Crokes beat Na Fianna to be crowned Dublin Féile Champions!

Posted on Sun, 16/05/2010 - 06:36

Kilmacud Crokes beat the odd and bring home the Dublin Feile na nGael trophy for the third time in the club’s history.

On a bright sunny Saturday morning the Crokes players gathered in the hurling arena to be addressed by the Hurling Chairman Tom Barry before heading across the Liffey to lock horns with St Vincents, Clontarf and Whitehall Colmcilles in Group 1 of the Division 1 Dublin Feile na nGael. With Tom’s word’s of encouragement ringing in their ears, the convoy headed off to Pairc Ui Uinseann where our hosts for the day, St Vincents were the first opposition.

Croke’s started strongly and based on a solid defence took control of the game and ended up winning by a margin of 2 goals and 7 points to St Vincents 4 points. Conor Gowing contributed 1 goal and 3 points, Alex Considine contributed 1 goal and 2 points while Peter Herlihy added 2 points to the Crokes tally. In the other game in the group, Whitehall beat Clontarf.

Next up was Clontarf and despite a lack lustre start, Crokes racked up a final tally of 2 goals and 12 points, while only conceding 1 goal and 1 point. The defence again playing a major role in this game and attack after attack was launched from an impressive half back line performance. The scorers in this game were Conor Gowing 1 goal and 3 points, Shane Veale 5 points (2 frees), Alex Considine 1 goal, and Sean Crowe, Peter Herlihy, Ryan Murphy and Eamon Allen all 1 point each. This victory now qualified Crokes for the semi finals as St Vincents and Whitehall drew in the other game in the group.

The last group game was against Whitehall, a side who have had the better of Crokes in the last 3 league encounters and with both sides requiring a win to secure top place in the group and thus avoiding Na Fianna in the semi finals, a tough game was in prospect. It turned out to be a tight game with both defences playing well and the standard of hurling was high, but a moment of magic from Conor saw the sliotar fly into the back of the net and that along with the some great long range points from midfield resulted in a 6 point margin in favour of Crokes at the final whistle. The final score was Crokes 1 goal and 8 points and Whitehall 1 goal and 2 points, the scorers for Crokers were Conor Gowing 1 goal and 2 points (1 free), Shane Veale 2 points and Peter Herlihy, Alex Considine, Tom Duke and Daniel Coakley 1 point each. St Vincents beat Clontarf in the other group game, but Whitehall went through to the semis as group runners up on score difference to face Na Fianna, while Crokes as group winners go through to play Ballyboden St Endas on Sunday morning, again in Pairc Ui Uinseann.

Sunday morning was another beautiful day and the Crokes headed back across the Liffey to face Ballyboden. Ballyboden started the stronger and opened up a 1 goal & 1 point lead in the opening few minutes before Crokes shook themselves awake and got back into the game with a couple of goals by Alex. Crokes were in control by half time but in a scrappy second half, Ballyboden had the upper hand and tagged on some great points but a couple of fortunate goals kept Crokes ahead and in the end had a 10 point lead. Scorers for Crokes were Alex Considine 4 goals, Eamon Allen 1 goal and 1 point (both from the 65’), Sean Keating 1 goal and 1 point and Conor Gowing 2 points (both frees). The final score was Crokes 6 goals and 4 points and Ballyboden 1 goal and 9 points. Na Fianna won the other semi final against Whitehall.

Crokes headed over the Parnell Park to face up to a much fancied Na Fianna side, armed with a spine of huge young men, all good hurlers who have unmercifully hammered Crokes in the league in recent years. Playing with the wind in the first half, Crokes raced into the lead and were 7 points up at half time. Crokes were playing with intelligence, using the wings and playing great fast ball into the full forward line, while the defence stood solid. In the second half, Na Fianna commenced an aerial bombardment on our fullback line, but the line held fast and did not concede any goals, however Na Fianna were picking off their points and narrowed the margin to 4 points. But a great converted 65’ into the strong wind by Shane brought the margin back to a more comfortable 5 points and eased the pressure especially for those watching in the grandstand and those on the sideline. At the final whistle, Crokes won with a score line of 2 goals and 6 points to 7 points. The Crokes scorers were Alex Considine 2 goals and 1 point, Shane Veale 2 points (1 free & 1 65’), Conor Gowing 2 points (1 free), Sean Keating 1 point (1 free).

The main feature of the team over the weekend was their great defensive work, starting in the full forward line, where none of the opposition backs ever had a easy time clearing ball and working its way back to the full back line, highlighted by an outstanding second half block by Lorcan on the Na Fianna full forward (all 6 foot 4 of him), to deny him an almost certain goal. Best of luck to Crokes as they head to Clare in June to take part in the All Ireland Feile na nGael.

The Crokes panel for the day was Adam O’Neill, Alex Considine, Barney Sultan, Cathal Keane, Cian O’Connor, Cillian O’Shea, Conor Gowing, Daniel Coakley, Des Dagg, Eamon Allen, Eoin Keane, Eoin McMahon, Francis O’Reilly, Lorcan Tucker, Mark McCallion, Mikey Crowley, Peter Herlihy (Capt), Ronan Kennedy, Ryan Murphy, Sean Crowe, Sean Keating, Shane Veale, Tadgh Murphy, Tom Duke with Mick Crowe (Manager), Kevin Coakley, Frances Herlihy, Niall Corcoran and Pat Halpin acting as the selectors.