Dublin SFC final: Cuala 3-15 Castleknock 1-6
Nothing lets the air out of the balloon like a county final blowout. All week, the streets and lanes and backroads around Castleknock have been wallpapered in yellow and blue, the buzz of a second ever visit to the Dublin decider soundtracking daily life around the top of the Phoenix Park. It only took Cuala half an hour to put paid to all that.
The Dalkey side won their second title here at a half-canter. They went after Castleknock goalie John Vahey’s kick-out like it owed them money, grabbing it eight times out of 13 in the first half alone. Their size, speed and dominance around the middle third left Castleknock looking entirely lost at sea. Everything stemmed from that and nothing about it was good for the underdogs.
Con O’Callaghan ended the game with 2-5 against his name without ever having to go Full Con on it. He buried a penalty, scored a second goal after collecting the rebound from another, fisted a couple of points, potted a few frees. It was about as humdrum a county final 2-5 as you’d ever hope to see. He was the tip of a very hefty spear, with the likes of Peadar Ó Cofaigh Byrne, Peter Duffy, Charlie McMorrow and Eoin Kennedy driving things from the middle third.
For Castleknock, it was a chastening afternoon under a blinding October sun. The 15-point defeat was the biggest margin in a Dublin final in a quarter of a century and the fourth biggest in the competition’s 139-year history. They were 10 points down at half-time and 18 behind with three minutes to go. By that stage, the scoreboard was an early Halloween story.
Maybe the worst of it for Castleknock was the fact that they had much the better of the game’s opening exchanges. If you landed into Parnell Park knowing nothing of favourites or underdogs, you’d have guessed that Cuala were the ones who hadn’t been to a county final for a while.
Cuala’s Con O’Callaghan scores a penalty kick. Photograph: Tom O’Hanlon/Inpho
Castleknock were two points up inside two minutes through Lenny Cahill and Conor Chawke and when full forward Eoin Sawyer pounced on a weak Cuala kick-out to bear down on goal soon after, it looked like he might have won Castleknock a penalty. But referee Ian Howley was having none of it, telling Sawyer to get up.
Castleknock didn’t score again for the rest of the half. Instead, Cuala reeled off an unanswered 1-9. McMorrow was at the heart of everything, setting up Niall O’Callaghan for their first score on five minutes, popping the second himself from out on the right and playing a big part in Con O’Callaghan’s go-ahead score on 13 minutes.
At the other end, it was getting late early for Castleknock. Cahill missed a kickable free, wing back Rob Shaw tried a couple of two-pointers that went short and wide. For all that, they were still only a couple of points down in the 20th minute and had they shown a bit more composure in front of goal, maybe they could have hung in a while longer.
But things were getting ominous for them around the middle, particularly on their own kick-out. Cuala had a red wall between the 45s and every time Vahey put the ball on the tee, his target must have looked like a porthole on a cruise liner.
It was the winning and losing of the game. Kennedy strode forward to swish a two-pointer on 20 minutes, pushing Cuala into a 0-6 to 0-2 lead. And when another one was snaffled by Cillian Dunne – son of the manager Derek – all it took was a quick exchange of passes and Con O’Callaghan was in on goal. Corner back Andrew Hughes panic-fouled him and the penalty was a formality.
Castleknock’s Senan Forker is challenged by Dan O’Sullivan and Peadar Ó Cofaigh Byrne of Cuala. Photograph: Tom O’Hanlon/Inpho
It meant that Cuala were 1-7 to 0-2 ahead with the clock about to tick 23 minutes. When Mick Fitzsimons sallied forward for the first of his two points soon after, everyone knew the day was done.
The second half was a scorekeeping exercise. Kevin Stephenson nabbed a goal for Castleknock to get the margin back into single figures on 43 minutes but there was never any serious threat of a comeback. Con coolly slotted home the rebound after his second penalty hit the crossbar, before Jamie Conroy zoomed in off the bench to lorry home a third. But the game had long since been decided.
Cuala go on to meet Tullamore in the first round of Leinster. If anyone shortens their winter, they’ll have earned it.
CUALA: Darragh O’Dowd; Danny Conroy, Mick Fitzsimons (0-0-2), Eoghan O’Callaghan (0-0-1); Eoin Kennedy (0-1-0), Charlie McMorrow (0-0-2), David O’Dowd; Peadar Ó Cofaigh Byrne, Peter Duffy; Cillian Dunne, Cal Doran, Dan O’Sullivan (0-0-1); Conor O’Brien, Con O’Callaghan (2-0-5, 1-0 pen, 4f), Niall O’Callaghan (0-0-1).
Subs: Conor Groarke for O’Sullivan (42 mins); Jamie Conroy (1-1) for N O’Callaghan (44); Daniel Drummond for D Conroy (53); Killian O’Shea for Dunne (54); Luke Treacy for E O’Callaghan (57).
CASTLEKNOCK: John Vahey; Andrew Hughes, Rob O’Shea, Tom Quinn; Rob Shaw (0-0-1), Dylan Clarke, Shairoze Akram; Ciarán Kilkenny, Kevin Stephenson (1-0-0); Ben Galvin, Senan Forker, Eoin Walsh; Lenny Cahill (0-0-1), Eoin Sawyer, Conor Chawke (0-0-2).
Subs: Shane Boland for Walsh, Ger McDermottroe (0-1-0) for Cahill (both h-t); Cian Boyle for Galvin (35 mins); Darragh Warnock for Hughes (43); Eoin O’Brien for Quinn (57).
Referee: Ian Howley (O’Dwyers).