FIANNA’S FINEST
DUBLIN MHC ‘A’ FINAL
Currie too hot to handle as St Mobhi Roaders retain their title by burning off brave Brigid’s
NA FIANNA……………………………………………. 2-14
ST BRIGID’S…………………………………………….. 1-12
Daire Walsh
SECOND-HALF goals from Luke Fenton and Eoin O’Dea were crucial in O’Toole Park on Sunday morning, when a five-point victory helped Na Fianna to secure a second consecutive Dublin Minor ‘A’ Hurling Championship title at the expense of St Brigid’s.
The Mobhi Road outfit had finished with 15 points to spare (1-26 to 0-14) in last year’s decider against Kilmacud Crokes, and although it was a much tighter affair in 2015, a strong second-half showing ensured that they sealed their fifth-ever title at this grade – and their third in four seasons.
St Brigid’s were hoping to claim their first piece of silverware at this level since 2003 (they were Minor ‘B’ winners as recently as 2011), and they needed to be at their best against their formidable northside counterparts.
Na Fianna had suffered an away defeat to the Russell Park side during the group stages of the competition, but fresh from their last-four success over St Vincent’s, they opened the scoring with a third-minute point by corner-forward Colin Currie.
Brigid’s responded with a similar effort from midfielder Eoghan Dunne, before the reliable Currie (who has featured prominently for Ardscoil Ris at schools level in recent times) restored Na Fianna’s slender advantage from his first placed-ball attempt of the contest.
Inter-county star Johnny McGuirk also displayed his dead-ball accuracy seven minutes into the action, but courtesy of a subsequent brace from the accurate Currie, Na Fianna created some daylight in the first quarter.
A fine score by Sean Dunphy kept Brigid’s in touch, and even though Currie was once again on hand to cancel out this effort, centre-forward Kevin Callaghan reduced the gap to a minimum on the stroke of 15 minutes.
By this stage, Callaghan was being picked up by his opposite number, Peter Feeney, and despite conceding a further point to Na Fianna midfielder Matthew Oliver (a survivor from last year’s team), Brigid’s moved into the ascendancy on 23 minutes.
A diagonal delivery by Brian Moran was knocked down into the path of Mark Donnelly by Callaghan, and the alert full-forward brilliantly fired past Na Fianna netminder (and county number one) Eoin Skelly. This was a massive boost for the Castleknock boys, who followed up this three-pointer with another score from McGuirk (free).
SALVO
A subsequent 0-2 salvo from Currie was wiped out by Callaghan and McGuirk points for Brigid’s, but Na Fianna looked set to receive a lifeline in stoppage-time, when Brigid’s shotstopper Michael Courtney was penalised for a foul on Fenton.
Yet, following consultation with his umpires, referee Sean Stack signalled for a wide ball instead, which meant that Brigid’s finished the half with a two-point cushion (1-7 to 0-8). Keith O’Neill’s charges were in a positive position, but they were brought down to earth by Na Fianna’s explosive start to the second half.
Fenton raised a green flag three minutes after the restart – via a neat pass by Currie – and this supplemented by a swift point from county panellist Gavin King. Brigid’s did settle briefly with an exceptional McGuirk score from the left-wing, only for Na Fianna to stretch their lead to three points with another Currie brace. It was beginning to look quite ominous for Brigid’s at this juncture, but two quick-fire frees from the increasingly-prominent McGuirk meant that their deficit was at a minimum heading into the final-quarter.
Indeed, following much persistence – particularly from the outstanding half-back pairing of David Hawkshaw and Donnacha Ryan – they levelled matters with a magnificent Callaghan point. This set-up a nail-biting conclusion, but despite coming up short from a ’65’, Currie split the posts from frees in the 56th and 58th minutes respectively. Brigid’s had posted a wide in between these scores after a free advantage had elapsed, but McGuirk’s seventh point of the tie did offer them hope moving into added time.
The introduction of O’Dea to the edge of the square on the hour was pivotal, though, as he superbly flicked a ball from Oliver to the net deep into added time. This placed the outcome beyond Brigid’s reach, before a final point by Currie brought the curtain down on a memorable tie.
MATCH FILE
Scorers – Na Fianna: C Currie 0-12 (9f, 1 ’65’), L Fenton, E O’Dea 1-0 each, M Oliver, G King 0-1 each. St Brigid’s: J McGuirk 0-7 (6f), K Callaghan 0-3, M Donnelly 1-0, E Dunne, S Dunphy 0-1 each.
NA FIANNA: E Skelly; D McHugh, H Fenlon, D Ryan; C Kelly, C Doran, P Buggy; S Fitzgerald, M Oliver; N Loftus, P Feeney, L Fenton; C Currie, C Casserly, G King.
SUBS: M Gaffney for Loftus (50), E O’Dea for Casserly (60).
ST BRIGID’S: M Courtney; C Breslin, J O’Neill, A Dunphy; D Hawkshaw, D Ryan, D McKenna; E Dunne, J McGuirk; S Dunphy, K Callaghan, C Burke; B Moran, M Donnelly, C O’Sullivan.
SUBS: J Connolly for Burke (48), J O’Connell for Donnelly (48).
MENTORS – ST BRIGID’S: Keith O’Neill, Donal Smyth, Paddy McAvinue, Seamus Breslin. NA FIANNA: Declan Feeney, Billy Fenlon, Paddy Oliver.
REFEREE: Sean Stack (Parnell’s).
WIDES – St Brigid’s: 7 (5+2). Na Fianna: 5 (1+4).
CONDITIONS: Bright and sunny conditions overall, with little or no breeze.
PLAYER OF THE MATCH: Colin Currie (Na Fianna).