Na Fianna victory makes it a good night for Dublin
Donal Burke and Colin Currie struck a combined haul of 15 points at Croke Park last night as Dublin’s Na Fianna defeated Kilcormac-Killoughey of Offaly to earn a first-ever Leinster Club Senior Hurling Championship crown.
Eager to go a step further than 2023 – when their Leinster club campaign ended in a final defeat to Kilkenny’s O’Loughlin Gaels – Na Fianna raced 0-5 to 0-1 clear on eight minutes thanks to points from Jack Meagher, Colin Currie (two), Burke and AJ Murphy.
An Adam Screeney free was the sole score for Kilcormac during these early exchanges, but either side of Burke’s second of the half, the prodigious Offaly attacker joined his goalkeeper Conor Slevin in splitting the uprights.
Although the dead-ball prowess of Screeney was keeping the Faithful County outfit in touch, the unerring accuracy of Donal Burke from play was supplemented by a goal from Sean Currie to leave Na Fianna in the driving seat on 26 minutes. The elusive Burke and Colin Currie added to their personal tallies before the end of the opening period, but Screeney, Conor Mahon and Colin Spain also pointed to ensure Kilcormac were just five adrift (1-13 to 0-11) at the break.
In fact, Shane Hand’s men brought the gap down to four points on three occasions during a lively start to the second half as they outscored their capital counterparts 0-3 to 0-2.
Even though Colin Currie knocked over his maiden score from play in response to a successful Screeney free, the bare minimum separated the teams when Kilcormac centre-forward Mahon fired to the net after a Screeney ‘65’ had rebounded off the post.
This ramped up the pressure on Na Fianna, but Niall O Ceallachain’s charges responded immediately with a superb goal from Murphy.
11 minutes passed before the next score of this compelling game followed and when it finally arrived, it was Na Fianna’s reliable marksman Colin Currie who laid claim to it. His pointed free was cancelled out by a Mitchell score from play, before Na Fianna edged a step closer to glory when Colin Currie and Burke (who finished with respective hauls of 0-8 and 0-7) combined with Ciaran Stacey to record unanswered efforts.
While a goal from the excellent Screeney at the end of normal time offered some hope to Kilcormac with five additional minutes still to come, Burke and Murphy knocked over further points to propel Na Fianna towards a memorable triumph.