Kilmacud Crokes Beat Cuala to Claim PTSB Dublin Senior 1 Hurling Crown

KILMACUD CROKES 2-17

CUALA 0-12

Goals in either half from Ronan Hayes and Oisin O’Rorke set the tone as Kilmacud Crokes defeated Cuala by eleven points in their PTSB Dublin Senior 1 Hurling Championship final at Parnell Park on Saturday night.

In doing so, they claimed their eighth title at this level, drawing level with their southside rivals in the process, and few could argue with the outcome as Kilmacud saved their best display of the year for the most fitting occasion.

Crokes were full value for their 1-11 to 0-6 as their intensity far exceeded that of their opponents with Ronan Hayes netting in the 4th minute to put his side on the front foot.

A 38th minute goal from substitute O’Rorke effectively settled the issue as a resolute Kilmacud defence coped comfortably with some sporadic Cuala pressure in the final quarter.

It was Crokes that made the dominant start, racing out of the blocks through points inside the opening minute from Brian Hayes and Conal Ó Riain.

Another score by late replacement Finnian Donohoe pushed Kilmacud three points clear before an initially sluggish Cuala got off the mark courtesy of a Donal O’Shea free.     

Far from building on that score, Cuala failed to deal with the resultant puck-out from Eddie Gibbons with the ball falling kindly to Ronan Hayes, who swept to the net with a minimum of fuss. 

Liam Murphy may have doubled the Cuala tally through a 7th minute free but they remained on the back foot as Crokes added to their lead thanks to Ronan Hayes and another cracking score by Ó Riain.

A second O’Shea point kept Cuala’s tally into the breeze ticking over but they were still held scoreless from play as the Kilmacud half-back line controlled matters for the large part.

Their dominance and greater aggression helped yield further points from Ronan Hayes, Dara Purcell and Fergal Whitely while Donohoe added a brace of scores to leave ten points between the teams by the 27th minute.

Jamie Conroy, goalscorer in last Sunday’s SFC1 final win against Castleknock, finally opened Cuala’s account from play two minutes later while an injury-time free from Murphy saw their deficit reduced to a more manageable eight points.   

While Murphy (free) and O’Shea pointed within seven minutes of the restart to raise hopes of a Cuala comeback, that positive work was undone in an instant as Crokes pounced for a second goal.

Brian Hayes found space down the middle and instead of taking the easy point option, he cleverly found Oisin O’Rorke, who hammered past Seán Brennan from a tight angle.

Conor Groarke and Ronan Hayes traded points as the third-quarter evolved before the latter took his personal tally to 1-5 when afforded far too much space in the 46th minute.

Cuala’s inability to place a concerted pressure on the Crokes goal undermined any comeback ambitions they harboured as they fell further behind as Alex Condisine and Ó Riain tagged on celebratory scores.

The hard-working Whitely finished the scoring three minutes into added time as Crokes claimed the coveted prize and booked a Leinster quarter-final date away to Mount Leinster Rangers in a fortnight’s time.  

Scorers – Kilmacud Crokes: R Hayes 1-6 (0-3f); O O’Rorke 1-0; C Ó Riain, F Donohoe 0-3 each; F Whitely 0-2; B Hayes, A Considine, D Purcell 0-1 apiece. Cuala: L Murphy 0-5 (5f); D O’Shea 0-4 (3f); C Groarke, J Conroy, K Kirwan 0-1 apiece.

Kilmacud Crokes: E Gibbons; B Lynch, B , D Lucey; C Ó Riain, M Grogan, C Ó Cathasaigh; B Hayes, C Conway; F Whitely, R Hayes, F Donohoe; B Kenny, A Considine, D Purcell. Subs: O O’Rorke for Kenny (half-time), G Veale for Donohoe (48), P Linehan for Conway (53), S Purcell for Considine (58), T Stakelum for Ó Cathasaigh (63).     

Cuala: S Brennan; E O’Callaghan, C O’Callaghan, C Groarke; S Moran, A English, D Ó Floinn; D O’Shea, J Malone; J Conroy, C Sheanon, G O’Toole; C O’Toole, C Cronin, L Murphy. Subs: K Kirwan for Sheanon (37), S Roche for Malone (48), D Treacy for C O’Toole (55), J Twomey for Cronin (56), A Sheeran for C O’Callaghan (63).      

Referee: Seán Stack (Pobal Parnell).