Sarsfields hurlers fail to fire as Na Fianna power to first club All-Ireland
Sarsfields goalkeeper Ben Graham makes a first-half save from Na Fianna's AJ Murphy at Croke Park. Picture: Eddie O'Hare
At no point did Sarsfields lead. They didn’t reach a fraction of their potential.
A shadow of the team we’d seen in the past three games.
Their hopes of winning an All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship title faded away all too quickly, as Na Fianna made it look easy in Croke Park on Sunday.
If you were told Sars would be eight points down after 16 minutes, you would have expected Na Fianna to have at least one goal, if not two.
When Na Fianna did eventually raise a green flag after 21 minutes, the margin between the teams was increased to 10. By the end of the half, it was 12. Yes, the wind advantage enjoyed by the Dublin champions must be factored in.
But Sars were already out of reach. Na Fianna were finding runners on both flanks, their full-forward line were immense. They were dominant in the middle.
Their opponents had no answer for it.
Two Sars points from play in the first half. Nine chances from play created, while Na Fianna had 19 opportunities.
Dublin senior Donal Burke had scored as many as the entire Sars team from play, but had an excellent long-range free and assist to go with that. On the resumption, Sars improved. They had as many scores from play in six minutes as they had in the previous half.
With Na Fianna keeping pace, Sars needed to be perfect. One mistake, and it was over.
Ciarán Stacey stole possession. The collective gasp from the crowd was foreshadowing. He popped a handpass to Brennan, who made no mistake in the 42nd minute, 2-20 to 0-12.
There was still no let-up from the Dublin champions. Their lead had reached 15 with 10 minutes to go.
With the game over as a contest, Sars fought on. O’Connor kept trying to make things happen, he had a shot well saved by Jonathan Tracey. Killian Murphy made an exceptional run down the flank, and that could have led to a goal.
But the goal always eluded the Munster champions, who couldn’t get any closer than the nine-point deficit they finished with.
Credit goes to Na Fianna. They were blistering in the first half.
It could have been a very different start, though.
Aaron Myers found an unmarked Cathal McCarthy with a clear run at goal, within seconds of throw-in. He looked for an opening but was smothered by the Na Fianna full-back line.
Similarly, 11 minutes later they had another excellent opportunity to go green. Cathal McCarthy picked out O’Connor.
He dropped his man with a clever shimmy and tried to flick the ball over the head of Seán Burke. But O’Connor was instead met with a stern challenge and lost possession.
At that stage, Sars were four behind. A goal would have greatly helped their cause. Instead, Na Fianna drove off into the distance. Brian Ryan ran the show in midfield, captain Burke was immense. Brennan was unstoppable. AJ Murphy was relentless.
Sars first score from play wouldn’t arrive until the 20th minute, with Daniel Kearney’s strike reducing arrears to seven points.
The response from Na Fianna? Goal.
Jack Meagher waltzed through the Sars defence and set up Brennan for a simple finish, 1-10 to 0-3 with 21 minutes elapsed.
Another free from Myers followed before O’Connor landed his first point.
Even still, it looked like Na Fianna were playing with 16 men. Sars were second to every ball and were chasing shadows.
That point became even more obvious as the Dublin champions added a further three points without reply, to take the game beyond reach.
T Brennan 2-1, C Currie 0-6 (0-5 f, 0-1 65), AJ Murphy 0-5, D Burke (0-1 f), B Ryan 0-3 each, C Stacey 0-2, S Currie, J Meagher, P O’Dea 0-1 each.
A Myers 0-10 (0-8 f), J O’Connor 0-5, D Kearney 0-3 (0-1 65), D Hogan, B Murphy 0-1 each.
J Tracey; S Burke, C McHugh, K Burke; P O’Dea, L Rushe, P Feeney; B Ryan, S Currie; J Meagher, D Burke (c), C Stacey; T Brennan, AJ Murphy, C Currie.
D Clerkin for Ryan (53), G King for Brennan (56), D Ryan for O’Dea (58), S Barrett for Muprhy (61), S Ryan for J Meagher (62).
B Graham; C Roche, C O’Sullivan (c), P Leopold; B Murphy. E Murphy, L Elliott; Colm McCarthy, Cathal McCarthy; D Kearney, D Hogan, C Darcy; J Sweeney, J O’Connor, A Myers.
S O’Regan for Darcy, C Leahy for Elliott (both HT), L Healy for Colm McCarthy (39), K Murphy for E Murphy (46), E O'Sullivan for Sweeney (51).
Liam Gordon (Galway).
App?
