Diarmuid O Dulaing from Commercials was in action for Dublin against Clare at the Gaelic Grounds
Photo by Paul Barrett
County hurlers pipped by the Banner
THE Dublin hurlers would be unable to pick up silverware at the weekend as they were narrowly defeated in the Division 1B final by Clare at the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick on Easter Sunday.
There were a number of local players involved in the squad with Lucan Sarsfields man Chris Crummey starting alongside Commercial’s Diarmaid O Dulaing while fellow Sarsfields’ player John Bellew was on the bench alongside Davy Keogh of Thomas Davis.
It was a rapid start for Clare who came flying out of the blocks to establish a massive ten point lead by half time scoring 2-15 in the first half while Dublin’s tally of 2-05 paled in comparison.
The scoreline would have been much worse had it not been for the first half goals of John Hetherton and Cian O’Sullivan.
Dublin did well to reduce the deficit in the second half and started the period off well, rattling off six unanswered points in as many minutes to keep the competitiveness of the game alive.
A goal for Fergal Whitely towards the end of the game offered major hope for Dublin who at times found themselves within two points of Clare.
A brilliant save from the Clare goalkeeper in the dying minutes of the match prevented Cian O’Sullivan getting what would have been a deciding goal and Clare would hold on to their lead to ultimately win via a three point margin with the final score reading 3-20 to 2-26.
Dublin manager Neill O Ceallachain gave his thoughts on the side’s performance.
“First half performance we obviously weren’t where we needed or wanted to be. Second half I thought we were very good. We got on top everywhere and our energy levels and aggression levels increased.”
“I think overall it has been a positive league campaign, we’re up to 1A for next year. We used 34 players, it’s year two for us as management so we know the lads a bit better than we did last year. Having a game like that against Clare is ideal for us to prepare for the game in two week’s time against Offaly.”
Indeed Dublin find themselves back in action on April 18th as they travel to Tullamore to take on Offaly in the opening round of the Leinster Championship.
