Middletown 0-20 Cuchulainns 1-6
This game was a tightly contested affair for the first 20 minutes but Middletown’s attacking quality was too much to handle.
Cuchulainns coped well early on with the likes of Caolan Rice and Caolan McReynolds earning several turnovers, but the waves just kept coming.
Middletown attacked from all angles and the impressive Nathan Curry ran the show from start to finish, hitting 0-5 on the day.
It was Curry who opened the scoring with two quick fire points while Jordan Murtagh got Cuchulainns off the mark with a free.
The city side soon shot ahead when Murtagh dropped a free short and Tony Duffy got the final touch to help the ball over the line.
Middletown didn’t hang around and were back on level terms within four minutes with Dean Gaffney and Paddy McBride finding their range.
A turnover from McReynolds in defence allowed Cuchulainns to counter and Ciaran Duffy split the posts to give his side the lead once again.
It was all Middletown from there on in however as they outscored their opponents 0-8 to 0-1 in the remaining 20 minutes of the first half.
Curry, Gaffney and David Carvill all landed two points each while Pauric Hughes and Marty Moan also got in on the action.
Conleth Lavery offers the Cuchulainns solidary response through a converted 65, after Neil Duffy’s goal chance was deflected out.
This left the favourites well ahead at the half time break as they carried a six-point lead into the second period, 0-12 to 1-3.
The Gaffney brothers Dean and Paul opened the scoring for the second period and their scores were cancelled out by Jordan Murtagh and Lavery.
Paddy McBride landed his second while Shea Gaffney roamed forward from the full back line to hit his first.
Murtagh got his sides last score on the 48th minute mark and Cuchulainns were unfortunate to lose their full forward Neil Duffy.
Middletown powered for the finish line with Curry leading the way with his fifth point while Gaffney also chipped in with a converted 65.
Ryan Gaffney got his name on the score sheet, as did substitute Shaun Toal with the final action of the day.
Middletown achieved the ultimate goal of winning their second title in as many seasons and their fifth in six years.
They were much the sharper side on show and after seeing off Keady and Derrynoose, were worthy victors this year.
Middletown Scorers: Nathan Curry (0-5), Dean Gaffney (0-5), Paddy McBride (0-2), David Carvill (0-2), Marty Moan (0-1), Pauric Hughes (0-1), Paul Gaffney (0-1), Shea Gaffney (0-1), Ryan Gaffney (0-1), Shaun Toal (0-1).
Cuchulainns Scorers: Tony Duffy (1-0), Jordan Murtagh (0-3), Conleth Lavery (0-2), Ciaran Duffy (0-1).
