WHO WILL STOP THEM?
Cuala are on another level as Faithful men find going too much
EACH time Con O’Callaghan lines out reminds of the famous Mike Tyson quote: ‘Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth’.
It’s fine thinking of ways and means of stopping the hottest property in Dublin GAA right now, but actually doing that is another matter entirely.
Part of the problem in a onesided Leinster hurling final is that the Offaly champions didn’t seem to have any discernible plan.
The All-Ireland champions were smart enough to figure that out straight away, hence the air of inevitability when the dual star skipped through to find the net in the 12th minute and put Cuala 1-3 to no score ahead, ruling out any chance of an upset.
Sean Moran — immense in a dominant half-back line — angled a free into the corner where the mis-match between O’Callaghan and Ger Healion was shown for what it was in terms of pace.
With no covering sweeper, the 21-yearold just turned the full-back, cut inside from a tight angle and rifled a shot that goalkeeper Conor Slevin did well to half block but just didn’t get enough on it to stop the sliotar squirting over the line.
Cuala’s set-up is an open secret but their opponents looked to be seeing it for the first time as the holders ran the ball in electric fashion from that mid- dle third where they pull in bodies and are so slick and well-drilled in possession.
When O’Callaghan pointed for the second time from play it was 1-8 to no score with just 17 minutes gone, Cuala well on their way to an All-Ireland semi-final against Liam Mellows on February 10.
O’Callaghan’s year might never be repeated by another player. All-Ireland medals for his club Cuala and for Dublin’s U21 and senior footballers is a staggering achievement by itself — that’s before the personal honours of an All Star and Young Footballer of the Year.
And yet this victory wasn’t really about ‘King Con’, more about another landmark day for Cuala who became the first Dublin club to win two Leinster titles, let alone put them back-to-back. In doing so, they join an exclusive club: Ballyhale Shamrocks in 2008, ’09; James Stephens 2004, ’05; Birr 2001, ’02 and Rathnure 1986, ’87.
There was a machine-like efficiency to their game as they scored 1-23, that 26-point total exactly matching their tallies in the semifinal and quarter-final against St Martin’s of Wexford (3-17) and Dicksboro of Kilkenny (2-20).
Cuala’s pace and athleticism all over the field left a nervous Kilcormac-Killoughey chasing shadows from the start.
Dropping four across the halfforward line, and leaving O’Callaghan up top in a two-man inside line, they were finding runners in space at their ease, with Colm Cronin a rampaging presence.
The Offaly side had one brief spell to cheer. It took almost 25 minutes before Conor Slevin registered his team’s first score, from a free, when Conor Mahon was fouled. Almost immediately, Peter Geraghty floated a ball to the edge of the square where the bustling, physical figure of Mahon was grappling with full-back Cian O’Callaghan. The ball broke and the Kilcormac-Killoughey player was quickest to get to it, pulling one-handed to the net from close range.
At 1-8 to 1-1, whatever brief mood of optimism there was amongst the team’s support was soon quelled. David Treacy popped over a free and when Healion was blocked down in possession, the ball was turned over, and Colm Cronin went galloping on to it, this time splitting the posts from a tight angle on the left, already his third from play.
Mahon was the only one carrying any real threat for the underdogs, and was again fouled close to goal, allowing Slevin to score from the free.
But the half would end on a sour personal note for Mahon when he was red-carded by referee Sean Cleere as Oisin Gough was left down in a heap as Cuala cleared their lines just before the break.
When Ciaran Slevin saw his penalty brilliantly saved by Sean Brennan in the 37th minute it summed up the outsiders’ day.
The extra man told as the match wore on and Treacy’s sweet ballstriking was a distinguishing feature — the wing-forward finished with 10 points, all from dead balls.
As the gaps opened up, both midfielders Jack Malone and Darragh O’Connell flighted over points, and Peter Geraghty one of those who continued to carry the fight for the losers even when the result was never in doubt.