Having rented a direct DART for supporters to attend the Dublin final, and a direct train to Newbridge for their Leinster quarter-final, most observers will feel Cuala’s passage to the All-Ireland Final is almost assured.
Yet although this is Dublin against Sligo, with all the distance and difference between those counties, it’s also the club scene, and the similarities between Cuala and Coolera-Strandhill extend beyond the initial sounds of their names.
Both are first-time provincial champions, indeed Cuala are first-time county champions – at least in football, with their name and fame having previously been made as All-Ireland hurling winners (in 2017 and 2018).
Both have had to battle hard to get here, including the narrowest of victories in their provincial deciders.
Still, there’s no denying that coming out of Dublin elevates expectations about any football team. Even more so given that in their county final Cuala conquered Kilmacud Croke’s, who had won the previous three Leinster titles. From those successes, Kilmacud had reached the 2022 and 2023 All-Ireland finals, winning the latter, albeit in controversial circumstances against Glen of Maghera.
However, although Sligo football may be well down the pecking order, coming out of Connacht is no easy journey.
Coolera-Strandhill have exceeded all expectations, even their own. Their target was to retain the Sligo title, and even that was hard-won, by the minimum margin in a final replay – their opponents having been denied victory the first day by the referee’s whistle sounding as the ball flew over the bar.
Their achievement in Connacht was more impressive, if also tightly fought. Penalties took them past Ballina of Mayo in the semi-final, and they held on in extra time to see off Padraig Pearse’s of Roscommon.
That was quite the feat, given that Pearse’s had dethroned the reigning provincial champs St Brigid’s – who really should have had another All-Ireland title to their name but succumbed to that stunning comeback from Derry’s Glen in last year’s final.
Pearse’s also defeated former national kingpins Corofin of Galway in the Connacht semis, so victory for Coolera-Strandhill was truly remarkable, not least because it was the first provincial triumph for a Sligo side for 41 years.
Cuala’s win, although their first, was the fifth Leinster in a row to go to Dublin, and the 10th in 12 seasons.
Besides the ‘Dublin’ label, they have the recognisable names: up front they have the brilliant dual star Con O’Callaghan, at the back the vastly-experienced defender Michael Fitzsimons, and at midfield the giant Peadar O Cofaigh Byrne. Fitzsimons actually outscored those other two in the Dublin decider, among nine different scorers in all, indicating that they’re much more than a three-man team.
Cuala will note the host of chances spurned by Pearse’s in that Connacht final, including 14 wides and six dropped short.
The Sligo seasiders clung on for an improbable victory, but this time the men from Dalkey should put clear blue water between themselves and their opponents and keep alive their dream of completing the senior club double.
