Cuala dump champs Na Fianna to stay on course for Dublin double

They will face Kilmacud Crokes in the Dublin SHC final. Crokes overcame Lucan

Na Fianna's Tom Brennan in action against Cuala's Stephen Roche. Pic: ©INPHO/Ken Sutton

Dublin SHC semi-finals

A dream double of Dublin senior titles could be on the cards for Cuala after dumping holders Na Fianna out to secure their county SHC final place.

A week after the footballers locked down their SFC final spot, the Dalkey hurlers did likewise with a 2-21 to 1-19 semi-final win over four-in-a-row chasing Na Fianna.

Conall O'Toole and Colm Cronin supplied the crucial goals for Cuala who will face southside rivals Kilmacud Crokes in a glamour final back at Parnell Park.

Cuala finished strongly with the Cronin goal arriving late on while Crokes had to come from behind to overcome Lucan Sarsfields 0-20 to 0-19 in the second of Sunday's semi-finals.

The final will be a meeting of two unbeaten teams as both Cuala and Crokes topped their respective groups with five wins from five.

After subsequently enjoying comfortable quarter-final wins, both teams had much tougher semi-finals with Cuala delighted to lead Na Fianna by 1-11 to 0-11 at half time.

O'Toole's fourth minute goal separated the sides at that stage with Na Fianna boosted by the return from injury of talisman county forward Donal Burke.

Brothers Seán and Colin Currie took the frees for Na Fianna and sniped 0-9 between them overall but they chased Cuala for the majority of the second half.

O'Toole extended Cuala's lead early in the second half with a sumptuous score from a sideline cut and finished with 1-4, while Liam Murphy tallied 0-8, 0-5 from frees.

Na Fianna, All-Ireland club final winners at the start of 2025, were back within touching distance when AJ Murphy capitalised on a defensive error to hit the net.

But Cronin's goal in the closing stages, allied to singles from Murphy and Jake Malone, eased Cuala through to their first final since last collecting the title in 2020.

Lucan, beaten narrowly by Na Fianna in last year's decider, will be kicking themselves that they let Crokes off the hook in the later semi-final.

Crokes, who trailed by four points at half time, lost Brian Sheehy to a red card early in the second half.

Veteran Dublin defender Chris Crummey struck three points from play and his last helped Lucan to lead by two points with just five minutes remaining.

They couldn't hold on though as Crokes' Oisín O'Rorke tied it up in the 59th minute from a placed ball and stoppage time scores from goalkeeper Eddie Gibbons and substitute Ger Veale edged it for the Glenalbyn outfit.

Crokes got a strong kick from the bench with Veale and O'Rorke delivering two points apiece while replacements Ben Lynch and Darragh Geraghty also mined crucial points.