Narrow Leinster final final win for Cuala over battling Ardee St Mary's

In doing so, they became the 11th team from the capital to taste provincial success but they were pushed all the way by an Ardee team that failed to truly ignite until the final quarter.

By that stage, St Mary’s trailed by six points but goals from influential substitute Ryan Rooney and Sean Callaghan inside sixty seconds turned the complexion of the encounter in an instant.

Cuala dug sufficiently deep into their reserves and managed to kick the crucial score as Luke Keating popped over a free two minutes into added time to secure his team’s victory.

Playing with the aid of a slight breeze blowing towards the Davin End, it was Cuala who dominated the early exchanges with scores from the evergreen Michael Fitzsimons and Niall O’Callaghan reflecting their initial control.

Matters could well have deteriorated further for St Mary’s in the 10th minute but Con O’Callaghan saw his rising shot cannon to safety off Tiernan Markey’s crossbar, albeit he gained some consolation as he converted a free from a foul in the build-up.

His second point arrived in an instant following a Keating pass and while the Ardee defence lived a precarious existence at times, they were eventually punished at the end of the first quarter as Con O’Callaghan and Conor O’Brien combined for the latter to fire clinically beyond Markey from ten yards.

Cuala were driving forward in droves at this juncture as Con O’Callaghan converted his second free and a facile point from Keating left the Dalkey side nine points to the good by the 21st minute.

St Mary’s were unfortunate with a couple of attempts that drifted narrowly wide but they finally opened their account through a well-taken free by Ciarán Keenan in the 22nd minute.

That score had a settling effect on Ardee as they added two further points from placed balls via Jonathan Commins and Markey as they enjoyed their most productive spell of the half.

In contrast, Cuala were struggling in their decision making as they spurned a number of presentable chances but an Eoin Kennedy point in added time pushed them seven points clear by half-time.

The contest resumed with O’Brien curling an excellent score within thirty seconds of the restart but St Mary’s struck back immediately with their first score from play by Commins.

Neither side could establish any degree of ascendancy as Commins and Tadgh McDonnell added to the Ardee account but Cuala continued to keep them at arm’s length through points at the opposite end from Charlie McMorrow and Con O’Callaghan.

St Mary’s were indebted to Markey in the 40th minute as he denied Keating with a brave block from close range and they gained momentum from that intervention through successive points from Keenan and Dáire McConnon.

An error from Cuala goalkeeper Ryan Scollard allowed Rooney to pounce in the 49th minute and a minute later, Scollard could not be faulted on this occasion as Callaghan angled a low shot into the bottom corner from eight yards.

A grandstand finish ensued with Rooney adding a brace of points to augment scores by Cal Doran and Keating (free) and it was the latter that sealed a famous victory for Cuala when converting a 62nd minute free.

Scorers for Cuala: C O’Brien 1-1; C O’Callaghan 0-4 (2f); L Keating 0-3 (2f); N O’Callaghan 0-2; M Fitzsimons, E Kennedy, C McMorrow, C Doran 0-1 apiece.

Scorers for Ardee St Mary’s: R Rooney 1-2; C Keenan 0-3 (3f); S Callaghan 1-0; J Commins 0-2 (1f); T Markey (f), T McDonnell, D McConnon 0-1 apiece.

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’Brien, C Doran; L Keating, C O’Callaghan, N O’Callaghan. Subs: C Ó Giolláin for Dunne (38), M Conroy for D Conroy (43), C Groarke for O’Brien (44), S Mangan for O’Dowd (57).

Ardee St Mary’s: T Markey; K Moran, D McKenny, E Keenan; K Faulkner, T McDonnell, P McKenny; S Callaghan, RJ Callaghan; L Jackson, J Commins, S Matthews; C Keenan, D McConnon, T Jackson. Subs: R Rooney for Moran (43), R Carroll for Matthews (43), C Gillespie for Commins (53), R Leavy for RJ Callaghan (58).

Referee: Seamus Mulhare (Laois).