Lambert saves his best for Dublin

All-Ireland Colleges SHC and SFC Finals/Dublin Colleges 1-11 St Flannans 0-11: About an hour before throw-in the Dublin hurlers were pucking around the goalmouth when one of them decided to fire a shot from about two yards out. It never reached the net because Simon Lambert deflected it to safety with a flick of the hurley.

The Ballyboden St Enda's goalkeeper repeated the trick three times in the match itself to deny St Flannan's a record 15th All-Ireland hurling title. Lambert was just one of several heroes as Dublin hurling ended a long wait for recognition at national level.

"It's been coming for a good while and finally now all of Dublin hurling can have a bit of belief because these players showed that belief today," said manager Vincent Teehan.

What really impressed was their ability to respond to St Flannan's dizzyingly impressive hurling just before half-time.

"We came here to give a performance," continued Teehan, "not to let ourselves down. We had a great first half but with five minutes to go we lost it for a bit but it was crucial to get the first score after half-time, which we did. We had done this before against Midleton in the semi-final when we were six points down so we knew we could do it."

Early on, subtle differences between the sides seemed destined to send the Croke Cup to Clare. Dublin midfielder Dermot Connolly would occasionally hare down the wing only for his eventual delivery inside to be gobbled up by a ruthless St Flannan's full-back line.

When St Flannan's centre back Séamus Hickey - who came off the bench 24 hours previously for Limerick in the National League final - ran from deep he could only be stopped by a body check, which inevitably led to a pointed free. Even then he refused to go down. Hickey relentlessly tracked one of Dublin's key players, Ross O'Carroll, for the whole afternoon.

Derek Ryan had an off-day from long-range frees but St Flannan's looked the more complete outfit with Colm Madden and Conor Nealon causing panic among the Dublin defenders every time they gathered possession, which was often.

They were also playing more direct hurling, while Dublin midfielders Connolly and Shane O'Rorke were forced to think out each pass, such was the marking. They eventually edged the most enthralling of battles with Enda Barrett and Donnagh Stack.

Two frees from Conor Tierney put the defending champions into a 0-5 to 0-3 lead coming up to the break. St Flannan's then went for the jugular.

Dublin survived a savage and sustained onslaught, but only just. Nealon flashed a shot across the goalmouth after skinning Shane Murphy before a similar Madden raid was denied by Lambert's first brilliant save, only for Cork minor Stack to return the clearance over the bar.

Ciarán O'Doherty, who had taken over the long-range frees, and Nealon pointed in first-half injury-time to leave a four-point gulf between the sides. There looked to be no way back.

The response was valiant, as Hickey was hounded at every turn, but the St Flannan's final line needed to be tested. It is impossible to win an All-Ireland Colleges title when restricted to long-range efforts, even if O'Doherty was belting over 70-yard monsters down the other end.

The first sign of a dramatic revival came when Joey Maher dropped a ball in for Cian McBride, who found the half yard required to make the defence turn. A point was on but McBride's shot hit off the turf and skidded past Donal Touhy.

Paul Ryan added two quick points to push Dublin clear. All hell then broke loose in the middle third as St Flannan's were suddenly the team scrapping for their lives. Tierney did break through once more but Lambert produced wonder stop number two.

Dublin went clear again when Paul Ryan landed his sixth point with a free out near the touchline. Then Johnny Cooper grabbed a bullet from the sky and dissected the posts, ensuring the Ennis college needed a goal to survive.

Hickey was moved into full forward as the last few attacks rained down on the Dublin square. Eventually, Nealon got a sight of goal but his shot was smothered by Lambert.

DUBLIN COLLEGES: S Lambert; S Murphy, P O'Callaghan, M Brannigan; J Sheanon, C Connolly (capt), B Treacy; S O'Rorke, D Connolly (0-1); C McBride (1-0), R O'Carroll (0-1), J Maher (0-2); P Ryan (0-6, four frees), J Cooper (0-1), D Kelly. Subs: B Traynor for D Kelly (37 mins), P Buckeridge for P O'Callaghan (61 mins).

ST FLANNAN'S: D Touchy; C O'Doherty (0-2, two frees), C Cooney, S O'Reagan; E Glynn, S Hickey, D Ryan; E Barrett, D Stack (0-1); B Coffey, C Madden (capt, 0-1), R Horan; J Conlon (0-1), C Tierney (0-4, four frees), C Nealon (0-2). Subs: M Earley for B Coffey (28 mins), C O'Connell (57 mins).

Referee: D Murphy (Wexford).