Niall O’Callaghan stars as Cuala navigate late Naas comeback to reach Leinster semi-finals

Cuala survived a late Naas recovery to win their place in the Leinster club football semi-final. They ensured their travelling support, who had arrived in Newbridge on a chartered train, would hit the return tracks to Dalkey in good mood.
It was another unavailing clash with the Dublin champions for their Kildare counterparts, who had been eliminated in each of the three previous years by Cuala’s predecessors, Kilmacud Crokes.
Unlike those encounters in which they tended to fade in the closing stages, Saturday night played out in reverse with the Dubliners in control until the last 10 minutes after a shot from Alex Beirne, which Ryan Scollard appeared to have covered, somehow ran all the way to the net, reducing the margin to two, 2-13 to 1-14.
The home support rallied and the match simmered. Cuala had the character-building finale to the Dublin final when they weathered another late goal as well as the rescinded red-carding of Con O’Callaghan and they eventually saw out the match.
Naas will be particularly disappointed because they were well in contention until the third quarter and when their unexpected revival was triggered in the closing minutes they weren’t sufficiently clinical with the chances that came their way.
Goalkeeper Luke Mullins had an unhappy evening off the tee and the missed 45 at the end was his third from placed balls. His opposite number Scollard had landed one 45 but suffered a bit from the jitters as if slightly unnerved by the goal.
He fumbled on a couple of occasions but was relieved to see Con O’Callaghan on hand to lift the siege, and in injury-time at the end Naas captain Eoin Doyle came rushing in but only succeeded in nudging the ball wide.
The final act was a confirmation score for Cuala, as 49th-minute replacement Conor Groarke, who had a terrific cameo for 0-3 from play.
The scoring hero for the Dalkey club was Niall O’Callaghan, younger brother of Con, who hit 1-5 from play, underwriting the success of their first venture into the AIB Leinster championship.
In the opening stages, it was Naas who threatened more. It took a goal from Luke Keating, set up by Niall O’Callaghan’s blocked shot in the fourth minute to keep the Dubliners afloat and it was all they scored for 12 minutes. In the meantime, Darragh Kirwan was running amok and together with Tom Browne, scored 0-4 to give them the lead.
Cuala looked vulnerable to their opponents’ quick breaking and fast movement but eventually the match settled into an entertaining encounter with points swapped and Naas extending their lead to two with points from Kirwan and Ryan Sinkey. But the visitors finished strongly with a couple of points from Con O’Callaghan and another from wing back David O’Dowd giving them a 1-7 to 0-9 half-time lead.
The 10 minutes after half-time gave Cuala a firm grip on the match, as they outscored their opponents 1-3 to 0-2. The goal was created by Con O’Callaghan’s drive and assist for Niall to supply a good finish.
It looked as if they would pull away. They were getting a good platform at centrefield where Peter Duffy and Peadar Ó Cofaigh Byrne won good possession and the defence, with Michael Fitzsimons leading the way but with good support, coped far more effectively than at the start.
To Naas’s credit they plugged away and took points here and there to prevent things getting out of hand and that put them in a position to threaten the late comeback.
Cuala will know on Sunday their semi-final opponents, when Tullamore take Wicklow champions Tinahely.
CUALA: R Scollard (0-1, 45); D Conroy, C McMorrow, E O’Callaghan; D O’Dowd (0-2), M Fitzsimons, E Kennedy; P Ó Cofaigh Byrne, P Duffy; N O’Callaghan (1-5), C Dunne, C Doran; L Keating (1-1, 0-1f), C O’Callaghan (0-3, 0-1f), C O’Brien.
Subs: M Conroy for Dunne (h-t); C Groarke (0-3) for O’Brien (49 mins), C Ó Giolláin for O’Dowd (60), L Tracey for McMorrow (63).
NAAS: L Mullins; C McCarthy, M Maguire, R Fitzgerald; B Byrne, E Doyle, E Lawlor; J Burke, Paul McDermott; Paddy McDermott (0-3), T Browne (0-2), A Beirne (1-2, 0-2f); D Hanafin, D Kirwan (0-5), R Sinkey (0-1).
Subs: N Aherne for Browne (35 mins), C Daly (0-1) for Fitzgerald (43), S Hanafin (0-1) for Sinkey (45), K Cummins for Paul McDermott (57), E Beirne for Lawlor (58).
Referee: David Coldrick (Meath).