Cork influence helps Kilmacud Crokes clinch Dublin title
PURPLE REIGN: Oisin O'Rorke celebrates with his team mates. Pic: INPHO/James Lawlor
A homegrown Dublin SHC title success for Kilmacud Crokes but with a little dash of Cork in there for good measure.
Joint Crokes manager Paddy Linehan described Saturday's powerful performance, which clinched an eighth title for the club, as their best display of the season.
From the game's first score after 25 seconds, a point from the excellent Brian Hayes, Crokes operated in top gear and Cuala existed largely in their slipstream.
Dublin midfielder Hayes was terrific all evening, exhausting himself as usual and providing a series of sumptuous score assists, like the pinged pass away to his left for Oisín O'Rorke's 38th-minute goal.
That was pretty much the clinching score, leaving Crokes nine points clear in a relatively low-scoring encounter dominated by high winds and occasional downpours of rain.
Brian's big brother, Ronan, helped himself to 1-6 while a strong defensive effort restricted Cuala, who were chasing a county SHC and SFC double, to just a dozen points, and only four from open play.
Linehan hailed the quality of his group, noting that the majority of them have represented Dublin at some level from minor up.
But back to the Cork influence. That has come from the other joint manager, John Dillon, who has helped this group recover its mojo after a challenging couple of seasons.
"John came to the club from Cork, he had actually played for Cork seniors at one stage," said Linehan, referencing the Midleton man who once marked Anthony Daly in a Harty Cup final. "He played minor and U-21 for Cork. So he came along and we were playing for the second team in the club, we were playing midfield together. Little did we know that we'd end up joining together as managers.
"We've been managing underage and minor teams and adult teams for the last 20 years. The two of us have been on the road with the club. Everything about this has been homegrown, grown in-house. It's brilliant."
Linehan felt there was a significant job of work for he and Dillon to get through after the 2024 county final loss to Na Fianna.
"That was devastating," he said. "And I think they found it very hard with the new management, myself and John, taking over last year, to build themselves back into the mindset of wanting to go that extra mile from that disappointment.
"We got our thoughts together at the start of this year. We changed up the infrastructure of the backroom. We brought in a very good coach, with Eoin Roche, and Peter Byrne, and the lads worked hard.
"With the split season, and so many lads in with the county, it was very hard for us to really get any momentum in relation to developing strategies. But all the Dublin lads that came back in, they stepped up to the mark. They delivered. And look, we're county champions."
Aside from capturing that eighth title, and a first since 2022, Crokes' reward is a return to the Leinster club SHC. They will play Mount Leinster Rangers, in Carlow, in a provincial quarter-final on November 8.
"We'll be taking Leinster really seriously," said Linehan. "Cuala have won two All-Irelands. Na Fianna won an All-Ireland. We've been beaten in one Leinster final.
"We were beaten by Ballyhale in that one, 2022, just didn't turn up in the first half. We went out and expressed ourselves in the second half. Look, we know what's in our dressing-room. We know what's in this team. We know what's in the talent coming through in the club. Fingers crossed we can drive on in Leinster."
Donal Murphy's Cuala didn't land a point from play until the 29th minute and never really got going, trailing 0-6 to 1-11 at half time. The wind advantage made little difference after the restart.
Murphy denied that the double bid weighed heavily on the hurlers.
"We talked about how there was only one cup that this group was interested in, even though we were delighted for the footballers and the whole club," said Murphy. "So no, I don't think it got in the way. We'll have to look back and see why we didn't play to our potential and the level we were playing all year."
R Hayes (1-6, 0-3 frees); O O'Rorke (1-0); C Ó Riain, F Donohoe (0-3 each); F Whitely (0-2); B Hayes, Dara Purcell, A Considine (0-1 each).
: L Murphy (0-5, 5 frees); D O'Shea (0-4, 3 frees); J Conroy, C Groarke, K Kirwan (0-1 each).
E Gibbons; B Lynch, B Sheehy, D Lucey; C Ó Riain, M Grogan, C Ó Cathasaigh; B Hayes, C Conway; F Whitely, B Kenny, F Donohoe; A Considine, R Hayes, Dara Purcell.
Subs: O O'Rorke for Kenny (h/t); G Veale for Donohoe (48); P Linehan for Conway (53); S Purcell for Considine (58).
: S Brennan; E O'Callaghan, A English, C O'Callaghan; S Moran, C Groarke, D Ó Floinn; J Malone, D O'Shea; G O'Toole, C Sheanon, J Conroy; C O'Toole, C Cronin, L Murphy.
Subs: K Kirwan for Sheanon (38); S Roche for Male (48); D Treacy for C O'Toole (55); J Twomey for Cronin (56); A Sheeran for O'Callaghan (63).
: S Stack (Pobal Parnell).
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