Lucan claim Go-Ahead Ireland intermediate hurling title

LUCAN SARSFIELDS 0-22 

SCOIL UÍ CHONAILL 0-13

Lucan Sarsfields produced a dominant second-half performance when overcoming Scoil Uí Chonaill by nine points in their Go-Ahead Ireland Dublin Intermediate Hurling Championship decider at Parnell Park on Sunday afternoon. 

With both teams have already achieved their primary ambition of promotion to Premier IHC, a tight encounter was anticipated and so it proved in the first-half as the teams finished the half deadlocked at 0-10 apiece. 

Inspired by the performance of goalkeeper Cathal Doody, Lucan began to pull away upon the restart with four points in the final quarter by Cian McHugh sealing a well-deserved win. 

Despite falling behind to a 2nd minute free from Barry Cushen, it was Lucan that made the brighter start into the breeze with Brendan Kavanagh opening their account soon after. 

While Brendan O’Connell restored the Scoil lead with a sublime score from under the stand, Sarsfields were finding space all too comfortably as they struck three points on the bounce through Cian McHugh, Kavanagh and Conor Dillon to establish a two-point buffer. 

Scoil’s Joe Ryan and Lucan’s Joey Dunne (free) exchanged points during this lively opening period before the Clontarf Road side restored parity by the 12th minute courtesy of scores from Neil O’Flynn and Cushen. 

The tightness continued into the second quarter as Cushen and Dunne traded placed balls before the former edged his team back in front by the 19th minute with his fourth point of the half. 

Almost inevitably, Dunne was on hand to restore the stalemate with his first point from play two minutes later and while O’Connell popped over another excellent point from midfield, Lucan were beginning to control matters thanks to a smart Dillon point and two further frees by Dunne. 

A wonderful save from Cathal Doody to deny O’Flynn in the 28th minute helped preserve that lead but it was of scant surprise to see the teams enter the break on level terms with Cushen (free) and Jack Kennedy landing late points for Scoil Uí Chonaill. 

A similar trend unfolded in the early stages of the second-half as Cushen (free) and Charlie Mulqueen traded points before Doody excelled himself once again in the 35th minute. 

The lively Robbie Kennedy was fouled close to goal but unlike Donal Burke the previous evening, Cushen was unable to take full advantage from the resultant penalty as Doody deflected his low shot away to safety. 

Further heroics from the Lucan netminder towards the end of the third quarter saw him thwart both Jack Kennedy and Fionn Daly in quick succession, allowing Dunne to open up a three-point lead by the 47th minute. 

The momentum was all with Sarsfields at this stage, even more so when wing-back Sean Langton added to their tally from downtown with ten minutes left on the clock.  

It was at this juncture that the accuracy of McHugh effectively settled the issue in Lucan’s favour as he landed three scores in quick succession to deflate any hopes of a late Scoil comeback. 

Scorers – Lucan Sarsfields: J Dunne 0-9 (8f); C McHugh 0-5; B Kavanagh 0-3; C Dillon 0-2, S Langton, D Meehan, C Mulqueen 0-1 apiece. Scoil Uí Chonaill: B Cushen 0-8 (5f, 1 ’65); B O’Connell 0-2; J Ryan, N O’Fluynn, J Kennedy 0-1 apiece. 

Lucan Sarsfields: C Doody; E O’Connor, J Finn, S Coffey; S Langton, A McNulty, L Murphy; L Fitzgerald, R Clancy; B Kavanagh, C McHugh, D Meehan; C Dillon, C Mulqueen, J Dunne. Subs: E Dowling for Mulqueen (49), M Cunningham for Langton (54), A Hickey for Fitzgerald (58), H Cuffe for Dunne (60).  

Scoil Uí Chonaill: P Morrissey; R Farrell, C Coady, E McKay; J Ryan, P Conlon, O Benham; A Cassidy, B O’Connell; J Conway, N O’Flynn, J Kennedy; F Daly, B Cushen, R Kennedy. Subs: T Brown for Cassidy (47), A Bunyan for Daly (55), O Rowley for J Kennedy (61).  

Referee: Liam Ó Briain (Setanta).