Cuala boss backs brother of Dublin star for county call after Naas heroics
Brothers Con, Niall and Eoghan O'Callaghan all featured in Cuala's 2-14 to 1-14 win over Naas in a high-quality encounter at Kildare's new-look Cedral St Conleth's Park.
Cuala manager Austin O’Malley has backed Niall O’Callaghan for a Dublin recall after he fired the club into a Leinster semi-final.
O’Callaghan, younger brother of county star Con, hit 1-5 and had a hand in their other goal by Luke Keating as the newly-crowned Dublin champions held off Naas in a fine game at the new-look Cedral St Conleth’s Park in Newbridge on Saturday night. Con himself, freed to play after his county final red card was thrown out days before, hit 0-3 and set up his brother’s goal, while a third sibling, Eoghan, played at corner-back.
However, it was Niall that shone brightest on the evening, with his three first half points helping Cuala to a 1-7 to 0-9 half-time lead as Darragh Kirwan threatened to cut loose at times at the other end, while his 40th minute goal effectively put the game out of Naas’s reach, even though they rallied well with Alex Beirne slotting a goal with eight minutes of normal time remaining.
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“He's such a quality forward and he got a run there and he was just really on it,” said O’Malley of his match-winner.
“I thought his work ethic throughout and his dropping, he was covering a lot of ground so it was a brilliant, brilliant evening but I thought all the guys, to a man, they all stood up in different ways and that’s what’s needed.
“Different evenings and on different nights guys will hit the scores but other guys might be foraging away around the bases and providing the ammo and dropping back and doing the unselfish things and that’s what it’s all about.”
O’Callaghan has featured in the O’Byrne Cup for Dublin before without nailing down a spot on the panel and O’Malley didn’t play down the prospect of him donning the blue and navy again in 2025.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if that ever happened him. He obviously has the pedigree and the quality is there so it’s probably a decision that if he did get a call that he’d have to make but I’m happy enough to have him here with me anyway.”
Cuala will return to Parnell Park for a Leinster semi-final against Tinahely or Tullamore the weekend after next but former Mayo player O’Malley was complementary of the facilities as the recently refurbished Kildare county ground hosted its first major floodlit fixture.
“The quality of the facility, and the surface, it's just a dream. When I walked out on it first I was thinking, 'God, I'd love to have got a chance to play on that'. It's a long, long way from when I played here years and years ago in a National League game against Kildare.
“Just to see what they've done here is brilliant, so it was a cauldron for us to come into but I thought it made for a brilliant atmosphere. I thought it made for a brilliant evening.”
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