Na Fianna hold firm to take Leinster crown

Na Fianna (Dublin) 2-22 Kilcormac/Killoughey (Offaly) 2-16

AJ Murphy struck the crucial goal as Na Fianna held firm at Croke Park to claim the AIB Leinster club SHC title and a famous Dublin double.

Just one point separated the sides in an entertaining back-and-forth after Conor Mahon's goal for 2012 champions Kilcormac/Killoughey in the 39th minute.

The Offaly champions had momentum on their side at that stage having cut a half-time deficit of five points to the minimum with a strong third quarter.

But Murphy's goal shortly after the Mahon strike put Na Fianna back in pole position and they sped to a famous victory from there.

Free-taker Colin Currie struck 0-08 overall for Na Fianna while captain Donal Burke rose to the occasion with seven excellent points from play.

The result means that manager Niall O Ceallachain, recently appointed as Dublin boss, will double job for another couple of weeks at least as Na Fianna will face Loughrea in an All-Ireland semi-final on the weekend of 14/15 December.

It also means that both Dublin champions, Cuala and Na Fianna, have won this year's two Leinster senior titles.

Cuala became the first club in the entire province to have won Leinster titles in both codes when they won their final this evening and Na Fianna have matched that achievement.

Cillian Kiely's unavailability from the start was a blow for Offaly champions Kilcormac-Killoughey who came in as underdogs.

The county star is in the form of his career and boosted morale when he returned from a broken thumb to feature as a sub in the semi-final win over Castletown Geoghegan.

The Poc Fada specialist was named to start this time at number six but it's understood he received a further blow to the thumb last weekend so was held in