Na Fianna eventually get warmed up and manage to see off Clough Ballacolla

Shortly before throw-in at Parnell Park on Sunday, a wild stinging shower gusted in from the Malahide Road. The sky was grey, the air was cold, the pitch was heavy. Everything about the occasion screamed winter hurling.
Outside the ground the Green Party handed out election leaflets, but they would have got a bigger uptake had they some eco-friendly hand warmers to distribute.
Inside the ground Na Fianna took their time to warm up but eventually got to grips with their Laois opponents – the Dublin champions led by five points at the turnaround and by 11 at the final whistle to set up a semi-final against St Martin’s of Wexford.
“It was messy, about 15 or 20 minutes or so before throw-in the rain came down,” said Na Fianna manager Niall O Ceallacháin. “Underfoot conditions were difficult, you saw a lot of lads slipping, it was hard to secure the ball.”
Two of Na Fianna’s three goals came in the closing minutes of the contest and while those scores put a gloss on the final score, there had been little doubt for large chunks of the game that the Mobhi Road side were the stronger of the teams.
Still, they couldn’t put Clough Ballacolla away until those late strikes as the Laois side refused to yield at any stage.
“I suppose you’re crying out for a goal which can close it out for you,” added O Ceallacháin.
“The goals just came a bit later than we would have hoped. I think very little happened for about nine or 10 minutes at the start of the second half. Play was very stop-start with sidelines, frees, rucks and things.”
One of Clough Ballacolla’s main problems was an overreliance on Stephen ‘Picky’ Maher for scores, he accounted for 1-9 of their total.
Maher started the game brightly and was a constant headache for Na Fianna in those early exchanges, scoring 1-3 in the opening 10 minutes to see the visitors lead 1-4 to 0-3.
The goal was the result of a lovely diagonal crossfield pass from Willie Dunphy, who was playing deep, the flight of the ball beating Kevin Burke and allowing Maher to race clean through on goal.
But just as Clough Ballacolla threatened to build up some momentum, Na Fianna took the sting out of that strike by popping over a point within seconds, Donal Burke halting the Laois side’s gallop.
The game swung in Na Fianna’s favour midway through the first half when they hit six unanswered points in a nine-minute period, moving from three behind to three in front.
Kevin Mulhall stopped the rot for Clough Ballacolla with a nice score in the 23rd minute but just before the interval Ciarán Stacey – the hero of the Dublin county final – made another big play when he drilled a hole in the Clough Ballacolla defence and arrowed the ball to the top corner of Cathal Dunne’s net.
Leading 1-12 to 1-7 at the turnaround, Na Fianna were able to hold their opponents at arm’s length during the second half – the gap never fell below five at any stage thereafter.
In the 55th minute Stacey used his explosive speed to slice open a goal-scoring chance again but unselfishly offloaded to AJ Murphy, who made no mistake with his finish, 2-19 to 1-13.
Just moments later Na Fianna sub Seán Ryan was bundled to the ground by Joe Corby. Penalty. Goalkeeper Jonathan Tracey came up the field and made no mistake with the execution of the opportunity. Job done. Next up, St Martin’s of Wexford on Sunday.
“We haven’t actually played them before, they’re one of the few teams we haven’t played before so I’m looking forward to that. It’ll be a massive challenge obviously so we’ll look forward to it,” added O Ceallacháin.
But on a day when Kilkenny champions Thomastown were knocked out of the competition, all four clubs remaining will believe they can win this Leinster championship.
Na Fianna were beaten in the final by O’Loughlin Gaels last December. Finding a way back to that stage and actually getting over the line this time must now be the target.
“We felt in the final last year that we worked well for a lot of periods and probably just the last few minutes we couldn’t close it out,” said O Ceallacháin.
“It’s obvious to say that our goal is to win Leinster but the thing in front of our noses now is St Martin’s next Sunday. But is it a driving force to win the Leinster championship? Of course it is, and we’ll drive it on hopefully next Sunday.
“It doesn’t matter that the Kilkenny champions are gone, the Westmeath champions are there, they won the game for a reason. They were obviously the stronger team, the better team.
“The reality is that the best pair will be in the final and the best team will win the Leinster championship.”
It’s starting to warm up now, this winter hurling.
NA FIANNA: Jonathan Tracey (1-0, penalty); Seán Burke, Conor McHugh, Kevin Burke; Paul O’Dea (0-1), Liam Rushe, Peter Feeney; Brian Ryan (0-1), Seán Currie (0-1); Jack Meagher (0-2), Colin Currie (0-7, 4f, 2 65s), Ciarán Stacey (1-1); AJ Murphy (1-4), Donal Burke (0-2), Gavin King. Subs: Diarmuid Clerkin (0-1) for King (46 mins); Seán Ryan for Brian Ryan (51 mins); Joe Kavanagh for D Burke (55 mins); Donal Ryan for O’Dea (59 mins); Gerry Spollen for C Currie (60 mins).
CLOUGH BALLACOLLA: Cathal Dunne; Cormac Hogan, Darren Maher, Joe Corby; Diarmaid Conway, Lee Cleere, Jordan Walshe; Aidan Corby (0-1), Kevin Mulhall (0-1); Robbie Phelan (0-1), Cillian Dunne (0-2), Willie Dunphy; Mark Hennessy, Stephen Bergin (0-1), Stephen Maher (1-9, 0-7f). Subs: Joseph Pearson for D Maher (42 mins); Padraig Brennan for Hennessy (50 mins); Seán Corby for Dunne (59 mins).
Referee: Eamon Furlong (Wexford).