Naas (Kildare) 0-10 Kilmacud Crokes 1-14
Shane Walsh blasted 1-08 at Croke Park as Kilmacud Crokes surged into the history books as the first ever club to win three Leinster SFC titles in a row.
The All-Ireland title holders were a little flattered by the seven-point winning margin as a highly competitive Naas trailed by just two points with 60 minutes on the clock.
At that stage, Crokes hadn't scored from open play in the second-half as Naas, beaten by the Dubliners in the 2021 decider also, and at the quarter-final stage in 2022, fought desperately for a famous win.
But stoppage time points from Walsh and Rory O'Carroll were followed by a 64th minute goal from Walsh who kicked into an empty net from distance following a turnover high up the pitch.
Crokes' seventh title also means they are now the joint most successful club in the province, along with St Vincent's and Portlaoise.
Their reward for their latest provincial win is an All-Ireland semi-final clash against the Ulster champions, potentially old rivals Glen, on the weekend of 6/7 January.
Naas commit everyone forward before Shane Walsh goes on the charge to seal the Leinster SFC Final for Kilmacud Crokes!
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) December 2, 2023
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A third consecutive loss to Crokes will be a bitter pill for Naas to swallow. It all got away from them in the closing minutes as, aside from that Walsh goal, they lost star forward Alex Beirne to a second yellow card in the 63rd minute.
Crokes approached the game on a 19-game winning streak in championship football, stretching all the way back to their early 2022 All-Ireland final defeat to Kilcoo.
It was only a late, late goal that suckered the Stillorgan men on that occasion too and, had they held out, they'd have been coming into this one with 30 wins on the bounce.
They were considerable favourites as a result and while they conceded the opening score of the game, a Dermot Hanafin score for Naas, they led by the seventh minute and were on level terms or leading for the majority of the game.
Boss Robbie Brennan initially named Dublin midfielder Craig Dias on the bench but, along with former Offaly forward Shane Horan, who wore number 19, they were added to the lineup in place of James Murphy and Anthony Quinn.
That necessitated a formation reshuffle and Rory O'Carroll, wearing number nine, dropped to defence to allow Dias partner up with dual player Brian Sheehy at midfield.
Naas made three alterations to their lineup, drafting in county man Darragh Kirwan, Conor McCarthy and Sean Hanafin.
O'Carroll picked up Sean Hanafin initially while rising star full-back Theo Clancy, available again after injury, tracked Darragh Kirwan.
Darragh Kirwan of Naas fires over the final point of the first half, but it's Kilmacud who have a two-point lead at the interval.
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) December 2, 2023
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That was a tough task and the ultra talented Kirwan, strong on both feet, escaped his man for three Naas points in the opening half.
Current Kildare half-forward Beirne had a couple of half chances for Naas goals but blazed over on both occasions.
The scores came a little easier for Crokes and while 2022 Galway All-Star Walsh filled his boots, clipping four points in the opening half, Dias was the unsung hero.
The two-time All-Ireland medallist with Dublin, in 2011 and 2023, won two frees that Walsh converted and Dias clipped a point too while Paul Mannion was also on the mark with a trademark converted free.
Naas corner-back Mark Maguire picked up Walsh at the start but McCarthy ended up moving onto him as the underdogs struggled to deal with his craft and movement.
It all added up to a 0-09 to 0-07 half-time lead for Crokes who maintained a two-point advantage at the end of a tense third quarter, 0-11 to 0-09.
Naas were probably the better side in that period but cursed their bad luck and poor handling on a couple of occasions.
They twice hit the post with point attempts, Cathal Daly fumbled the ball with the goal at his mercy on another occasion while Beirne later intercepted the ball and appeared set to create an easy score only to drop the ball.
That two-point margin remained between the teams at the beginning of stoppage time and Crokes, with all their big game experience, duly turned on the afterburners to kill off the game with that flurry of late scores.
Kilmacud Crokes: David Higgins; Dan O'Brien, Theo Clancy, Rory O'Carroll (0-01); Cian O'Connor, Andrew McGowan, Mark O'Leary; Craig Dias (0-01), Brian Sheehy; Shane Horan (0-02), Paul Mannion (0-01, 0-01f), Dara Mullin (0-01); Hugh Kenny, Shane Cunningham, Shane Walsh (1-08, 0-05f).
Subs: Dan Murphy for Kenny h/t, Callum Pearson for Mullin 38, Luke Ward for Cunningham 50, Darragh Dempsey for O'Connor 50, James Murphy for Dias 58.
Naas: Luke Mullins; Mark Maguire, Conor McCarthy, Cathal Daly; Brian Byrne; Paddy McDermott, Eoin Doyle, Eoghan Prizeman; Paul McDermott (0-01), James Burke; Alex Beirne (0-04), Dermot Hanafin (0-01), Jack McKevitt; Sean Hanafin, Darragh Kirwan (0-04, 0-02f).
Subs: Kevin Cummins for Paul McDermott 50, Tom Browne for Prizeman 50, Neil Aherne for Dermot Hanafin 58, Sean Cullen for McKevitt 60.
Referee: David Hickey (Carlow).
