Errigal Ciaran fightback falls short as Cuala triumph

Errigal Ciaran's stirring second-half comeback fell short as Cuala clinched their first All-Ireland Senior Club Football Final title by holding on to win 3-14 to 1-16 at Croke Park.

The Ballygawley club were the first Tyrone club to reach the decider and looked shell-shocked after goals from Cal Doran, David O'Dowd and Peadar O Cofaigh Byrne put Cuala 3-6 to 0-1 ahead after 25 minutes.

To make matters worse for the Tyrone men, star forward Darragh Canavan had been forced off by injury after only 21 minutes.

Cuala's advantage was still a whopping 3-9 to 0-5 at the interval but Errigal Ciaran were a transformed team following the resumption as Peter Harte's sensational 40th-minute goal cut the deficit to 3-11 to 1-11.

The lead was down to three with two minutes of normal time left as the inspirational Harte pointed after Tommy Canavan had brought his scoring haul up to 0-6.

Left-footed free-taker Canavan, previously impeccable after taking the placed ball duties following his cousin's departure, then dropped a 30-metre free short before Cuala's star forward Con O'Callaghan made a vital block in his own defence after a Harte run had set up a sniff of goal chance from Peter Og McCartan.

From the turnover, Cuala charged downfield with substitute Conor Groarke fisting the insurance point as the Dubliners joined Cork team St Finbarr's as the only clubs to win the All-Ireland Club Senior Football and Hurling titles.

Errigal Ciaran goalscorer Harte was red carded in the closing seconds which was not the way for his afternoon to end after rallying his team-mates brilliantly in the second half.

Cal Doran stroked in Cuala's opening goal in the fifth minute and the Dublin side went to rack up 3-9 by half-time as they led by 13 points at the break

After being so dominant in the second period, the Errigal Ciaran players will likely have nightmares about their first-half efforts.

Right from the off, Cuala were able to run right through the Ulster champions in the opening half hour as Errigal were completely unable to summon up the vitality that they had displayed in spades on the way to the All-Ireland deciders.

The game had been billed as a potential scoring shootout between O'Callaghan and the Canavan brothers Darragh and Ruairi, with the other big talking tactical point Dublin great Mick Fitzsimons' potential influence in the Cuala defence.

Fitzsimons did indeed make a big initial impact but it was at the other end of the field as his perfectly-weighted pass released a charging Doran to blast to the Errigal Ciaran net in the fifth minute after Harte had been turned over in the Cuala half.

A Tommy Canavan free got Errigal Ciaran on the board moments later to cut Cuala's lad to three but the contest completely got away from the Ballygawley men over the next 18 minutes as the Dubliners hit an unanswered 2-5.

O'Callaghan dropping deep to stroke over unchallenged score from 35 metres summed up Errigal Ciaran's strangely stand-offish approach and the Tyrone side's defence was completely breached again in the 11th minute as Peadar O Cofaigh Byrne's fast hands released O'Dowd to fire past Darragh McAnenly.

Free-takers O'Callaghan and Luke Keating continued to pile on the agony for Errigal Ciaran before another run straight through the middle by Cuala's star attacker set up a pointblank chance for O Cofaigh Byrne that he hammered soccer-style to the net.

Joe Oguz finally got Errigal scoring again in the 25th as the Tyrone men produced a mini-rally to hit four of the next five points but responses from the O'Callaghan brothers Niall and Con left 13 between the sides at the interval.

The Errigal Ciaran players will rue a first-half display which saw them being totally over-run by a rampant Cuala

After their woeful first-half efforts, some kind of Errigal Ciaran response was an inevitability but they still deserve huge credit for putting Cuala under genuine pressure in the second period.

Harte kicked an Errigal Ciaran point 23 seconds after the restart and the veteran led his team's revival by example.

With Tommy Canavan (twice), Ciaran McGinley and Ruairi Canavan on target, Errigal hit five of the first scores after the restart and while an O'Dowd point gave Cuala a double-figures lead once more (3-11 to 0-10) then came Harte's goal which will surely go down as one of the great finishes at Croke Park as he rifled a left-footed shot from a tight angle some 14 yards out past Ryan Scollard.

The lead was down to five by the 45th minute after an exquisite finish from a tight angle by Tommy Canavan was followed by a Ruairi Canavan free after the normally composed Fitzsimons had handled on the ground.

Moments later, Ruairi Canavan went for goal only to slice wide, with the Errigal Ciaran man arguing that referee Paddy Neilan should have awarded him a free.

And while a Peter Duffy score left Cuala six up after 48 minutes that was their final score until Conor Groarke's injury-time clincher as scores from Tommy Canavan, substitute Padraig McGirr and Harte remarkably left only a kick of the ball between the sides with two minute of normal time left.

Amid incredible tension, there still seemed time for Errigal Ciaran to complete the greatest comeback since Lazarus but Canavan's dropped-short free and Con O'Callaghan's vital block eased Cuala's nerves as Groarke's score closed out their victory.

Cuala: Ryan Scollard; Danny Conroy, Michael Fitzsimons, Eoghan O'Callaghan; Eoin Kennedy, Charlie McMorrow, David O'Dowd (1-1); Peader O'Cofaigh Byrne (1-1), Peter Duffy (0-1); Cillian Dunne, Conor O'Brien, Cal Doran (1-0), Luke Keating (0-3), Niall O'Callaghan (0-2), Con O'Callaghan (0-5).

Subs: Michael Conroy for Cillian Dunne 49 mins, Cathal O'Giollain for Danny Conroy 55, Conor Groarke (0-1) for Conor O'Brien 42

Not used: Darragh O'Dowd, Luke Tracey, John Fitzsimons, Shane Mangan, James Power, Jamie Conroy, Liam Fitzgerald, Aodhan English, Tom Magee, Jamie Keenan, Dan O'Sullivan, Daragh McAdam.

Errigal Ciaran: Darragh McAnenly; Ciaran Quinn, Aidan McCrory, Cormac Quinn; Peter Og McCartan, Niall Kelly, Tiarnan Colhoun; Ben McDonnell, Joe Oguz (0-1); Peter Harte (1-2), Thomas Canavan (0-6), Ciaran McGinley (0-1); Odhran Robinson (0-1), Darragh Canavan, Ruairi Canavan (0-3).

Subs: Eoin Kelly for McGinley 48, Mark Kavanagh for Darragh Canavan 21 mins, Padraig McGirr (0-1) for Robinson 52, Ronan McRory for Thomas Canavan 63

Not used: Stephen McMenamin, Aaron McAnenly, Bryan Horisk, Dara McGinley, Dermot Morrow, Michael Quinn, Pauric Traynor, Peter O'Hanlon, Ryan Ward, Ronan O'Sullivan, Tomas Mullin.