Kilmacud Crokes (Dublin) 0-14 Naas (Kildare) 0-7
Kilmacud Crokes boss Robbie Brennan says they proved they're not a one-man team by winning the AIB Leinster club final without Paul Mannion.
Six-time All-Ireland winner Mannion underwent knee surgery on Friday and looks set to miss out on the All-Ireland series too.
The in-form forward's absence wasn't felt at Croke Park as Tom Fox delivered a Man of the Match display, striking 0-5, while Rory O'Carroll led a watertight defence.
Naas didn't score at all in the second-half and suffered more from the loss of their own star forward Darragh Kirwan.
The county attacker struck 1-2 in the semi-finals but was a late withdrawal - crippling their attack.
Naas kept in touch with the Dublin champions until half-time but didn't score again as Brennan's boys surged to a fifth title.
The Crokes manager confirmed that three-time All-Star Mannion was advised by medics late in the week to undergo surgery.
It was a blow but also an opportunity to show that they're not a one-man team.
Brennan said: "There probably is a narrative that we can't win without Paul and we were probably looking at that ourselves and saying, 'Well, let's see, can we do it without him?' That last time against Thomas Davis that he went off injured, we didn't win. So this was a big test to see could we do it? We did it this time but it mightn't be the same outcome the next day so we'll see."
Brennan said he'll be heading for Ballina on Sunday to watch the Connacht final between Padraig Pearses and Knockmore.
Crokes will play the winners in the All-Ireland semi-finals on the weekend of January 29/30.
Crokes replaced Mannion with ex-Dublin forward Callum Pearson and he scored by the 13th minute while Dara Mullin was dangerous up front too. Fox kicked the first two points of the game so the two-time All-Ireland winners still had all sorts of attacking options.
Naas, meanwhile, only scored three points from open play and went that entire second-half without scoring.
They kept pace with Crokes initially and Dermot Hanafin, who started after netting as a sub in the semi-final, clipped two nice points.
Paddy McDermott bombed forward from the half-back line and kicked a beauty too before setting up Hanafin and Eamonn Callaghan for points.
Naas were just 0-7 to 0-8 down at half-time but that was the end of the line for the underdogs who struggled with Crokes' high press and increased intensity after the break.
Kilmacud Crokes: C Ferris (0-1, 1f); M Mullin, R McGowan, D O'Brien (0-1); C O'Shea, R O'Carroll, A McGowan; C Dias (0-1), C Casey; A Jones (0-1), D Mullin (0-3), T Fox (0-5, 2f); H Kenny, S Cunningham, C Pearson (0-2).
Subs: S Horan for Kenny h/t, C O'Connor for Pearson 49, A Quinn for Cunningham 55, D Jones for Fox 57, J Murphy for Dias 62.
Naas: J Rodgers; C Daly, E Doyle, P Sullivan; T Browne, B Byrne, P McDermott (0-1); J Burke, J Cleary; S Cullen, C Joyce, B Kane; E Callaghan (0-4, 4f), L Griffin, D Hanafin (0-2).
Subs: C McCarthy for Joyce 48, A McDermott for Kane 55, J McKevitt for Cullen 55, S Bergin for Griffin 56, D Gahin for Cleary 59.
Ref: P Maguire (Longford).
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