Cuala 3-21
Slaughtneil 2-11
CUALA CREATED HISTORY for Dublin hurling this afternoon, by becoming the first club side from the capital to reach the All-Ireland senior final.
Their superiority over 14-man Slaughtneil, chasing an unprecedented treble of All-Ireland final appearances having already booked their place in the camogie and football deciders, was evident from early on.
Cuala scored 1-6 in a 13-minute spell in the first half at the Athletic Grounds, including Con O’Callaghan’s terrific goal which flew into the top left-hand corner after 11 minutes.
David Treacy was unerring from frees, hitting seven of his eight points in the opening half with the Leinster champions leading 1-13 to 0-5 at the interval.
Two weeks after eight of the same starting side slayed Dublin football champions St Vincent’s in the All-Ireland club football semi-final, Slaughtneil didn’t perform.
They were marginally off the pace, made a few handling errors and struggled with Cuala’s greater physicality.
All that contrived to make it one-way traffic, though Slaughtneil performed better in a more competitive second half.
Sean Treacy ran through and his ground shot found the net in the first minute after the restart to give Cuala the dream start.
Slaughtneil responded straight away with Gerald Bradley getting the last touch on a loose ball in the square for a badly-needed goal.
Their wing-forward Cormac McKenna was sent off in the 51st minute for two yellow cards but they bundled home a second goal from Se McGuigan.
Niall Carty became the third Cuala sub to score, netting their third goal late on to set up a St Patrick’s Day decider against Clare and Munster champions Ballyea.
Scorers for Slaughtneil: G Bradley 1-2 (1f), Se McGuigan 1-0, C McKaigue 0-2, B Rodgers 0-2, C O’Doherty 0-5 (2f, one ’65′).
Scorers for Cuala: D Treacy 0-8 (7f), Con O’Callaghan 1-3, S Treacy 1-1, N Carty 1-0, C Cronin 0-3, M Schutte 0-1, J Malone 0-1, C Sheanan 0-1, S Moran 0-1.
Slaughtneil:
O O’Doherty
C McAllister
K McKaigue
P McNeil
S Cassidy
Shane McGuigan
M McGrath
E Cassidy
G Bradley
B Rodgers
M McGuigan
C McKenna
Se McGuigan
C McKaigue
C O’Doherty
Subs:
B Cassidy for Mark McGuigan (HT)
R McCartney for E Cassidy (43)
Cuala:
S Brennan
O Gough
Cian O’Callaghan
S Timlin
S Moran
C Sheanon
J Sheanon
J Malone
D O’Connell
S Treacy
C Cronin
D Treacy
C Waldron
Con O’Callaghan
M Schutte
Subs:
N Kenny for Waldron (45)
N Carty for C Sheanon (52)
N Waldron for D Treacy (58)
R Tierney for J Sheanon (59)
S Stapleton for S Treacy (59)
Referee: Colm Lyons (Cork).
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