Kilmacud Crokes (Dublin) 1-24
St Mullin’s (Carlow) 1-12

Paul Keane reports from Croke Park

KILMACUD CROKES ARE on the brink of a remarkable double of AIB Leinster club title successes after powering through to next weekend’s hurling decider.

Another strong performance from ex-Dublin forward Oisin O’Rorke, who struck 0-11, helped secure the Stillorgan side’s place in next Sunday’s final against Ballyhale Shamrocks back at Croke Park.

It will be a double header of provincial finals on the afternoon and with the Crokes footballers also through to face The Downs, an historic occasion for the Glenalbyn club awaits.

What exactly dual player Brian Sheehy will do on the day remains to be seen though.

The former All-Ireland U-20 hurling finalist came on for the footballers last weekend and scored a point in their semi-final win over Portarlington while he started this time and got on the scoresheet again.

Sheehy had a strong game overall while goalscorer Ronan Hayes, Fergal Whitely and Micheal Roche impressed too for Kieran Dowling’s side who fell at the semi-final stage last season but are now through to their first ever decider.

St Mullin’s were looking for a fast start as they sought to pull off a win similar to their 2019 success against then Dublin title holders Cuala.

St Mullin’s went on to contest the provincial final with Ballyhale Shamrocks on that occasion and knew in advance of facing Crokes this time that the Kilkenny side had once again made it through to the decider.

Any hopes of a St Mullin’s/Ballyhale provincial final rematch were quickly wiped out though as Crokes opened up at a thunderous pace and immediately put significant daylight between the teams.

Crokes moved 0-4 to 0-1 ahead thanks in part to back to back points from O’Rorke and a further burst of 1-7 without response between the 16th and 23rd minutes went a long way to deciding this tie.

Roche got that blitz of scoring underway and the back to back Dublin champions reeled off five points in a row before Hayes struck his 21st minute goal after a clever solo run through the middle.

Hayes could have taken a handy point but, sensing St Mullin’s were vulnerable, went for the jugular and burst beyond centre-back Michael Walsh before volleying to the net.

O’Rorke added a point after another turnover in the St Mullin’s defence and with 23 minutes on the clock, Crokes now led by 1-11 to 0-3.

Crokes hit the interval with a commanding 1-13 to 0-06 lead and a horror half of hurling for St Mullin’s was perhaps summed up by star attacker Marty Kavanagh’s poor goal attempt from a 13th minute penalty – following Bill O’Carroll’s high tackle on Jason O’Neill – which flew tamely wide of Eddie Gibbons’ upright.

St Mullin’s did convert three points after the restart to hint at a potential revival, James Doyle, Conor Kehoe and Marty Kavanagh all splitting the posts.

But four Crokes points in response, all scored by the excellent O’Rorke, went a long way towards shutting the door on the underdogs.

Sheehy surged forward and pinched an excellent score from the left wing in the 49th minute.

By that stage, Crokes manager Dowling was starting to ring the changes and there was a sense of inevitability about the result as Kilmacud went through the motions in the closing minutes, stretching the gap to 14 points at one stage.

St Mullin’s, who beat Ferns of Wexford in the quarter-finals, did at least finish on a high with a well taken 62nd minute goal from Kehoe who danced through the Crokes defence after being set clear by Paddy Boland.

Kilmacud Crokes scorers: Oisin O’Rorke 0-11 (0-5f, 0-2 65), Fergal Whitely 0-3, Ronan Hayes 1-1, Dara Purcell 0-3, Micheal Roche 0-2, Brendan Scanlon 0-2, Brian Sheehy 0-1, Caolan Conway 0-1.

St Mullin’s scorers: Conor Kehoe 1-2, Marty Kavanagh 0-5 (0-4f), Paddy Boland 0-2, James Doyle 0-2, Jack Kavanagh 0-1.

Kilmacud Crokes

1. Eddie Gibbons

2. Brian Sheehy
3. Darragh Butler
4. Bill O’Carroll

5. Cian MacGabhann
7. Cian O Cathasaigh
6. Mark Grogan

8. Brian Hayes
13. Dara Purcell

12. Fergal Whitely
14. Ronan Hayes
10. Caolan Conway

11. Oisin O’Rorke
15. Brendan Scanlon
23. Micheal Roche

Subs
19. Cian Ryan for O’Carroll (20)
17. Robert O’Loughlin for Grogan (39)
21. Fionn O Ceallaigh for Conway (46)
27. Rory Smith for Butler (57)
20. Ronan Costello for O’Rorke (57)

St Mullin’s

1. Kevin Kehoe

4. Gary Bennett
3. Paul Doyle
2. John Doran

5. Paidi O Shea
6. Michael Walsh
7. Ger Coady

8. Jack Kavanagh
9. Paudie Kehoe

12. Conor Kehoe
11. James Doyle
10. Phillip Connors

13. Jason O’Neill
14. Marty Kavanagh
15. Paddy Boland

Subs
18. John Doyle for Bennett (24)
25. Eddie Doyle for Connors (46)
20. Oisin Ryan for O’Neill (46)
19. Cathal Connolly for O’Shea (60)
17. Paddy Walsh for Marty Kavanagh (61)

Referee: John Keenan (Wicklow).

The42 is on Instagram! Tap the button below on your phone to follow us!