History boys Cuala sweep Slaughtneil aside to book All-Ireland club final berth
CUALA’s historic Athletic Grounds victory will see them become the first Dublin team to contest an AllIreland Club SHC final, and they reached the St Patrick’s Day decider in some style with a commanding win over Ulster’s Slaughtneil.
The Leinster champions were on fire, ripping through the Emmet’s defence at will to pick off classy scores, including goals from Con O’Callaghan, Sean Treacy and Niall Carty.
Slaughtneil were chasing their own piece of history as they sought to join the club’s footballers and camogs in All-Ireland finals, but they fell well short on the day.
It was evident from an early stage that this Cuala side had too much class for their northern opponents.
Sean Moran, Jake Malone and Cian O’Callaghan commanded the defence, while Darragh O’Connell was imperious around midfield.
David Treacy mercilessly punished with his accurate striking from frees, and they were well on their way once Con O’Callaghan smashed home a brilliant 11th minute goal.
Chrissy McKaigue and Brendan Rogers pulled back a handful of scores, but Cuala were leading 1-13 to 0-5 at the break.
Sean Treacy fired in a second goal just seconds after the restart, but that was cancelled out immediately by Slaughtneil’s Gerald Bradley, who scrambled the ball into the net. The Derrymen never looked like troubling their assured opponents, despite nailing scores through Cormac O’Doherty and Gerald Bradley, for they were always pegged back by stylish points from O’Callaghan, Colm Cronin and the brilliant Sean Moran, who capped an outstanding defensive display by sending a 120metre free sailing between the posts.
Despite losing Cormac McKenna to a second booking, the Oak Leaf grabbed a goal through Se McGuigan. Cuala inevitably had the last say as Mark Schutte unselfishly offloaded to substitute Niall Carty for goal number three.