Cuala advanced to their first Leinster club football final after defeating Tullamore by 1-10 to 0-10 on Saturday night.
The Dublin champions got off to a bright start when some confusion in the Tullamore defence allowed Peter Duffy in for a tenth minute goal off the deck.
The goal was all that separated the sides at the break after a cagey opening half, with Cuala leading by 1-3 to 0-3, all three of their points having come from the boot of the eventual man-of-the-match Con O'Callaghan.
Tullamore began to claw their way back into the game after half-time with scores from Nigel Bracken and two from Harry Plunkett, levelling the game up after 41 minutes.
But Cuala kicked into gear straight away with a pair of quickfire points from the O'Callaghan brothers, Niall and Con, re-establishing their two point lead.
The favourites had all the momentum and they made it five unanswered points in a row with Luke Keating and Peadar Ó Cofaigh Byrne getting on the scoresheet as did Michael Fitzsimons after an inspirational burst from defence.
Offaly champions for three of the last four years, Tullamore rallied late on but it wasn't enough. Their manager Niall Stack is a former Tullamore player and he gave a passionate interview after the game, admitting he felt there should have been an extra play in the game.
'I felt like we were fouled a lot... I felt we had them on the ropes' - Tullamore manager Niall Stack disappointed with some of the decisions following their three point loss to Cuala in the Leinster semi-final pic.twitter.com/tIwbXurGfc
— RTÉ GAA (@RTEgaa) November 23, 2024
"Immensely proud," he told RTÉ's Clara Hester.
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't very disappointed. "
"I thought we were fouled a lot, if I'm honest. I thought there might have been another minute in the game."
"I know I'm going to come across somewhat whingy, I don't really mind. 33 and a half minutes in, they were fouling us as best as they could. We had a free, we were putting them deep, I felt personally we had them on the ropes.
"Look they're a fine side, they're already favourites for the All-Ireland, we were 7/1 coming in here. Nobody gave us a chance. We died with our boots on, but I'm extremely disappointed, we came here to win this."
"This is where our club should be. I think Offaly football is getting to a new height. As a club, we're getting a lot of fellas through into county teams, as a club, we need to be back here.
"There's a challenge laid down to them now about working hard, to get back here," Stack said.
"Hats off to Cuala, they did what they had to do. And best of luck to them going forward."
Cuala will take on Louth's Ardee St Mary's in the Leinster final next Saturday in Croke Park, after their one point win over St Loman's of Westmeath.
