Dublin SFC Final: Cuala surge to success

PTSB Dublin SFC final

Cuala 3-15 Castleknock 1-6

By Paul Keane at Parnell Park

A rare rout on PTSB Dublin SFC final day and a second title in three seasons for a powerful Cuala side who will have designs no doubt on another winter of content.

AIB All-Ireland champions as recently as early 2025, the Dalkey outfit were led superbly by Con O'Callaghan who netted twice to help put a thoroughly outclassed Castleknock to the sword long before full time at Parnell Park.

King Con finished with 2-5 for Derek Dunne's crew who trailed briefly early on before hitting the afterburners and burning off Castleknock with surprising ease, reeling off 1-9 without response during a period of the opening half.

Jamie Conroy grabbed the other goal for Cuala but that came in the closing minutes of the second half and, in truth, the game as a contest was over at that stage.

Dublin duo Eoin Kennedy and Charlie McMorrow contributed two points apiece while even veteran Sky Blues icon and team captain Michael Fitzsimons, wearing his usual number three, added a brace of points on a famous day for the club.

With the Cuala hurlers also preparing for a senior county final, a dream double of titles remains on the cards.

The footballers will have high hopes of going deep into the AIB Leinster club SFC too, and perhaps even the All-Ireland series again.

They will return to Parnell Park on November 1 for a provincial clash with Offaly champions Tullamore.

And they will hope for just as powerful a first-half display on that occasion as they enjoyed here as they quickly got on top of Castleknock.

Castleknock got little joy off their own kick-outs and as Cuala enjoyed the lion's share of possession, they reeled off 1-9 without reply between the fifth minute and half time to put themselves in a terrific position.

Castleknock set up with Dublin great Ciarán Kilkenny in his usual quarter-back slot, just between the midfield and defence.

They got it going briefly too, scoring the first two points of the game.

But they struggled to break down Cuala's defence after that, failing to score for the remainder of the opening half and not actually splitting the posts again until early in the second half.

Time and again, Castleknock sought to run at the Cuala defence and to pick the lock with hard runs and speedy offloads but the Dalkey men stood firm.

Twice in the opening 10 minutes, Castleknock were pulled for over carrying as they tried desperately to find a way through the mass of red bodies.

Cuala, in contrast, were keen to begin their attacks with long kick-passes where possible, like the long pinged kick from defence that began the move which led to Con O'Callaghan scoring their third point in the 13th minute.

That score put Cuala in the lead for the first time, 0-3 to 0-2, and they didn't look back, posting that 1-9 without response before the interval.

County man Kennedy, their semi-final star, drilled a two-pointer in the 21st to stretch Cuala's lead to four points and with each score they registered, a little bit of extra pressure came upon Castleknock goalkeeper John Vahey's restarts.

Unfortunately for Vahey, things went awry with the Mayo native finding blue and yellow jerseys with just eight of his 12 kick-outs in the first half. Castleknock lost seven of their last eight kick outs in the first half.

In the middle of that difficult period, a Vahey kick-out was gobbled up by a red shirt and the ball worked in towards O'Callaghan who was fouled by Andrew Hughes for a penalty.

O'Callaghan dusted himself off and slammed the ball to the roof of the net. By the time Ian Howley blew for half time and Cuala lifted the siege, they were 1-9 to 0-2 ahead.

It was hard to see a way back for Castleknock who made two changes at half time, and another early in the second half.

But the kick they got from the bench in the semi-final defeat of Thomas Davis, when they came from behind to win with a burst of scoring, wasn't there this time.

Rob Shaw pulled back a point for Castleknock but a subsequent point attempt was blocked by McMorrow, summing up the ferocity of the defence they faced.

Cuala, meanwhile, continued to pick off points from Con and Eoghan O'Callaghan. Evergreen Fitzsimons chimed in with a third to move them a dozen clear.

Castleknock pulled a goal back through Kevin Stephenson - a close range finish after a long delivery wasn't dealt with by Cuala - but it was a brief reprieve.

A second Con O'Callaghan goal from a penalty, well, kind of - his penalty kick came back off the bar and he converted the rebound - was followed by a third goal from sub Conroy two minutes from time.

And that was pretty much that as the south side outfit franked their excellence with a winning margin that climbed well into double digits.

Cuala scorers: Con O'Callaghan 2-5 (1-0 pen, 0-4f), Jamie Conroy 1-1, Eoin Kennedy 0-2 (1 tp), Charlie McMorrow 0-2, Michael Fitzsimons 0-2, Dan O'Sullivan 0-1, Eoghan O'Callaghan 0-1, Niall O'Callaghan 0-1.

Castleknock scorers: Kevin Stephenson 1-0, Ger McDermottroe 0-2 (1 tp), Conor Chawke 0-2, Lenny Cahill 0-1, Rob Shaw 0-1.

Cuala: Darragh O'Dowd; Danny Conroy, Michael Fitzsimons, Eoghan O'Callaghan; Eoin Kennedy, Charlie McMorrow, David O'Dowd; Peadar Ó Cofaigh Byrne, Peter Duffy; Cillian Dunne, Cal Doran, Dan O'Sullivan; Conor O'Brien, Con O'Callaghan, Niall O'Callaghan.

Subs: Conor Groarke for O'Sullivan 41, Jamie Conroy for Niall O'Callaghan 45, Daniel Drummond for Danny Conroy 53, Killian O'Shea for Dunne 55, Luke Tracey for Eoghan O'Callaghan 56.

Castleknock: John Vahey; Andrew Hughes, Rob O'Shea, Tom Quinn; Kevin Stephenson, Ciarán Kilkenny, Dylan Clarke; Rob Shaw, Senan Forker; Conor Chawke, Shairoze Akram, Eoin Walsh; Lenny Cahill, Eoin Sawyer, Ben Galvin.

Subs: Shane Boland for Walsh h/t, Ger McDermottroe for Cahill h/t, Cian Boyle for Galvin 35, Darragh Warnock for Hughes 42, Eoin O'Brien for Quinn 56.

Referee: Ian Howley (O'Dwyer's).