Christy O'Connor: Sligo ecomony, Gunners fall short, Con and Burke the difference

Nobody saw this coming, especially after Padraig Pearses had taken Corofin apart in the Connacht quarter-final. It was ever harder again to envisage when the Roscommon side went five points up in the 38th minute. By that stage of the match, Coolera Strandhill had only managed seven shots at the target. But they’d nailed six of them. Their economy and accuracy had been devastating, especially in comparison to Pearses. So Coolera-Strandhill knew that if they could get off more shots that they could find a way back into the match.

That was the story of this game - and Coolera’s epic victory. Across the 80 plus minutes, their scoring efficiency was an incredible 77 per cent. Pearses meanwhile, had a scoring efficiency of just 44 per cent.

Coolera had a 100 per cent conversion rate in the first half but when the real heat came on, after going five points down, Coolera nailed 12 of their next 14 shots. Incredible.

The Sligo side knew they would have to produce something special to become the first Sligo club in 41 years to win a provincial title - and they found it. In their previous four matches, they’d only averaged 0.8.5 points, with one of those matches having gone to extra-time. Who saw them scoring 1-15 (albeit after extra-time) against a side that had held Corofin to 0-10?

Outside of the Coolera-Strandhill players and management – nobody.

Sars heroic – Ballygunner come up short of record 

Prior to yesterday’s Munster final, Ballygunner were odds-on favourites to emulate a feat only previously managed by three clubs in the provincial hurling championship - Ballyhale Shamrocks, Loughgiel Shamrocks and Dunloy Cuchullains - to win four-in-a-row.

There was no championship in 2020 but Ballyhale still won four Leinster titles in succession between 2018-’22. Loughgiel managed it between 2010-’13, while Dunloy were the first side to win four provincial hurling titles, between 2000-’03.

During Dunloy’s crusade, they beat six different clubs from three different counties, while Loughgiel sacked seven different clubs from the same three counties – Armagh, Derry and Down. Ballyhale beat 11 different clubs from seven different counties. Prior to yesterday, the Gunners had beaten eight different clubs from four different counties, but they had beaten three of them twice - Ballyea, Loughmore-Castleiney and Na Piarsaigh.

Ballygunner were heavily fancied to take down Sars for a second time too but, failing to do so, asks the question if any club in Munster will ever get the chance to win four-in-a-row again?

Cuala and Con class, Ardee agony 

In the 10th minute of Saturday night’s Leinster club football final, Cuala forced another turnover off an Ardee attack which resulted in another lightning Cuala counter-attack. Ardee got out of jail as Con O’Callaghan’s shot rattled the crossbar but O’Callaghan had been fouled in the build-up, which ended with a tap-over pointed free.

Although the match was still in its infancy, the pattern was already clearly set. Ardee were under pressure on their own kickout but Cuala were murdering them on turnovers, having mined their first three scores from that source.

When the Dublin side led by 1-5 to 0-0 at the end of the first quarter, this looked like being a rout but then Ardee found some rhtymn, and Cuala lost some of theirs, turning over the ball six times in the second quarter, which led to two Ardee scores.

Although they trailed by seven at the break, Ardee had finally generated some momentum and confidence, which they showed in the third quarter when converting five of seven shots, three of which they’d mined from Cuala turnovers.

After turing the game on its head in the fourth quarter with two quickfire goals, Ardee had the game in their grasp but Cuala just snatched it from them. Cuala were extremely thankful to Con O’Callaghan, who, as well as scoring 0-4 from play, had his fingerprints smeared across 1-9 of Cuala’s total of 1-14.

Ardee were heroic in the second half but they will be haunted by this defeat, not just because they didn’t play to their full potential until the last quarter, but because they just weren’t clinical enough throughout; their conversion rate from play was just 41 per cent. Over the 60 plus minutes, Ardee dropped seven shots short.

Agonising.

Burke proves to be the difference for Na Fianna 

When Niall Ó Ceallacháin was interviewed by Clara Hester on RTÉ after Saturday night’s Leinster hurling final, he said that his side were a better team than the one which lost last year’s decider to O’Loughlin Gaels by one point. That experience had really stood to this group, especially the composure they showed in the last quarter. But when Damian Lawlor asked Dublin hurler Chris Crummey what had made Na Fianna better, he distilled his answer into two words – Donal Burke.

When Burke had been interviewed by Hester moments earlier to receive his man-of-the-match award, he was visibly emotional, fighting back the tears as he described the feeling of having to sit out last year’s final with a serious injury.

With Colin Currie having taken over the freetaking duties, and with Burke only having scored 0-3 from play in his last three games, he outlined his disappointment with his performances in recent games. For a player of his class though, Croke Park offered the perfect stage for Burke to thrive – and he did.

Inside the first 16 minutes, Burke had sniped three points from five shots, while also having an assist. Although he only had one possession in close to 20 minutes in the second half, Burke finished the game really strongly, with two late points and an assist. From 15 possessions over the 60 plus minutes, Burke scored 0-7 from play and had a hand in 0-3.

Na Fianna are a better side than last year but there is one obvious difference – Donal Burke.