Craobh Rua 0-17 Cuchulainns 1-6
Craobh Rua secured their second junior hurling title in as many years with an impressive performance against Cuchulainns II.
Tiarnan O’Hare lead the line in attack and fittingly picked up the Man of the Match award. The accurate free taker chalked up a personal tally of 0-9.
O’Hare’s first score in the opening minute put his side ahead and the Camlough men never looked back.
Both Tiarnan and Oisin O’Hare tasted football championship success just seven days ago with Carrickcruppen. Belleek pair Conor and Bryan McKevitt did last wise last weekend.
That experience no doubt helped, as well as their 2020 championship run, while the team carried on their superb league form to complete the double.
Lewis nailed the best score of the opening half when he reached highest to fetch a fine diagonal ball from O’Hare and firing the ball over.
That was the final score of the first period. It helped Craobh Rua head into the tunnel with a strong 0-8 to 0-3 half time lead.
Cuchulainn’s rallied after the restart, following early scores from O’Hare and Lewis, who extended the lead to seven.
The city side narrowed the gap and got back into contention with the games only goal coming after 33 minutes.
Half time substitute Chris Coulter proved to be an inspired change as he pulled on a loose ball in the Cuchulainns attack to reduce the score.
Points from Coulter (free) and Shane O’Hagan matched Craobh Rua’s emphatic response through an O’Hare brace (both frees).
Paul Cunningham’s men found another gear and fired over four of the final five scores of the game to keep their grip on the junior crown.
Craobh Rua: Ryan Lundy, Daithi McCloy, Fionn O’Callaghan, Ryan McKevitt, Micheal Garvey, Oisin O’Hare, Miceal Doran, Patrick Garvey, Stephen O’Keefe 0-1, Fiachra Bradley 0-1, Tiarnan O’Hare 0-9 (7f), Sean Watters 0-2, Ronan Casey, Ryan Lewis 0-3, Conor McKevitt 0-1. Subs: Fionntan Burns for S. Watters (37), Declan Harris for S.O’Keefe (43), Fionn McCann for R. Casey (55), Caolann Rowntree for R. Lewis (59).
Cuchulainns II: Adam Murtagh, Conall Dougan, Oisin Richards, William Wong, Connor McCooe, David Ryan, Danny O’Gorman, Shane O’Hagan 0-1, John Donnelly 0-1, Dermot Hicks, Sean McCann, Joseph Burke 0-1 (1f), Nathan Campton, Niadh Harvey, Sean Clifford. Subs: Oisin Hughes 0-1 for D. O’Gorman (20), David Bridges for N. Crampton (24), Chris Coulter 1-2 (1f) for S. Clifford (HT) Shane Morgan for N. Harvey (HT), Conor Mullan for J. Burke (50).
