Kilmacud Crokes 0-11
Na Fianna 0-10
GALWAY STAR SHANE Walsh kicked four majestic points at Parnell Park on Sunday as Kilmacud Crokes retained their Dublin Senior Football Championship crown after an intense battle with Na Fianna.
While their Glasnevin counterparts stormed ahead with early points from Paddy Quinn and Aaron Byrne, Crokes rallied with unanswered efforts by Dara Mullin, former Dublin stalwart Rory O’Carroll and Walsh.
Na Fianna issued a swift response to Walsh’s score with a free from David Lacey, before Crokes wing-back Andrew McGowan and Conor McHugh traded points in a lively opening quarter.
Although the title holders kicked back-to-back points through Craig Dias and Mullin, Na Fianna ultimately brought a slender 0-7 to 0-6 buffer into the interval following successive contributions from Michael Day, Lacey (free) and Byrne.
Day’s fellow Galway native Walsh was briefly forced off with a blood injury towards the end of the opening period, but the All-Star Footballer of the Year nominee was patched up for the start of the second half.
Ben Shovlin and Walsh found the target for Crokes in response to efforts from Dublin defender Eoin Murchan and inter-county colleague McHugh on the resumption, before the defending champions received a temporary numerical advantage when Na Fianna midfielder Paddy Quinn was black carded on 46 minutes.
In his absence, Dias supplemented a brace of Walsh points with his second of the day to edge Crokes ahead of their increasingly wayward opponents.
Walsh split the uprights from a distance of 40 metres to give Crokes additional breathing space and despite Brian O’Leary reducing the deficit to the bare minimum in the seventh minute of stoppage-time, the Stillorgan club held firm.
They will now have a golden opportunity to secure a second consecutive senior championship double when their hurlers also lock horns with Na Fianna in next weekend’s Dublin SHC decider.
Scorers for Kilmacud Crokes: Shane Walsh 0-4, Dara Mullin (1 mark), Craig Dias 0-2 each, Rory O’Carroll, Andrew McGowan, Ben Shovlin 0-1 each.
Scorers for Na Fianna: David Lacey (2f), Conor McHugh (2f), Aaron Byrne 0-2 each, Eoin Murchan, Michael Day, Paddy Quinn, Brian O’Leary 0-1 each.
Kilmacud Crokes
1. Conor Ferris
2. Micheal Mullin, 5. Cillian O’Shea, 4. Dan O’Brien
6. Rory O’Carroll, 12. Aidan Jones, 7. Andrew McGowan
8. Ben Shovlin, 9. Craig Dias
10. Tom Fox, 15. Shane Walsh, 19. Shane Horan
13. Hugh Kenny, 14. Dara Mullin, 11. Shane Cunningham
Subs
20. Conor Casey for Walsh (30 – half-time, blood)
18. Cian O’Connor for Fox (36)
20. Conor Casey for Horan (47)
26. Callum Pearson for Cunningham (47)
24. Anthony Quinn for Kenny (65)
Na Fianna
1. David O’Hanlon
2. Gus Farrell, 3. Eoin O’Dea, 5. Ali Fitzgerald
6. Jonny Cooper, 4. Eoin Murchan, 7. Adam Rafter
8. Michael Day, 9. Paddy Quinn
19. David Quinn, 11. Aaron Byrne, 12. David Lacey
13. Glen O’Reilly, 14. Conor McHugh, 15. Brian O’Leary
Subs
21. Sean Caffrey for O’Reilly (41)
10. James Doran for D Quinn (52)
24. Dean Ryan for Rafter (57)
26. Donal Ryan for P Quinn (57)
Referee: Barry Tiernan.
- updated at 8.30pm to appear on The Journal.