Austin O'Malley proud of Cuala's 'mental resilience and resolve' to take historic win

IMMENSELY PROUD: Cuala manager Austin O'Malley, right, and Niall O'Callaghan celebrate after the AIB Leinster GAA SFC final. Picture: Ben McShane/Sportsfile

Leinster Club SFC final: Cuala (Dublin) 1-14 Ardee St Mary's (Louth) 2-10

Cuala claimed the AIB Leinster Club SFC title when overcoming a brave Ardee St Mary’s by the narrowest of margins at Croke Park on Saturday evening.

In doing so, they became the eleventh team from the capital to taste provincial success and the first club from Leinster to win provincial crowns in both codes.

That the contest should go right down to the last whistle seemed unlikely after twenty minutes as Cuala raced into a nine-point lead but an improved showing from Ardee after the break coupled with a black card received by Eoin Kennedy at the start of the final quarter helped swing the momentum significantly.

By that stage, St Mary’s trailed by six points but goals from influential substitute Ryan Rooney and Sean Callaghan inside sixty seconds turned the complexion of the encounter in an instant.

Cuala dug sufficiently deep into their reserves and managed to kick the crucial score as Luke Keating popped over a free two minutes into added time to secure his team’s victory.

“I’m just so proud of the guys there. That just went right down to the wire and before the game I thought it would,” said Cuala manager Austin O’Malley.

“We got a run on them in the first-half. We had a cushion but the black card had obviously a major bearing on things in the second-half.

“I knew that Ardee were going to come and they did. They clawed their way back and it’s just such a testament to the spirit of them and obviously the spirit of Louth football. It’s on an up at the moment.

“I’m so proud of our boys to hang in there and not to panic, to show the kind of mental resilience and resolve.

“We just kept going through the phases and found the final score to see it out. I’m immensely proud and so delighted for the club. It’s just an amazing and historic night,” added the former Mayo player.

Playing with the aid of a slight breeze blowing towards the Davin End, it was Cuala who dominated the early exchanges with scores from the evergreen Michael Fitzsimons and Niall O’Callaghan reflecting their initial control.

Con O’Callaghan rattled the Ardee crossbar in the 10th minute as Cuala found alarming gaps in the St Mary’s defence but he added two points in quick succession to maintain his team’s early supremacy.

With Ardee living a precarious existence at the back, they were eventually punished at the end of the first quarter as Con O’Callaghan and Conor O’Brien combined for the latter to fire clinically beyond Tiernan Markey from ten yards.

Cuala were driving forward in droves at this juncture as Con O’Callaghan converted his second free and a facile point from Keating left the Dalkey side nine points to the good by the 21st minute.

St Mary’s were unfortunate with a couple of attempts that drifted narrowly wide but they finally opened their account through a well-taken free by Ciarán Keenan in the 22nd minute.

That score had a settling effect on Ardee as they added two further points from placed balls via Jonathan Commins and Markey as they enjoyed their most productive spell of the half.

In contrast, Cuala were struggling in their decision making as they spurned a number of presentable chances but a Kennedy point in added time pushed them seven points clear by half-time.

The contest resumed with O’Brien curling an excellent score within thirty seconds of the restart but St Mary’s struck back immediately with their first score from play by Commins.

Neither side could establish any degree of ascendancy as Commins and Tadgh McDonnell added to the Ardee account but Cuala continued to keep them at arm’s length through points at the opposite end from Charlie McMorrow and Con O’Callaghan.

St Mary’s were indebted to Markey in the 40th minute as he denied Keating with a brave block from close range and they gained momentum from that intervention through successive points from Keenan and Dáire McConnon.

With Cuala reduced to fourteen, an ill-judgement from goalkeeper Ryan Scollard allowed Rooney to pounce in the 49th minute and a minute later, Scollard could not be faulted on this occasion as Callaghan angled a low shot into the bottom corner from eight yards.

A grandstand finish ensued with Rooney adding a brace of points to cancel out scores by Cal Doran and Keating (free) and it was the latter that sealed a famous victory for Cuala when converting a 62nd minute free.

Scorers for Cuala: C O’Brien (1-1); C O’Callaghan (0-4, 2f); L Keating (0-3, 2f); N O’Callaghan (0-2); M Fitzsimons, E Kennedy, C McMorrow, C Doran (0-1 apiece).

Scorers for Ardee St Mary’s: R Rooney (1-2); C Keenan (0-3, 3f); S Callaghan (1-0); J Commins (0-2, 1f); T Markey (0-1, f), T McDonnell, D McConnon (0-1 apiece).

CUALA: R Scollard; D Conroy, M Fitzsimons, E O’Callaghan; E Kennedy, C McMorrow, D O’Dowd; P Ó Cofaigh Byrne, P Duffy; C Dunne, C O’Brien, C Doran; L Keating, C O’Callaghan, N O’Callaghan. 

Subs: C Ó Giolláin for Dunne (38), M Conroy for D Conroy (43), C Groarke for O’Brien (44), S Mangan for O’Dowd (57).

ARDEE ST MARY'S: T Markey; K Moran, D McKenny, E Keenan; K Faulkner, T McDonnell, P McKenny; S Callaghan, RJ Callaghan; L Jackson, J Commins, S Matthews; C Keenan, D McConnon, T Jackson. 

Subs: R Rooney for Moran (43), R Carroll for Matthews (43), C Gillespie for Commins (53), R Leavy for RJ Callaghan (58).

Referee: Seamus Mulhare (Laois).