Cuala Senior Hurlers and Lucan Sarsfields served up an exciting Boland Cup game on Wednesday evening at Shankill Park. Cuala won the match 1-18 to 2-12.
Having chosen to play with a strong breeze, Cuala had to work hard to contain a purposeful Lucan side and after 24 minutes Cuala only lead by a single point. However, a strong finish to the half saw Cuala score 4 unanswered points to leave them leading by 5 points at the interval. Many of the crowd thought that the half-time lead might prove insufficient given the conditions and when Lucan scored the first 3 points in as many minutes of the second half, the game was truly in the balance. It was now that Cuala showed their character and grit, working tirelessly for each other to outscore the opposition by six points to two over the next 20 minutes – Cuala lead by 1-16 to 1-10, a sufficient cushion to survive a late Lucan goal. The whole Cuala team rose to the challenge, playing with intensity and commitment. Shane Kiely, at centre back for Cuala, gave an exhibition of hurling organising and driving the team on – while contributing 8 points to the score-line. Stephen Butler was commanding in goal, the backs worked tirelessly and there was a good spread in the Cuala scorers.
A very successful evening of hurling!
