Cuala hold firm to secure the title
CUALA 1-14
ARDEE ST MARY’S 2-10
Luke Keating was the hero at Croke Park on Saturday evening as his stoppage-time free helped Cuala to hold off an extraordinary fightback from Ardee St Mary’s of Louth in a pulsating Leinster Club Senior Football Championship final.
Ahead by nine points with 20 minutes gone on the clock, the Dublin champions were subsequently reined in by quickfire goals for Ardee from Ryan Rooney and Sean Callaghan in the final-quarter – before Keating ultimately stepped up to ensure that Cuala claimed their first-ever title at this grade.
After inter-county stalwarts Michael Fitzsimons and Con O’Callaghan (two) had kicked points to supplement a single effort from the latter’s brother Niall, Cuala created further daylight between themselves and Ardee when centre-forward Conor O’Brien fired a low shot to the net on the first-quarter mark.
Further points from Con O’Callaghan and Keating moved the Dublin champions into a 1-6 to 0-0 lead, before Ardee suddenly came to life with three pointed frees from as many players – namely attacker Ciaran Keenan, wing-back Jonathan Commins and goalkeeper Tiernan Markey.
There had been a notable increase in tempo from the Wee County outfit, but thanks to a fisted point from defender Eoin Kennedy in stoppage-time, Cuala nevertheless brought a convincing 1-7 to 0-3 cushion into the interval.
The Dalkey side remained in control during the initial stages of the second half, but St Mary’s were offered a new lease of life when Cuala’s Eoin Kennedy was black carded on 46 minutes.
While Austin O’Malley’s Metropolitan side responded with a Niall O’Callaghan point, Ardee had spectacularly wiped out their deficit by the 50th minute in GAA HQ. After substitute Rooney bagged his side’s first goal of the night when netminder Ryan Scollard failed to hold onto a high delivery by McDonnell, midfielder Callaghan also raised a green flag with a clinical finish at a right-hand angle.
This suddenly threw down the gauntlet to Cuala, who initially fired back with a Cal Doran point. Keating also found the range during a hectic period, but with Rooney splitting the uprights in a direct reply to both these scores, Ardee were threatening to pull off a sensational comeback victory.
The spectre of extra-time was also beginning to loom large when Con O’Callaghan was short of the mark from a late free, but Keating kept his composure to knock over a place-ball effort of his own on 62 minutes and squeeze Cuala over the line.