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Image courtesy: Cian Bradley
LUCAN SARSFIELDS 5-20
ERIN’S ISLE 1-12
Lucan Sarsfields delivered a dominant second-half display as they pulled away to defeat Erin’s Isle by twenty points in their PTSB Dublin Senior 1 Hurling Championship quarter-final at a damp Parnell Park on Sunday afternoon.
Last year’s beaten finalists played against the breeze in the first-half but a predatory Ciaran Dowling goal saw them enjoy a narrow 1-7 to 0-8 interval advantage.
Third quarter goals by Paul Crummmey and Killian Costello saw Lucan begin to pull clear and they added further salt into the Isles wounds through goals in the closing stages from Matt Coogan and Ben Coffey.
Isles wasted little time in making the most of the wind at their backs with Ollie Gaffney clipping over two classy points with just a minute on the clock.
Tadhg Gorman enhanced that lead with a 3rd minute score before Lucan gradually settled into the encounter through successive points from Cathal Kennedy and Chris Crummey.
Kennedy’s midfield partner Colm Walsh levelled matters with a fine point in the 9th minute but their opponents restored their three-point buffer as they blitzed three points on the bounce thanks to Gaffney, Conor Donohoe and Michael Donohoe.
Back came Lucan through a cracking Charlie Keher point and a Donal Flannery score and parity was restored as Coffey converted a 14th minute free, with all previous scores coming from open play.
The momentum turned in Lucan’s favour at the end of the first quarter as Adam Langan failed to deal adequately with a Paul Crummey attempt, allowing Dowling to showcase his predatory instincts with a tidy first-time finish.
Erin’s Isle lost a degree of their earlier accuracy, despite a brilliant sideline point from Conor Donohoe while Coffey ended a scoreless period of seven minutes for Lucan when adding a second free.
Goals could have arrived at either end as Nathan Fitzgerald kicked narrowly wide at one end with Langan atoning for his earlier error as he raced off his line to block a Paul Crummey strike in the 25th minute.
Those misses reflected a below-par second quarter in which none of the scores came from play as a Michael Donohoe free left Isles two points in arrears at the break.
The wides continued to rack up in the early stages of the second-half before Coffey put three points between the sides with his first point from play in the 33rd minute.
Walsh clipped over another point from downtown two minutes later before Michael Donohoe opened Isles second-half account through a 37th minute free.
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