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Holders Na Fianna progressed to the last four of the PTSB Dublin Senior 1 Hurling Championship following their hard-earned 0-26 to 2-18 victory over St Jude’s at Parnell Park on Sunday afternoon.
The scoreline was a fair reflection of a contest that remained tight all the way through with Callum Graham’s 11th minute goal handing the underdogs a massive boost.
Seven Seán Currie frees saw the champions lead by 0-15 to 1-8 by half-time but a second Graham goal added momentum to the Jude’s challenge and they overtook their opponents early in the final quarter following successive points from Conor Nolan, Danny Sutcliffe and Ciaran Mangan.
While far from their fluent best, Na Fianna regrouped well with AJ Murphy scoring three crucial points from play in the closing stages with Currie’s twelve points proving pivotal by the final whistle.
Last year’s beaten finalists played against the breeze in the first-half but a predatory Ciaran Dowling goal saw them enjoy a narrow 1-7 to 0-8 interval advantage.
Third quarter goals by Paul Crummmey and Killian Costello saw Lucan begin to pull clear and they added further salt into the Isles wounds through goals in the closing stages from Matt Coogan and Ben Coffey.
The two-time All-Ireland winners dominated the first-half, setting the tone through an early Conall O’Toole goal on their way to a healthy 1-13 to 0-6 interval lead.
Enda O’Donnell offered hope of a Colmcille comeback when netting within a minute of the restart but those ambitions were punctured as Eddie Moran was dismissed in the 42nd minute.
Cuala took full advantage, most notably in the shape of David Treacy, who fired over five points from play when introduced early in the final quarter with Lee Gannon’s injury-time goal arriving too late to spare Whitehall their fate.
The Dalkey side were joined in the last four later in the afternoon by their southside rivals Kilmacud Crokes, who pulled away after the break to overcome St Brigid’s by 2-22 to 0-17.
St Brigid’s were full value for their 0-11 to 0-10 interval lead as Cian O’Sullivan shone with four points from play in the first quarter but the 24th minute dismissal of Jack O’Neill gradually undermined their ambitions.
Alex Considine swept home the first Crokes goal in the 34th minute while substitute Oisin O’Rorke also netted eight minutes later to put further daylight between the teams.
In total, thirteen players contributed to the Kilmacud tally with four Ronan Hayes frees augmented by three points apiece by Fergal Whitely and Dara Purcell.
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