This was a tense, sometimes torrid affair where there was no quarter asked and none given - both teams knew they needed a win to progress. Crumlin registered two points from frees early on before Cuala opened their account with three very well taken points in quick succession from Davy Cunningham, Cian Waldren and Mark Schutte who gave a master-class in point taking throughout the game. Crumlin's Dave Donnelly at full-forward ran onto a low ball in front of the Cuala defence and chipped over a lovely point to leave the scores level on 10 minutes. Just on the quarter-hour mark, Cuala's David Treacy playing at full-forward, latched onto a low ball and turned for goal. With a piece of sublime skill, he manoeuvred the ball over the full-back, took it on the other side, ghosted past another defender and whipped the ball to the corner of the net without taking the ball into his hand. Both sets of supporters were applauding the skills shown by the young Dublin ace. He followed this with another well-taken point on 20 minutes to leave Cuala in control 1-6 to 0-4. However, Crumlin were not about to hand the initiative to their Dalkey counter-parts. Donnelly again took a low ball in front of his marker and with great turn of pace out ran the Cuala defence to strike for the blues' first goal on 21 minutes. Cuala responded with another fine point from Schutte and a third free from Treacy to leave Cuala still in control 1-8 to 1-5 at the break. Cuala however had lost two players in their full-back line through injury and had to pull Oisin Gough, who was giving a man-of-the-match performance at centre-back, back in front of goal to mark Donnelly. Shane Keily was moved from centre-field to centre-back and Eoin Cronin introduced into mid-field. Dan Holden replaced his brother Shane in the corner and, together with Rob Reid, proceeded to give an exhibition of hurling in the corner.

Within ten minutes of the re-start, Cuala looked to be pulling away when a fine point from Cunningham on the 40' and two quick points from the stylish Schutte stretched the lead to 5 points. However Crumlin had other ideas. Donnelly again responded with another fine goal following good work by Shane Martin and Rodney Elliot left him in space. Darren Whelan for Crumlin was now beginning to show his class at centre-forward and began catching clean ball off the puck-outs as the game opened up. He chipped in with two points to keep Crumlin in touch. With 8 minutes left on the clock, Treacy landed another accurate free to give Cuala a comfortable 3 point lead coming into the straight.

What happened in the final 6 minutes though would make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Cuala managed to spurn the first of two clear goal chances. Eoghan Dunne, now in his 15th straight Championship season with the red-and-whites, pulled on a hand-pass from Davy Cunningham after some great individual work by himself and Bobby Browne. Dunne didn't make clean contact but the ball fell fortuitously at the feet of Shane O'Brien with the goalkeeper now out of position. O'Brien couldn't make contact, and the ball was cleared up-field where Whelan took a magnificent catch, out-stripped the Cuala defence and sent a rocket to the roof of the Cuala net - a six point turn-around. A fine individual goal from the Dublin U21 star now left the Cuala supporters shell-shocked! To add insult to injury, with Cuala still reeling, Whelan latched onto a loose ball following the puck-out and split the posts from distance to leave Crumlin up by a point with 4 left on the clock. What a turn-around in the space of a minute! Ger Armstrong was introduced for Dunne and had almost an immediate impact. He took a ball on the left and got through the cover to see his kicked shot go narrowly wide. Cuala were now frantically looking for an equaliser as the game had lost any semblance of shape. Dan Holden denied Whelan his second goal with a magnificent block when the goal looked at his mercy and the ball eventually went harmlessly wide. From the puck-out, Shutte took a great catch on the 40' and was taken down in front of goal. Treacy stepped up to convert the free leaving the sides level 1-16 to 3-10. It was clear that the referee had had enough excitement for one evening and blew up for a draw leaving both teams disappointed. What a finish though!

Crumlin now have 3 points from their three matches with Lucan and Craobh to come. Cuala have to beat Craobh and Judes to progress.

On a more positive note, Cuala's Mark Schutte and Conor Gough were both called into the Dublin U21 squad by John McEvoy following their displays.

Cuala 1-16 Crumlin 3-10

CUALA: Fintan O'Brien, Shane Holden, Andy Browne, Rob Reid, Bobby Browne, Oisin Gough, Conor Gough, Scott O'Brien, Shane Keily, Shane O'Brien 0-1, Davy Cunningham 0-2, Mark Schutte 0-4, Eoghan Dunne, David Treacy 1-7 (4 frees, 2 65's), Cian Waldren 0-2.
Subs: Dan Holden for Shane Holden (Inj. 20 mins), Eoin Cronin for Andy Browne (inj. 25 mins), Ger Armstrong for Eoghan Dunne (55 mins)

Crumlin came to Shankill looking to secure their third League win on the trot and looked good value for their 2-8 to 1-8 lead at the break. The Blues full-forward Shane Martin, bagged two good goals in the first period and set up a third for the Crumlin corner-forward mid-way through the second half after his shot was saved by goalkeeper Fintan O'Brien in the Cuala nets. In that first period, the Cuala backs looked nervous and uncertain particularly when centre-forward Colm Hennebry began to win clean catches off the Crumlin puck-out and ran on goal. Three excellent points from play and the same number of frees from Eoghan Dunne just kept Cuala in touch. On 15 minutes, Scott O'Brien took a pass from Ryan after good work out on the left, and scored a neat goal from close range. Two long-range efforts from Davy Cunningham & Shane O'Brien in the second quarter kept the red-and-whites in the game but Crumlin were in the ascendancy. It was clear to the many spectators on the line that every-time Cuala got within striking distance, Crumlin could move up-field and take a goal! The goal-minder for Cuala had to pull off two good saves to keep the contest interesting.

On the re-start the tempo of the game increased. Both teams exchanged points and with 40 minutes on the clock, Shane Martin raced clear and drove a shot goal-ward. O'Brien could only parry the ball towards the on-rushing forwards and the Crumlin 13 despatched the rebound to the net. Cuala were now six points in arrears and it looked all over for the Dalkey side. However, it was then the Cuala team showed their real metal! Jon Ryan, Shane Keily and Rob Reid closed the door in the full-back line. Their half-back line of Luke Hand, John Sheanan and Dan Holden began to get to grips with their counter-parts and more ball flowed into the Cuala attack. The two mid-fielders Scott O'Brien and Bobby Browne started winning more 'dirty' ball around the middle and the Cuala half-forwards fought for every ball as if their lives depended on it. Davy Cunningham, who in the first period was getting no change form centre-back, John Cullen, began to win ball being pucked out down the centre. The Crumlin defence visibly wilted under the pressure and weak clearances began falling Cuala's way as he game opened up. Cian Waldren was moved into the corner and Ryan given more freedom on the '40. But it was the work of Armstrong that finally turned the game Cuala's way. Having earlier taken a point from loose, scrappy play, he then won a good ball over the head of his defender out on the right and struck an inch-perfect pass to Cian Waldren on the other side of the goal. Waldren caught the ball and made no mistake in rattling the Crumlin net. A few minutes later, Armstrong again won a hard ball in front of goal and was taken down. Referee Dave O'Donovan stretched out his arms and awarded a penalty which Dunne spurned much to the frustration of the Dalkey faithful. Again it looked over for the red-and-whites as Crumlin again began to stretch their lead.

However, Cuala to their eternal credit, never gave up and when Waldren won a ball on the '40 and turned for goal he had only one thing on his mind. He drew the full-back and hand-passed the ball to Armstrong now on the edge of the square. Armstrong made no mistake despite the attentions of the Crumlin goalie. Ogie Ryan and Shane O'Brien tacked on two more points and the teams were suddenly level with 5 minutes to play. Crumlin tried to regain the initiative but the Cuala backs fought like tigers for every ball. A free was awarded to Cuala for over-carrying after incessant pressure by the defenders and up stepped goalkeeper O'Brien to convert it from all of 80m. Cuala up by one! From the puck-out, and with time running out for Crumlin, John Sheanon won another hard ball in the centre of the defence and delivered a pass to Ogie Ryan who split the posts off his left to leave Cuala up by two. A great score!

Crumlin moved up-field in search of a fourth goal to rescue a game that had been theirs for so long and with 1 minute remaining, Hennebry won a ball and headed for goal. He collided with Holden in what looked like a free to Crumlin 25m out from the Cuala goal. The referee however deemed the collision accidental and awarded an 'indirect free' to Crumlin. What followed was almost comical. The Crumlin free-taker could only drive the ball towards goal in the hope that some-one would get a touch on it and deflect it goal-wards. In the event the ball trickled harmlessly to the Cuala defenders who cleared it as the referee brought proceedings to a close.

The win gives Cuala 4 wins out of 8 in the League and leaves them mid-table with Crumlin with three matches remaining - Boden, Lucan and Na Fianna.

The next game between these two teams will be a more tense affair with Cuala having to travel to Pearse Park in the next round of the Senior Hurling Championship scheduled for July 25th.

ADULT HURLING LEAGUE DIVISION 1, SHANGANAGH PARK,
CUALA 3-17
CRUMLIN 3-15

CUALA
Fintan O'Brien, Jonathan Ryan, John Sheanan, Rob Reid, Luke Hand, Shane Keily, Dan Holden, Scott O'Brien, Bobby Browne, Shane O'Brien, Davy Cunningham, Cian Waldren, Ogie Ryan, Eoghan Dunne, Rory Doyle

Subs: Ger Armstrong for Rory Doyle (30 mins) SCORERS: E Dunne 0-8 (6 frees), C Waldren 1-1, G Armstrong 1-1, Shane O'Brien 0-2, Scott O'Brien 1-0, O Ryan 0-2, D Cunningham 0-1, L Hand 0-1, F O'Brien 0-1 (1 free)

Parnells came to Shankill looking to secure top spot in the League with a win. Cuala needed the two points to avoid a relegation dog-fight at the other end of the Table.

The northsiders started much the better and had quality hurlers in every line of their team. Their forwards, particularly their two corner forwards, their centre forward and the free-taker at 12 looked very dangerous and Parnells quickly ran into a three point lead mostly from the placed ball. Cuala's defenders were just about holding their opposite numbers and were constantly giving away frees by playing from behind. Cuala were not winning the loose ball around the break-down from puck-outs and there wasn't enough supply going into their forwards. However it was noticeable from the line that the Cuala forwards, particularly Carty and Armstrong, had the potential to take scores if they got more ball. With ten minutes to go to the break, the referee had to show a number of yellow cards, mostly to red & white players in a tempestuous period before half-time. It looked ominous for Cuala at the break with Parnells up 0-10 to 0-6. Every Cuala indiscretion was punished by the black & green no.12 in very demanding conditions. The management team of Kennedy & Murphy tore into the red & whites at the break and pointed to indiscipline and an unwillingness to take on the opposition as the reason for the team's problems.

The introduction of Jones into the full-back line and moving O'Shea to wing-back strengthened Cuala's grip in defence and Butler & O'Brien began to dominate the middle of the field. Carty was moved out onto the '40 and looked much more dangerous under the dropping ball. With Hand and Ryan taking firm control in the half-back line Cuala started to play with tremendous passion and commitment and the tide began to turn in Cuala's favour. Murphy, Armstrong and Carty began to fight for every ball on the '40 and the industry and effort of O' Donnell, O'Dowd and Lowry in the full forward line meant the Parnells backs were only part-clearing their lines. The pressure began to tell. Carty took a magnificent virtuoso goal following a run through the Parnells defence and striking an unstoppable shot to the net. This again lifted the Cuala outfit and when Shane O'Brien's long range free went all the way to the net, the game had turned fully in Cuala's favour with the home side up three points with 13 minutes to go. Parnells to their credit began a strong fight back and closed the gap to a single point before a free on Armstrong was despatched to the net from 25m by O'Brien. Again Parnells got back to level the match with 1 minute of injury time left on the clock before O'Brien took the winning point after good work in the corner by Kelly.

For the Dalkey team, this match was definitely a case of 'snatching victory from the jaws of defeat'. Parnells missed their chance to go top, Cuala have now won the last three League matches on the trot and are well placed to play the next round of the Junior Championship towards the end of July.

ADULT HURLING LEAGUE DIVISION 4 (SHANGANAGH PARK)
CUALA 03:10 PARNELLS 00:18
Cuala: Stephen Butler, Eoin D'alton, Colman O'Drisceoil, Ciaran Monaghan, Jonathon Ryan, Luke Hand, Paul Butler, Kevin O'Shea, Shane O'Brien, Justin Lowry, Ger Armstrong, Colm Murphy, Niall Carty, Philip O'Donnell, Liam O'Dowd
Subs: Barry Jones for Ciaran Monaghan (30 mins), Neil Kelly for Justin Lowry (50 mins); Jamie Brennan for Liam O'Dowd (50 mins)

SCORERS: S O'Brien 2-5 (2-4 frees), N Carty 1-0, L O'Dowd 0-3 (3 frees), G Armstrong 0-1, P O'Donnell 0-1

U21 Hurling Victory Marks Historic Achievement

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