Classy Cuala add to Boden woes

Ronan Mac Lochlainn

CUALA completed a league and championship double over Ballyboden St Enda's following their 3-12 to 2-11 Dublin Adult Hurling League Division 1 victory at Sancta Maria on Saturday evening.

The visitors enjoyed the brighter opening with Barry Connolly impressing but Niall Ryan's fourth minute goal helped 'Boden settle, as did the defensive efforts of both David Sweeney and Cillian Moffatt.

However, Cuala responded impressively with Shane Kiely to the fore at full-back and goals from Andy Browne and Mark Schutte punctured Boden's momentum as did the sending-off of David O'Connor.

Leading by seven points at the interval, the Dalkey men continued to dominate with Connolly amassing six points over the hour and Fintan O'Brien and Seán Moran controlling affairs defensively. A Brian Fitzgerald goal extended Cuala's lead and despite the best efforts of Stephen O'Connor and Adam Jermyn and Emmet Carroll's late goal, Ballyboden succumbed to their third league defeat of the campaign.

AHL1: Cuala 3-12 Ballyboden St Enda's 2-11. AHL2: Setanta 2-14 Nh Barróg 2-11.

Sheehan will be back for qualifiers

KERRY would have risked Bryan Sheehan's knee injury against Cork yesterday but the safety net afforded by the qualifiers.

"I'd say if it was an All-Ireland final today, he'd have played - let's put it like that," revealed Kerry boss Jack O'Connor.

"But he has a bit of a problem with his patella tendon, underneath his kneecap, and we didn't take any chances because it could have possibly got worse."

On that basis, Sheehan looks sure to be available when Kerry launch their bid for 'back door' redemption in the second round of the qualifiers on July 14.

Cork will also hope to have Fintan Goold and Pearse O'Neill (pictured above) back in contention for their Munster SFC final date with Clare, six days earlier. Both players were 11th hour omissions for yesterday's five-point victory at Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

"Fintan woke up yesterday morning with an infection on his toe and we had to put him on antibiotics yesterday evening. "His foot is swollen out and he wasn't going to make it," explained manager Conor Counihan. "Pearse didn't train on Thursday because he'd a minor shoulder injury. He went for a run yesterday, over-stretched a groin and that put him out."