Na Fianna Edge St Vincent’s in Thrilling Extra-Time Clash

Picture Courtesy Conor Ryan

AET

NA FIANNA 0-26

ST VINCENT’S 1-21 

Na Fianna kept their title defence ambitions alive as they overcame near neighbours St Vincent’s by two points after extra-time in their absorbing Go-Ahead Ireland Dublin Senior 1 Hurling Championshipsemi-final at Parnell Park on Sunday afternoon.

The holders looked out of sorts in a first-half that saw them lose both Conor McHugh and Peter Feeney through injury and St Vincent’s capitalised with three points apiece from Darach McBride and John Hetherton building a narrow 0-11 to 0-10 interval lead.

Seven Colin Currie frees after the break appeared to be sufficient for Na Fianna to prevail in normal time but a superb Conor Burke goal in the 64th minute left the teams requiring extra-time on a 0-20 to 1-17 scoreline.

There was almost a dramatic start to proceedings as Dónal Burke was hauled down close to goal within forty seconds but his resultant penalty lacked conviction with Dara Perry saving with a fair degree of comfort.

Buoyed by that let-off, St Vincent’s opened up brightly through points from James Mulcahy and Darach McBride and the returning Rian McBride pushed them three points clear by the 5th minute.

Na Fianna graduallyfound their range, opening their account through a Gavin King sideline before they restored parity by the 9thminute following points by Burke and the impressive Sean Currie.

Colin Currie added a brace of classy scores soon after and the holders appeared to be taking control of matters by the end of the first quarter as Burke scored his second point from play.

However, their opponents struck back with three unanswered points by Darach McBride, Conor Burke and Hetherton to regain the initiative and they should have netted in the 19thminute as Darach McBride seized on a Brian Ryan error only to shoot tamely to the left of Jonno Tracey, who saved comfortably.

Rian McBride doubled the Vinnies lead in an instant but Ryan atoned for his earlier mistake when landing two points from distance and an earlier Colin Currie score saw Na Fianna back into a marginal lead.

That lead didn’t last too long as Tom Connolly levelled matters in the 28th minute and an inspirational Darach McBride point secured a slender one-point lead for the Marino outfit by the interval.

Colin Currie restored parity with his first free of the contest a minute into the second-half and subsequent points from Currie (free) and King helped Na Fianna to regain their two-point buffer.

The ebb and flow continued with Connolly and Hetherton scoring at the opposite end, leaving the sides deadlocked at 0-13 apiece by the 37th minute.

Despite Colin Currie edging the holders back in front four minutes later, St Vincent’s continued to more than hold their own in open play but a trio of wides, including a brace of Hetherton frees, undermined their ambitions as the contest evolved.

Two further frees from Colin Currie handed Na Fianna some much-needed breathing room and a sublime Burke point from deep inside his own half pushed them three points clear by the 52nd minute.

St Vincent’s responded by bringing in the experience of Cian McBride and Alan Moore from the bench and the former made an instant impact when splitting the posts a minute later.

Connolly and Currie traded placed balls soon after but with the St Vincent’s shooting failing to match the accuracy of the opening half, they fell further behind as AJ Murphy fired over from twenty metres following smart play by substitute Diarmuid Clerkin.

Cian McBride’s dismissal in added time look to have further hindered their comeback ambitions but up stepped Burke with a classy finish into the bottom corner from fifteen metres to leave the teams on level terms by the final whistle.

The drama continued as Colin Currie and substitute Gavin Burke exchanged scores in the first period of extra-time with a Jack Meagher point edging Na Fianna into a 0-22 to 1-18 lead by the turnaround.

Currie added crucial frees in the final period and while Hetherton and Mark Sweeney kept the contest on a knife-edge, a long range free from Burke was enough to get Na Fianna over the line, with Kilmacud Crokes waiting them in the final.

Scorers – Na Fianna:C Currie 0-13 (10f); D Burke 0-4 (1f); G King (0-1 sideline), B Ryan, S Currie 0-2 each; C Stacey, AJ Murphy, J Meagher 0-1 apiece.St Vincent’s:J Hetherton 0-7 (4f, 1 sideline); C Burke 1-1; D McBride 0-4; T Connolly 0-3 (1 ‘65’); R McBride 0-2; M Sweeney, C McBride, J Mulcahy, G Burke 0-1 apiece.

Na Fianna:J Tracey;S Burke, C McHugh, D Ryan; P O’Dea, L Rushe, P Feeney; B Ryan, S Currie; C Stacey, C Currie, J Kavanagh; AJ Murphy, D Burke, G King. Subs:F Breathnach for McHugh (22), J Meagher for Feeney (30),D Clerkin for Kavanagh (41),W Wheatley for O’Dea (61), S Barrett for Murphy (69), S Ryan for King (79).

St Vincent’s:D Perry;D Twomey, B Moorhouse-Carroll, A Gilroy;E O’Neill, C Burke, C Dolan; T Connolly, S Mulcahy; M Sweeney, J Hetherton, S Gormley; D McBride, R McBride, J Mulcahy. Subs:B Bolger for J Mulcahy (46),C McBride for Twomey (49), D Peel for Sweeney (51), A Moore for Gormley (54), G Burke for S Mulcahy (62), Sweeney for Bolger (69), C O’Neill forMoore(74), S Williams for O’Neill (79).

Referee: Damien Burnett (Craobh Chiaráin).