Na Fianna beat Kilcormac Killoughey to secure their first Leinster hurling title

Leinster Club SHC final: Na Fianna (Dublin) 2-22 Kilcormac/Killoughey (Offaly) 2-16
Just like a Dublin Bus, you wait a lifetime for one to come along and then two arrive within minutes. Na Fianna became only the second club in history to be crowned both Leinster hurling and football champions, accomplishing the feat just two hours after Cuala had become the first.
Na Fianna never trailed during Saturday night’s provincial club hurling decider in front of 9,209 spectators at Croke Park, leading from the opening minute until the final whistle.
Having lost last year’s Leinster final by a point, Na Fianna showed no little character throughout the season to negotiate a way back to the decider this term.
For a club traditionally more renowned in football circles – they were Leinster SFC champions in 1999 – this hurling triumph is no overnight success story, but rather one rooted in the grit and belligerent determination of the club’s small-ball aficionados.
They will face Loughrea in an All-Ireland club semi-final in two weeks.
The Mobhi Road side were 1-13 to 0-11 ahead at the interval on Saturday night and while Kilcormac/Killoughey staged a defiant comeback during the second half, Na Fianna never allowed the Offaly champions to restore parity at any stage.
A fortuitous Kilcormac/Killoughey goal in the 38th minute left just the minimum between the sides – a 65 hit by Adam Screeney struck the upright and landed to the awaiting, and unmarked, Conor Mahon, who tapped home from close range, 1-16 to 1-15.
Na Fianna’s response was emphatic. The Dublin side immediately worked the ball down the field in the very next attack where Ciarán Stacey offloaded to AJ Murphy and the Na Fianna full-forward tucked the ball beyond Conor Slevin in the Kilcormac goal.
It didn’t just cancel out Kilcormac’s goal, it jolted their momentum. If it was a confidence-boosting score for Na Fianna, it left a fair dent in Kilcormac’s belief. It was the response of champions.
To their credit, Kilcormac/Killoughey continued to forage for scores and Leigh Kavanagh was unlucky soon after to see his shot first smack off the crossbar and then rebound straight out to the hands of Na Fianna’s Peter Feeney. Your luck is either in or it’s not.
With Colin Currie unerring from frees, Na Fianna soon started to put a bit of distance between the sides again and a wonderful point by Donal Burke in the final minute of normal time pushed the gap to seven.
Adam Screeney, who showed several flashes of brilliance throughout the contest, burrowed his way out with the ball from a ruck in front of the Na Fianna goal moments later to squeeze home his side’s second goal.
But Burke, capping off a man of the match performance, then floated over a superb injury-time point and when Murphy added another it was clear there would be no way back for Kilcormac/Killoughey.
The margin at the final whistle was six points and in truth Na Fianna were good for that gap, and possibly even a little more.
“We’re just delighted, having won a Leinster senior hurling championship from where we’ve come from, I’m just really pleased for everybody in the club, the families, all the coaches who have put so much work into these lads and other lads, it’s just a really special time for the club,” said Na Fianna manager Niall Ó Ceallacháin.
From the off they dictated the tempo of the game. Conor McHugh, an All-Ireland winner with the Dublin footballers, was give the detail of marshalling Screeney for the evening.
But by the time Screeney made an impact on the scoreboard, Na Fianna had already posted three points – the opener coming from Jack Meagher in the first minute and followed quickly by a pair of Currie frees.
Screeney was booked moments later after an incident with McHugh but the Offaly starlet got his side off the mark in the seventh minute with a neatly struck free.
But it was at the other end of the field where most of the play was taking place – and in particular Burke was causing the Kilcormac/Killoughey defence all sorts of problems.
Burke, by his own standards, hasn’t quite reached the heights this season but he arguably saved his best display of the year for Saturday night at Croke Park.
He finished the first half with five points, all from play, each better than the one that went before.
Seán Currie scored Na Fianna’s opening goal in the 26th minute to give them a seven-point advantage but a late rally towards the end of the first half helped Kilcormac/Killoughey reduce the deficit to five at the turnaround.
The lively Screeney popped over a pair of frees shortly after the resumption and it was his blocked shot that produced the 65 that ultimately led to Mahon’s goal. For a moment, that goal felt like a possible turning point. But only for a moment.
Na Fianna weren’t for turning on Saturday night. Their mission for 12 months had been to get back to this stage. Nobody was going to deny them this time.
Na Fianna: Jonathan Treacy; Kevin Burke, Seán Burke, Conor McHugh; Donal Ryan, Liam Rushe, Peter Feeney; Brian Ryan (0-2), Seán Currie (1-0); Gavin King, Donal Burke (0-7), Jack Meagher (0-2); Colin Currie (0-8, seven frees), AJ Murphy (1-2), Ciarán Stacey (0-1). Subs: Seán Ryan for King (ht); Shane Barrett for Meagher (58 mins)
Kilcormac/Killoughey: Conor Slevin (0-2, two frees); James Mahon, Oisín Mahon, Tom Spain; Jordan Quinn, Brecon Kavanagh, Enda Grogan; Colin Spain (0-1), Damien Kilmartin; Jack Screeney, Conor Mahon (1-2), Leigh Kavanagh; Adam Screeney (1-8, six frees), Charlie Mitchell (0-3), Daniel Hand. Subs: Cillian Kiely for Grogan (39 mins); James Gorman for Hand (42 mins); Peter Geraghty for J Screeney (44 mins); Cathal Kiely for Kavanagh (57 mins); Alex Kavanagh for Kilmartin (59 mins)
Referee: Pádraig Dunne (Laois)