Lucan make history with AHL title success

Daire Walsh

HISTORY was made at O’Toole Park on Saturday evening as Lucan Sarsfields were crowned Dublin Adult Hurling League Division One champions for the first time following a 1-34 to 2-17 final triumph over Ballyboden St Enda’s.

In their only previous showpiece appearance back in 2009, a youthful Lucan outfit lost out to the same opposition.

Their Firhouse Road counterparts had enjoyed an unbeaten march to the closing stages of AHL One (10 wins and one draw), but it was the men from the 12th Lock who produced the goods on the day.

No fewer than 13 players got their name on the scoresheet throughout the course of action with Chris O’Leary’s final haul of 0-7 marginally edging out the five points apiece contributed by Charlie Keher and Dublin senior panellist Paul Crummey.

Although ‘Boden kept the scoreboard ticking over at various junctures, it was not enough to deny Lucan a breakthrough success.

Despite the teams being deadlocked for much of the opening period, a strong end to the half ultimately acted as the springboard for Lucan’s eventual triumph.

In addition to a plethora of white flag efforts, Kevin Fitzgerald rattled the opposition net to leave them 1-15 to 1-8 in front at the interval.

Even though Ballyboden were doing their best to stem the tide, Sarsfields continued to dominate proceedings on the restart.

Having already shot the lights out before the break, they added an outstanding 19 points to their tally to ensure the top-tier crown would be safely nestled in the club’s trophy cabinet.

While their challenge was spearheaded by team captain John Bellew, the likes of inter-county stalwart, Chris Crummey (brother of Paul) and Eoghan O Conghaile also produced standout displays.

Donal Flannery and Evin Dowling also knocked over three points between them off the bench to round off a memorable occasion for Lucan.