 0-8 points mostly from frees, KK were nearly always on the back foot and working hard merely to stay in touch.
The victory means they will take on Galway champions Loughrea on the weekend of Dec 14-15 in the All Ireland semi-final and allow manager Niall Ó Ceallachain, more hours double jobbing as he is also due to take over the Dublin SH manager’s job this month.
The Mobhi Road outfit dominated the first half and in many ways should have been further ahead than the 1-12 to 0-8 half-time score, their goal a magnificent individual effort by Sean Currie three minutes from the break.
KK knew they had to up their game and to their credit they did thanks to the orchestration of Adam Screeney, who ended the game with 1-8 to his personal credit.
Himself, Conor Mahon and keeper Conor Slevin all landed early second half scores to leave the score 1-13 to 0-11. Screeny added a point as the Faithful County representatives showed great spirit. Mahon’s goal reduced the deficit to 1-16 to 1-15 and the game was in the melting pot.
But true to their experience and nous, that was as near as the Dublin side allowed the challenge to get as Murphy broke Offaly hearts with his well taken goal.
Leigh Kavanagh could have ended the game as a contest but his rasping efforts came back off the crossbar in the 45th minute.
Still the men in primrose and blue had their dander up and had pushed their lead out to seven before Screeney got in for a late goal which added respectability to the scoreboard but didn’t affect the trend of the game;
Cuala (Dublin) 1-14; Ardee St Mary's (Louth) 2-10
Yes, it was nice to reflect on becoming the first ever Dublin club to win senior Leinster titles in both hurling and football at the end of this game but it was more a feeling of relief than elation for the Cuala players and management when the final whistle sounded at Croke Park on Saturday evening.
Leading by 1-7 to 0-3 at half-time, they looked to be well on their way to victory but had to withstand a great second-half rally from St Mary’s before being crowned champions.
And they can thank veteran Luke Keating for holding his nerve to kick the winning free from35 yards out - a score which broke Louth hearts after they produced some great football to force their way to parity coming down the home straight.
Cuala, whose hurlers won back-to-back Leinster titles in ‘16 and ‘17, could boast that Dublin football star Con O’Callaghan was involved then as he was again on Saturday.
They had set their stamp on the game and were comfortable into the last 12 minutes when the Wee County representatives struck for two goals in as many minutes, thanks to super sub Ryan Rooney and Sean Callaghan which drew them level.
Crucially both Mary’s and Cuala missed easy frees before Keating, now 35, showed nerves of steel to slot over the winning score after the legendary Mick Fitzsimons, up from his defensive duties, was fouled in possession beyond the half-forward line.
Cuala now face surprise Connacht champions Coolera/Strandhill (Sligo) in the first week of January after the Sligo time pulled through in extra-time… They came back from a five point deficit to shock the Rossies who had won the title two years ago.
Cotter key as Kilmacud
best Castleisland women
Kilmacud Crokes (Dublin) 5-11; Castleisland Desmonds Kerry 1-5
Kilmacud may have exited on the men’s front but the ladies at the famed southside club kept the flag flying with an emphatic 18-point win over Kerry holders Castleisland Desmonds at Pairc de Burca on Saturday.
Player of the match Niamh Cotter led from the front and her 2-4 was enough in itself to beat the Munster champs on the day.
On a day when it rained down goals Amy Conroy, Michelle Davoren and Mia Jennings were also amongst the plunderers of green flags. This win buried the memories of two failed semi-final battles and they will now face Kilkerrin-Clonberne in this year’s final at Croke Park on Saturday week (December 14).
Home advantage allowed the Crokes’ girls to hit the ground running and they were five points up after Amy Conroy pounced for the side’s first goal to go with Lauren Magee’s point. When Julia Curtin rifled home for a goal by the visitors with only 10 minutes gone on the watch, it looked like a real war of attrition was in the offing
This threw down the gauntlet to Castleisland – who were captained by former Ireland women’s rugby international Ciara O’Sullivan (née Griffin) – but the Kerry outfit finally came to life when full-forward Julia Curtin fired home an excellent goal on 10 minutes.
Some special home scores, among them points from Grace Kós and Cotter (two) saw Crokes lead by 1-6 to 1-2 at the break and while the Kerry girls came out fighting with a point from Andrea Murphy, it was from then on that the homesters started to find their true form.
It began with a penalty which Cotter slotted home perfectly and with Conroy and Cotter also adding points, daylights was appearing between the sides.
This was augmented when the irrepressible Cotter popped up again to shoot her second goal… and put the game to bed with an 11 point lead.
There was more to come as Michelle Davoren and Jennings turned the screw with further goals in the 48th and 51st minutes.
Lorraine Scanlon and Eilis Lynch shot good points for the losers but Kilmacud showed no mercy as Cotter (who else) and the imperious Magee brought the curtain down on an emphatic display with fine scores.
GAA Results
Ulster SH Club final
Slaughtneil (Derry) 2-19; Portaferry (Down) 1-19
Munster SH Club Final
Sarsfields (Cork) 3-20; Ballygunner (Waterford) 2-19
Leinster SH Club final
Na Fianna (Dublin) 2-22; Kilcormac/Killoughey (Offaly) 2-16
Leinster SF Club final
Cuala (Dublin) 1-14; Ardee St Mary's (Louth) 2-10
Connacht SF Club final
Coolera-Strandhill (Sligo) 1-15; Padraig Pearses (Roscommon) 1-14
(after extra-time)
