Cuala cruise past Coolderry after focused performance

Cuala 1-23 Coolderry 0-12

They say getting out of Dublin is the hard part, and Cuala certainly made their first venture into Leinster look perfectly easy. For the suave Dalkey club that hadn't won a county title in 21 years, this latest victory was also perfectly resounding.

Not that beating the Offaly champions on their home turf is ever a simple task. It did require some considerable effort, Cuala showing an ample abundance of that over the hour – while Coolderry will feel their own effort let them down.

Next up for Cuala are Kilkenny champions Clara, this coming Sunday, although this time the Dublin club will have home advantage. It will also mark their third championship game in as many weeks, although Cuala manager Mattie Kenny is more than happy to take each challenge as it comes.

Ambitious

“Even after winning the Dublin title, last Saturday, nobody even mentioned Leinster,” he said. “We wanted to let them enjoy the county title, their first for a while. But as soon as we got back during the week they were ready to go again. They’re an ambitious bunch of guys. They’ve been trying very hard to win the Dublin title for the last few years, and when you win it, you want to keep pushing on, and they’re certainly doing that.”

Indeed Cuala – aided by the breeze – took charge of this game early on and never let up. David Treacy was a model of reliability with the placed ball, and ended up converting the perfect dozen by the end – 12 out of 12 frees – each one struck as majestically as they next.

Younger brother Seán was also foraging for plenty of ball up front, as was Mark Schutte, who was rewarded for his efforts with 1-2, his late goal putting the icing on the cake.

Darragh O’Connell also epitomised Cuala’s superior pace and fitness with a succession of searing runs from midfield, the Kerry native helping himself to 0-2 in the process.

Defensively Cuala were equally up to the task, frustrating the Coolderry forwards in every sense. In fact their captain Brian Carroll lost his cool completely on 44 minutes when making a succession of strikes on Cuala defender Shane Stapleton.

Carroll was shown a straight red card, while Stapleton had to be replaced with a suspected broken finger on his right hand. That leaves the Tipperary man doubtful for next Sunday, although Stapleton will be determined to play some part.

Benefit

As a game it also provided plenty of thought for those of us who like to label these club fixtures as a sort of addendum to the championship: Dublin hurling can only benefit from whatever run Cuala can make in this campaign, while for Offaly hurling there is less and less to cheer about. Coolderry were actually fancied to challenge again for the Leinster title they won four years ago, and instead new Offaly manager Eamon Kelly will feel like he’s starting from absolute scratch.

Coolderry went into the break double scores in arrears, Cuala up 0-12 to 0-6. They then went further behind, and while they did bring it back to six again – mainly to the free-taking of Damien Murray – once they lost Carroll to the red card they’d reached the point of no return.

Cuala substitutes Nicky Kenny and Niall Carty both scored when coming off the bench, bringing their spread of scorers to an impressive 10.

“Conditions on the way down were very difficult,” added Kenny, “and we didn’t really know what to expect, other than a huge battle. We played with the wind the first half, and managed to open that bit of a gap before half-time. That gave us the breathing space, but then they had the nice breeze for the second half, so it never quite felt like a winning lead.

“In fairness to the lads, in all their games in Dublin this year they’ve battled hard until the end. They work hard, compete for every ball, and then we try freshen it up for the last 10 minutes. That’s been our template all year.”

“And it’s just about keeping the scoreboard ticking. That’s all you can do. David Treacy was very good under the frees again, and at this time of the year, those scores are vital, and hard come by. Then you had Seán Treacy and Mark Schutte and Colm Cronin fighting for every ball up front and trying to make it stick, and they did well.”

“So we’re delighted to be in the position. I haven’t seen much of Clara, but any team that comes in as Kilkenny champions will have a huge reputation, huge quality, and it will be another huge battle.”