If ever Mick O'Keeffe needed to get his full body-weight and striking-power behind a free, it was when he had the undivided attention of 7,000 spectators at the death of this rough and tumble Dublin football final in Parnell Park on Saturday.
Crokes' free-taker O'Keeffe was saddled with the task of finding a last-gasp equalising point with a 45-metre free five minutes into injury-time, but his attempt fell far short of its target.
Referee John Rutherford had a difficult task all day, issuing seven yellow cards and sending off Crokes' midfielder Darren Magee for illegal use of the boot.
Na Fianna's Jason Sherlock summed up his team's escape. "Okay, we didn't play well, but that won't be written on the cup." Kilmacud Crokes were generally always playing catch-up football after they came off second best in a three-goal blitz (two for Na Fianna and one for them) in a five-minute spell before half-time.
Na Fianna: S Gray; N O Murchu, B McManus, T Lynch; N Clancy, S McGlinchy, D Lynch; K Donnelly, K McGeeney (1-1); M Galvin (1-3, two frees), S Connell, D Farrell; I Foley [RO ] (0-1), J Sherlock (0-1), D Macken. Subs: P McCarthy for McGlinchy (29 mins), A Shearer for D Lynch (45), D Keegan for Foley (50).
Kilmacud Crokes: M Pender; J O'Donovan, C Deegan, F Kennedy; J O'Callaghan, C O'Dwyer, R Leahy; J Magee, D Magee; P Ward (0-1), M Leahy, I O'Sullivan (1-0); R Cosgrove, R Brennan, M O'Keeffe (0-7, four frees). Subs: C Cleary for Kennedy (47 mins), J Costelloe for Brennan (50).
Referee: J Rutherford (Dublin).
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)