O'Kane hails 'special' Molloy after wonder goal

Gregory O'Kane seemed to be the one man in Croke Park not surprised by the Keelan Molloy wonder goal which helped Dunloy see off St Thomas' in Sunday's All-Ireland Club Hurling semi-final.

"They are special players," said O'Kane of Molloy and Elliott.

"Keelan Molloy is an outstanding player and you just know he's going to produce something. He's one of those players."

As for Elliott, O'Kane spoke of his relief that the half-forward was available for Dunloy this year after spending around 18 months in Australia.

"Nigel travelled for a year and a half or two years and we were delighted to get him home from the start of the year."

Molloy's short-gripped finish

Dunloy were leading 0-9 to 0-7 when Molloy sensationally rattled the net with his short-gripped finish after his stunning burst of speed from halfway following Elliott's perfectly-weighted pass.

While Dunloy needed a trio of late scores from Elliott, Conal Cunning and wing-back Eamon Smyth - all from play - to halt the Galway side's attempts to mount a comeback as they held on for a totally deserved 1-14 to 0-13 win, there no doubting the vital importance of Molloy's goal after the Cuchullains had squandered a number of first-half opportunities, with the sides going in 0-6 apiece at the interval.

Chief among them was Cunning's 19th-minute penalty miss as St Thomas' keeper Gerald Kelly saved the low shot and Dunloy's nine first-half wides - the majority from very scoreable positions - included Elliott slicing a goal attempt wide as he pulled on a break ball three minutes before the break.

There was inevitably that suspicion St Thomas', after recently winning a fifth straight Galway title, might punish that profligacy following the resumption but O'Kane said Dunloy's mentality remained positive at half-time.

"I thought we started the game really well but then we probably left about 1-3 or 1-4 behind on the scoreboard.

"That can be a worry but half-time came at a good time. We just needed to reassure the players that they'd done nothing wrong.

"All they needed to do was execute our chances when they came and in the second half, thank god they did.

"It was fantastic performance from the team.

"When the game was fixed for Croke Park, we were delighted because Croke Park has a lot of space. I know our pace and our running mechanics would trouble teams and thank god today it did."

The only downside from Dunloy's day was the suspected dislocated shoulder sustained by wing-back Aaron Crawford early in the second half which saw the squad captain Paul Shiels having to be introduced earlier than would have been planned.

Crawford may now face a battle to be fit for the decider against Ballyhale Shamrocks in four weeks, which will be Dunloy's first final since 2004.

Gregory O'Kane played in all four of Dunloy's All-Ireland Club Final defeats in the 1990s and early 2000s

O'Kane played in that 0-17 to 1-6 defeat against Cork club Newtownshandrum which was Dunloy's fourth final reverse in nine years.

The current boss started all four which began with the 1995 decider against Birr, which was the closest the Cuchullains came to lifting the trophy as they had the better of much of the drawn 0-9 to 0-9 contest before the Offaly men romped to a 3-13 to 2-3 win in the replay.

O'Kane and his team-mates, who included brother Gary, were back in the final 12 months later when Sixmilebridge clinched a comprehensive 5-10 to 2-6 win and Birr proved Dunloy's nemesis once more in 2003 by winning 1-19 to 0-11.

Over the last number of weeks, O'Kane has been attempting to shield his players from the weight of that history.

"All you doing is trying to pass something on and let these players be themselves. Live their own dreams," insisted the manager after Sunday's victory.

While O'Kane will surely continue to play down any sense that there is baggage from those previous defeats, for the hurling-loving community of Dunloy, winning the Tommy Moore Cup would be the fulfilment of a long-cherished dream.

Granted, it will be a huge task against a Ballyhale side that avenged last year's heartbreaking final defeat by beating Ballygunner in Sunday's second semi-final but few gave Dunloy much chance against St Thomas' and we all know what happened.