CUALA BARE TEETH
Dubliners put on a big show of strength to kill off the Slaughtneil treble dream
CUALA ruthlessly crushed Slaughtneil’s treble hopes as they carved out their own special piece of history.
The south Dublin kingpins became the first team from the capital to reach an All-ireland club senior hurling final with a stylish win at the Athletic Grounds yesterday.
Slaughtneil were bidding for a hat-trick of All-ireland club final appearances, having already reached the camogie and football All-ireland deciders.
But Cuala had their own agenda and hit 1-6 without reply in a 13-minute spell in the first half to kill the game.
“Slaughtneil had been on a great run, we had to be at our best,” said boss Mattie Kenny. “We got early scores which gave us the momentum. We got our noses in front and maintained that gap up to half time.
“We wanted to get a foothold in the first 10 minutes of the second half but in fairness Slaughtneil played well in the second half and they never gave up.”
Slaughtneil lost Cormac Mckenna after 51 minutes after he picked up a second booking but they could have no complaints about the result.
Con O’callaghan’s brilliant goal flew into the top left-hand corner after 11 minutes to set the tone for what was to come.
David Treacy was deadly from frees, hitting seven of his eight points in the opening half as the Leinster champions built up a 1-13 to 0-5 lead at the break.
The Derry club slayed Dublin football champions St Vincent’s two weeks ago and eight of the same starting side were in action again yesterday. But this time they were off the pace, made a few handling errors and struggled with Cuala’s power.
Slaughtneil led twice in the early stages with points from Chrissy Mckaigue and Brendan Rodgers but from the moment Cuala took the lead for the first time through David Treacy’s monster free in the sixth minute, the outcome was inevitable.
The points flew over from long range from David Treacy, Colm Cronin and sweeper Jake Malone and Con O’callaghan’s effortless style bagged him a brace before the break.
Sean Treacy ran through and his ground shot found the net to re-establish Cuala’s momentum straight after the restart.
Slaughtneil responded with Gerald Bradley getting the last touch on a loose ball in the square for a badly-needed goal.
Sean Moran, Colm Cronin, Sean Treacy and the brilliant Con O’callaghan (inset) turned on the style, ghosting past defenders to score at ease.
Se Mcguigan and Niall Carty scored late goals at either end but it’s Cuala who now face Clare and Munster champions Ballyea in the final.
SLAUGHTNEIL: O O’doherty; C Mcallister, K Mckaigue, P Mcneill; S Cassidy, Shane Mcguigan, M Mcgrath; E Cassidy, G Bradley (1-2, 1f); B Rodgers (0-2), M Mcguigan, C Mckenna; Se Mcguigan (1-0), C Mckaigue (0-2), C O’doherty (0-5, 2f, one ‘65’) Subs: B Cassidy for Mark Mcguigan (HT), R Mccartney for E Cassidy (43)
CUALA: S Brennan; O Gough, Cian O’callaghan, S Timlin; S Moran (0-1), C Sheanon (0-1), J Sheanon; J Malone (0-1), D O’connell; S Treacy (1-1), C Cronin (0-3), D Treacy (0-8, 7f); C Waldron, Con O’callaghan (1-3), M Schutte (0-1)
Subs: N Kenny for Waldron (45), N Carty (1-0) for C Sheanon (52), N Waldron for D Treacy (58), R Tierney for J Sheanon (59), S Stapleton for S Treacy (59)
Referee: Colm Lyons (Cork)