THIS Parnell Park decider evolved into a numbers game on an auspicious 125th birthday for the GAA.

Ballyboden St Enda's -- three senior county hurling titles in a row and a senior football/hurling double, the first in Dublin since St Vincent's achieved the feat in 1981.

Conal Keaney, Simon Lambert and Shane Durkin -- county hurling medals to add to the honours they won with the club's footballers.

'Boden's corner-forward Paul Ryan -- 1-11 of his team's total, seven from frees, three '65s, and a goal and a point from play.

All Star Alan McCrabbe of Craobh Chiarain -- seven points of his team's 0-12, all from frees.

dogged

Referee Eoin Mullarkey of Lucan Sarsfields -- four minutes of extra-time played in the first half, seven in the second half, one red card for Craobh's Jonny McGuirk, and three yellows dished out.

And for the spectators, a dogged, hard-fought and far from classic game of hurling on a day when strong wind hurtling down from the Malahide Road end of Parnell Park carried the sliotar long and deep towards the Howth Road end in each half.

So, what to make of it? First, the better team won.

Ryan's marksmanship from placed balls was deadly, and he did manage one from play, but Ballyboden had the edge in class and experience.

They took the lead virtually from the throw-in -- a free by Ryan setting the tone of the afternoon -- and though McCrabbe equalised inside a minute, that was the last time that Ballyboden were level with their opponents.

Craobh battled hard all the way and were doing well to be only two points behind at half-time, 0-9 to 0-7 in favour of the reigning champions.

But the game effectively hinged on a missed goal attempt by Chiarain and one scored by Ballyboden's Ryan.

Craobh, backed by the wind in the second half, opened up the Ballyboden defence in the 43rd minute, where skipper Dave Kirwan put Stephen McDonald in for a shot.

It wasn't an easy chance, but as the ball whistled wide, 'Boden knew they had escaped serious potential damage and the score remained at 0-12 to 0-9 for the title holders.

Just five minutes later came the turning point as Paul Ryan got the only goal of the game. It came from a scramble for possession close to the Craobh goal but Ryan got the sliotar clear and rolled it into the net.

Craobh Chiarain manager Dave Kelly knew the writing was on the wall once his side conceded that score.

"The goal they scored gave them a great lift. After that we were chasing the game and it didn't happen for us unfortunately."

Craobh had one further goal chance, a penalty in the 65th minute, but Alan McCrabbe's shot was beaten away.

'Boden led by seven points at that stage and were in no mood to offer even a glimmer of hope to the Northsiders. The scoring was dominated by the dead ball prowess of Ryan for 'Boden and McCrabbe for Craobh. Between them, they scored 17 points from placed balls but there were some fine long-range points from play.

One that really stood out was an impressive point from over 60 metres by Ballyboden's centre-back Darragh Spain. It rallied his troops, but more importantly put his team three points clear -- and within a minute Ryan had scored the goal.

Craobh Chiarain's Jonny McGuirk hit a fine score from the half-way line over the Ballyboden bar immediately on the re-start, but shortly before the end, blotted his copybook by being sent off after a clash with an opponent.

Ballyboden manager Liam Hogan said: "We're glad to have got out of it with a win. It probably looked a bit more comfortable on the scoreboard than it was on the pitch, but Craobh Chiarain really pushed us hard."

Scorers -- Ballyboden St Enda's: P Ryan 1-11 (0-7 f, 3 65s); C Keaney 0-2; D Curtin, S Durkin, D Spain 0-1 each. Craobh Chiarain: A McCrabbe 0-7 (7f); S McDonald 0-2; J McGuirk, P O'Boyle 0-1 each.

Ballyboden St Enda's -- G Maguire; J Duffy, S Perkins, A Ryan; M Travers, D Spain, T Sweeney; S Durkin, D O'Connor; D Sweeney, D Curtin, C Keaney; P Ryan, S Lambert, N McMorrow. Subs: M O'Sullivan for A Ryan (51); E Carroll for N McMorrow (59); N Griffin for D O'Connor (59); J Doody for T Sweeney (60); B Kennedy for D Curtin (64).

Craobh Chiarain -- S Chester; D O'Reilly, E Farrell, D Shanley; D Kirwan, D O'Reilly, D Kelly; G Kelly, A McCrabbe; P O'Boyle, K Elliott, D Keane; S McDonald, J McGuirk, K Warren. Subs: F Usanga for D Keane (51); J Ryan for D Shanley (52).

Ref -- E Mullarkey (Lucan Sarsfields).

Irish Independent