Lucan Sarsfields Chris Crummey will captain Dublin in the Leinster Senior Hurling Final. Photo by Matthew Lysaght
All eyes on Croker
THE Dublin Hurlers take on Galway in the Leinster Senior Hurling Final at Croke Park on Saturday.
The sides came into the final after previously meeting in the Round Robin phase of the competition earlier in May.
Dublin emerged victorious in Pearse Park that day thanks to a brilliant Ronan Hayes goal in the last moments of the game.
That result as well as the recent win against Kilkenny in Parnell Park ensured that they completed the Leinster Championship Round Robin undefeated with a draw against Offaly on opening day the only blemish on their record.
The occasion marks their bid to win their first provincial championship since 2013.
Under the guidance of Anthony Daly that title winning year they defeated Galway by a significant margin with a 2-25 to 2-13 scoreline and will be hoping for a repeat performance when they take on the Tribesmen this Saturday.
Dublin have failed to win a Leinster title since that title winning campaign, though have found themselves runner up in the competition three times since then with second best performances in 2014, 2021 and 2024.
That 2013 winning side had plenty of local talent in the squad with eight of the starting 15 being from clubs within the Dublin Southwest area.
Lucan Sarsfield’s Peter Kelly and John McCaffrey, Boden’s Gary Maguire, Paul Ryan, Stephen Hiney and Conal Keaney, St Mark’s David O’Callaghan and Liam Rushe of St Patrick’s Palmerstown all were present in the starting line up on the day.
13 years on however, it is a totally different look to Dublin with Rushe the only member still involved with the panel. It is unknown whether he will even start the final after coming off injured in the warm up against Kilkenny only two weekends ago.
While the south west does not have as many players representing in this year’s final there are still some very notable individuals to take note of.
Chris Crummey perhaps being the most obvious with the Lucan Sarsfield’s man captaining the side and being among the best in the country being an ever reliable presence in the half back line.
John Bellew is another from Sarsfield’s who has impressed, particularly in his performance against Kilkenny recently in Parnell Park, replacing the injured Rushe after the warm up and provided an excellent performance in defence, blunting a talented Kilkenny forward line.
Diarmaid O Dulaing of Commercials has also made his presence known in the side, regularly featuring for the Boys in Blue off the bench in 2026.
