McMahon the DCU saviour
Eamonn Callaghan’s 46th minute goal put them 10 points ahead but they failed to score for the remainder of the game and it was DCU and Dublin corner-back Philly McMahon who palmed home the winning goal.
Kildare disputed that McMahon was in the square before Dean Rock, a real menace at full-forward in the second-half, squared it to him two minutes into injury-time.
McMahon had switched to the forward line after starting the game in the backs. The goal couldn’t have been sweeter for McMahon after Callaghan and himself had exchanged words following the Naas man’s goal.
Rock’s duel with Hugh McGrillen was an absorbing one and if the Kildare man had the best of it for the most part it was Rock who proved the catalyst in DCU’s dramatic comeback with two goals and an assist.
With the scoreline reading 1-12 to 0-5 in Kildare’s favour, Rock took receipt of a Killian Kehoe pass to blast the ball home.
Anto McFadden and Paul Flynn added points to narrow the gap to five before Rock gathered a long ball in and turned to find the net again.
Even though they were shouted on by a decent crowd, Kildare, who didn’t have Kieran McGeeney on the sideline, were living on fumes.
Substitute Joe Kavanagh had a chance for goal late on but was blocked while McMahon blazed wide before he ensured DCU claimed back the O’Byrne Cup they last won in 2010.
DCU had been the sharpest at the outset, Cavan’s Jack Brady looking their brightest spark. He won two frees inside the opening six minutes, Rock converting the second one.
Ciaran Cafferkey added the students’ second score after some nice build-up play with Rock obliging from play after claiming a long ball in from Cathal Cregg. It was looking a barren first quarter for Kildare, Ken Donnelly’s poor wide looking their closest chance to a score, when Callaghan pointed.
It turned out to be the first of nine unanswered scores for the Lilywhites in the space of 13 minutes as DCU continuously coughed up possession from Rob Hennelly’s restarts.
An Alan Smith free, after Karl Ennis had been upended, followed the effort from Callaghan who was truly orchestrating matters around the middle, winning break after break.
In the 18th minute, Caoimhin McDonnell kicked the first of three points in four minutes, each of them from distance.
Corner-back Shane Bergin and Ken Donnelly also had credits to their name while Des Lawlor stepped up with two of his own in succession, the first a well-executed kick form an acute angle.
That put Kildare six ahead, 0-9 to 0-3, and they only had one wide in the first-half.
It wasn’t until the 31st minute that DCU scored their fourth and last point of the half.
Hennelly’s 45 sailed between the posts after James McCarthy had brought the best out of Robert Eyres to palm the ball out past the dead-ball line.
Substitute Seamus Hanafin returned fire with a 45 of his own in injury-time, which restored Kildare’s six-point lead at the break, and they looked good for it.
DCU’s preparations for the game weren’t helped by traffic caused by a car accident which pushed the throw-in back 10 minutes.
They only arrived out onto the pitch with four minutes to spare before the rescheduled start.
They could have pointed to the rigours of their Sigerson Cup win over DIT a couple of days earlier, nine of the team that beat their Dublin rivals starting in Portlaoise.
But in the end, it was their will that won the day.
Scorers for DCU: D Rock 2-3 (0-2 frees); P McMahon 1-0; C Cafferkey, R Hennelly (45’), A McFadden, P Flynn 0-1 each.
Scorers for Kildare: E Callaghan 1-1; McDonnell 0-3; D Lawlor, S Hanafin (45) 0-2 each; A Smith (free), S Bergin, K Donnelly, H McGrillen 0-1 each
DCU: R Hennelly (Mayo); L Bree (Sligo), P McMahon (Dublin), E Culligan (Dublin); J McCarthy (Dublin), J Cooper (Dublin), C Cafferky (Roscommon); K Dooney (Monaghan), P Flynn (Dublin); K Keenan (Roscommon), F O’Shea (Cork), C Cregg (Roscommon); J Brady (Cavan), D Rock (Dublin), A McFadden (Donegal).
Subs: E O’Gara (Dublin) for Dooney (h-t); N Collins (Roscommon) for McCarthy (inj 47); K Kehoe (Wexford) for O’Gara (51); D Gavin (Westmeath) for Cregg (58); G Gibson (Kerry) for Keenan (62).
KILDARE: R Eyres; S Bergin, H McGrillen, D Barker; K Murnaghan, M Foley, K Ennis; C Feeney, P Dunne; C McDonnell, E Callaghan, T McCann; A Smith, K Donnelly, D Lawlor.
Subs: S Hanafin for McCann (34); J Kavanagh for McDonnell (58); A Dunne for Donnelly (68); B Noone for Lawlor (72).
Referee: Sean Carroll (Westmeath)
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