![\"D\u00f3nal](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/984b8c00-2aab-4119-812c-c6a9494e6098.jpg\")
<\/p>\n——-<\/p>\n
There was a children\u2019s Halloween Party on at Craobh Chiar\u00e1in.<\/p>\n
It was a marvellous night for a Moondance.<\/p>\n
Next door, the Parnell Park floodlights were beaming. It was cold but dry. A breeze blew down the pitch into the Craobh end.<\/p>\n
Referee, Rory Hanley of St Brigid\u2019s, went out early to walk the turf. It was the first Go-Ahead Ireland Dublin Senior Hurling Championship for the young man. It won\u2019t be his last.<\/p>\n
The Man from Clare, Paddy Power, looked on. He refereed for 28 years.<\/p>\n
He was the most nimble of corner-forwards. The golden days of Kilmore. Dublin Intermediate Football champions.<\/p>\n
The huge RT\u00c9 trucks were in place behind the church goal. A television camera hoist hovered over the goal.<\/p>\n
The RT\u00c9 panel were in the corner beside the pavilion. The umpires walked out. Their white coats dazzling under the bulbs.<\/p>\n
In the match programme, the Na Fianna captain, D\u00f3nal Burke, picked his Dream Team. His goalkeeper was Jimmy Gray.<\/p>\n
D\u00f3nal and the Lucan skipper, Chris Crummey, revealed that the sportsperson they would most like to meet is Michael Jordan.<\/p>\n
Eileen Troy arrived. Her son, PJ, was one of the finest young sportsmen of all. Whitehall\u2019s annual PJ Troy Hurling Tournament honours his memory.<\/p>\n
The President, Jarlath Burns, took his seat. As Dublin Hurling\u2019s showcase fixture produced a Saturday night Hitchcock thriller.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
D\u00f3nal Burke, 11, celebrates with team-mates<\/p>\n
A big crowd. All enchanted by the first touch and the grace, and the guile, under pressure. The stars in the sky being out-shone by the stars below.<\/p>\n
The Lucan manager, Kilkenny\u2019s Charlie Carter, was on the sideline. Wearing a baseball cap. He could crack the ball like Joe Di Maggio.<\/p>\n
Sarsfields couldn\u2019t have played any better. Given anymore. They left every ounce on the Donnycarney grass.<\/p>\n
It was their second final. In 2013, they lost to the five-in-a-row Ballyboden St Enda\u2019s team by three points.<\/p>\n
And now they pushed the All-Ireland champions to one point, 1-20 to 0-22.<\/p>\n
The least Lucan deserved was extra-time. A contest like this deserved a replay.<\/p>\n
It was level 11 times, eight times in the second half as the drama built towards a crescendo.<\/p>\n
Na Fianna\u2019s brilliant midfielder, Brian Ryan, had kind words for Lucan.<\/p>\n
\u201cLucan were excellent. With the wind in the first half, we were hoping to be a few points up at half-time, but we only led by a point, 0-11 to 0-10.<\/p>\n
\u201cLucan maintained their high level in the second half. They came so close. You\u2019d have to feel for them, but we have been in the same situation ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was Na Fianna\u2019s fifth successive final. They lost the first two. They were seeking the three-in-a-row, and that can be a heavy chain around the ankles.<\/p>\n
They were chasing the game for most of the hour. And, at times, it looked like the crown might be slipping away.<\/p>\n
But the young men of Glasnevin are big fans of Dad\u2019s Army \u2013 \u2018Don\u2019t panic, Captain Mainwaring!\u2019<\/p>\n
![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/23384643-14dc-4a3a-9a7c-6141be0d82cf.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
a Fianna players Brian Ryan, right, and Donal Burke celebrate<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just found a way to win. We have been in those positions many times before,\u201d reflected Brian as he obliged a young fan with an autograph.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year, it looked like we were down and out against Cuala, and it was something similar against St Vincent\u2019s last season.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd even when Lucan went two points clear with time almost up, we didn\u2019t panic. We stayed calm, we kept doing the simple things.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe kept working the ball. We weren\u2019t just hitting it long for the sake of it. I always feel it\u2019s a good sign of a team that, against the odds, keeps believing in what they are doing, and manages to pull out a result from thin air.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brian himself pulled a beauty out of thin air deep in the second half as he plucked a ball from the clouds and popped it over the bar with Lucan leading by two points at the time. It was a crucial score.<\/p>\n
Lucan played with so much energy. It was like they had marked every breaking ball \u2018Private Property.\u2019<\/p>\n
Ronan Smith was superb. Charlie Keher hit some porcelain points, and Ben Coffey excelled on the placed balls.<\/p>\n
The Lucan goalkeeper, Seanie McClelland, landed a free from the car park. The Na Fianna number 1, Jono Tracey, can also send the sliotar over the moon.<\/p>\n
Colin Currie was precision itself. AJ Murphy has such wonderful balance. He could turn on a Euro.<\/p>\n
In the opening period, Na Fianna\u2019s right half-back, Paul O\u2019Dea, had the ball deep in his own half.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the bar,\u201d came an optimistic voice in the crowd. Paul obliged.<\/p>\n
D\u00f3nal Burke\u2019s advice to kids is to \u201cpractice, practice, practice.\u201d He spends hours on the Driving Range that is the Mobhi Road.<\/p>\n
He drilled in a second half penalty. Not even Jimmy Gray would have saved it.<\/p>\n
Late on, at the height of the drama, Colin Currie\u2019s free brought the equaliser.<\/p>\n
Then, when most were expecting extra-time, Colin\u2019s brother, Se\u00e1n, got the sliotar in his hand to the left of the posts, made half a yard and hit it for six.<\/p>\n
Na Fianna had won the Lotto.<\/p>\n
They’ll now travel to Wexford to face St Martin’s in the Leinster Championship on November 9.<\/p>\n
“Winning three-in-a-row in Dublin is a great achievement for this team,” declared Brian Ryan.<\/p>\n
“Going back the years, not many clubs have managed to do it, so it’s nice that Na Fianna are now part of that history.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"——- There was a children\u2019s Halloween Party on at Craobh Chiar\u00e1in. It was a marvellous night for a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":109228,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,898,112],"class_list":{"0":"post-109227","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-ie","9":"tag-ireland","10":"tag-latest-news-ticker","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109227"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109227\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}