Na Fianna edge Loughrea to become second ever Dublin side to reach All-Ireland Club hurling final
With Niall O Final Sutton Celebrates Ceallacháin’s Pic: ó Manager ©inpho/ken Countdown: Tracey Ceallacháin Na Jonathan Cathal Fianna's Nephew
It doesn’t matter for how long you lead or by how much. All that matters is when you lead. Every other match detail is secondary.
Na Fianna, in becoming only the second ever Dublin side to reach the All-Ireland Club hurling final, led this semi-final clash on only two occasions. The first came as late as the 57th minute. The second came in the fourth and final minute of second-half injury-time.
Na Fianna had been gathering and growing for the entire second half. They eventually got there. They’ll meet fellow first-time finalists Sars of Cork in a novel decider.
Trailing 0-11 to 0-6 two minutes into the second period, the fourth such time they trailed by that margin, Na Fianna thrice came within the minimum without ever going a step further and equalising.
Parity was eventually and inevitably restored on 55 minutes. It was the first time since the 11th minute they were level. It was Colin Currie who struck the equaliser. It was Currie who struck them in front immediately after following a foul on his namesake Seán.
After Colin and his team endured such a difficult opening half, Currie flourished upon the restart. He accounted for eight of his team's second half 0-11.
Tiernan Killeen punished a foul on sub Vince Morgan to bring Loughrea level as the hour mark approached. The board went up for four minutes.
There was to be only one score in those four allotted minutes. It came 18 seconds from the end of those four allotted minutes.
A darting Ciarán Stacey run drew defenders and opened doors. He offloaded to the unmarked AJ Murphy. The winner ensued.
Loughrea were afforded one attempt at forcing extra-time. They couldn’t manufacture another equaliser. Stunned, they collapsed at the suddenness of the Na Fianna overtaking manoeuvre, even if their opponents had spent much of the second half with their right indicator on and the intention clear.
The Loughrea lead was four-strong at the break. It wasn’t nothing. But they’ll have known they were worth more than a four-point advantage.
Thrice they led by five. There were opportunities to make that six and seven. What they didn’t know at half-time was whether those squandered opportunities would come back to bite them. The answer is they did.
The interval wide count, of seven to five, wasn’t massively titled in Loughrea’s favour. Their respective wides fell into different categories, though. Na Fianna, such was the tenacity of Loughrea’s tracking and tackling, were forced to shoot from suburban positions out on either sideline. Loughrea spent more time in the centre of Thurles.
After a lifting Shane Morgan free put Loughrea 0-9 to 0-4 in front on 27 minutes, the white flag stemming from a superb Morgan dispossession of Ciarán Stacey, the Galway champions tallied back-to-back wides. Both were gimmes. Tiernan Killeen and Darren Shaughnessy were disgusted with themselves.
Brian Ryan and Na Fianna took the let offs, went down the field, and brought the margin back to four. It was only their third from play of a half closing in on the 30-minute mark.
As the latter scoring stat would scream and suggest, Na Fianna were unable to find rhythm or fluency. They were unable to get key men on the sliotar.
Donal Burke was a first-half spectator at Semple Stadium. He had only one shot in the opening 33 minutes. Moved into full-forward in the second, his impact mushroomed. From play, former Galway defender Paul Hoban was carrying out an effective shadowing job on freetaker Colin Currie. The latter similarly mushroomed after the restart.
The Loughrea freetaker, the aforementioned Tieran Killeen, injected an air of excitement and potential into Loughrea attacks every time he came onto possession at No.11. The corner-forward pair of Anthony Burns and Darren Shaughnessy performed similar roles further in. The pair contributed three from play in the opening half.
They had dealt themselves the better first-half hand. How they put their cards on the table after that was Loughrea’s issue.
Na Fianna’s second half hand was the winning one. Only the second club finalists from Dublin. Now, can they emulate Cuala and become only the second club champions from the capital.
C Currie (0-10, 0-7 frees, 0-1 65); AJ Murphy (0-3); S Currie (0-2); C Stacey, D Burke (0-1 each).
T Killeen (0-5, 0-3 frees); S Morgan (0-3, 0-3 frees); A Burns, Darren Shaughnessy (0-2 each); I Hanrahan, Cullen Killeen, J Mooney, J Ryan (0-1 each).
J Tracey; S Burke, K Burke, C McHugh; P O’Dea, L Rushe, P Feeney; B Ryan, S Currie; J Meagher, D Burke, C Stacey; G King, AJ Murphy, C Currie.
D Clerkin for King (25 mins); T Brennan for Clerkin (47); S Barrett for O’Dea (56); D Ryan for Meagher (58, temporary).
G Loughnane; P Hoban, J Coen, K Hanrahan; S O’Brien, S Morgan, B Keary; I Hanrahan, Cullen Killeen; Caimin Killeen, T Killeen, J Mooney; A Burns, N Keary, D Shaughnessy.
J Ryan for N Keary (39); Dylan Shaughnessy for Darren Shaughnessy (55); V Morgan for Caimin Killeen (56).
C Lyons (Cork).