Oulart-The Ballagh (Wexford) 2-13

Cuala (Dublin) 0-13

Oulart-The Ballagh finally reached the Promised Land when goals from Tomas Dunne and Garrett Sinnott in either half secured a first Leinster club hurling title at the expense of Cuala.

After suffering the heartbreak of losing four provincial finals between 2010 and '13, and six in all, Oulart's joy was unconfined as they finally got their hands on the Leinster crown. The perrenial Wexford champions laid the foundations for their historic success in the first half when, aided by the strong breeze at Netwatch Cullen Park, they built up an eight-point lead. Sinnott's goal at the end of the third quarter extended their advantage to 12 points, and while Cuala managed to halve the deficit before the end, the result was never in any doubt.

When the celebrations die down, Frank Flannery's charges can start looking forward to a mouth-watering All-Ireland semi-final against their Munster counterparts Na Piarsaigh on February 6.

Cuala came into the decider with high hopes of becoming only the second Dublin club to win a Leinster club hurling title, but with Tommy Storey and Nicky Kirwan in fine scoring form, Oulart had opened up a 0-7 to 0-2 lead by the 25th minute. They tightened their grip on the game when David Redmond set up Tomas Dunne for the opening goal to leave it 1-7 to 0-2 at the break. 

The Dublin champions failed to score between the 13th and 38th minutes as Oulart continued to boss proceedings. Cuala's fate was sealed when goalkeeper Sean Brennan's mistake allowed Sinnott to boot hom the winners' second goal in the 44th minute.

With David Treacy helping himself to 0-10, Cuala finished strongly, but there was no denying Oulart their maiden title.

Oulart-The Ballagh - C O'Leary; B Kehoe, K Rossiter, E Moore (0-1); P Roche, S Murphy, K Sheridan; D Redmond (0-1), M Jacob; R Jacob, T Dunne (1-1), T Storey (0-3); D Mythen (0-2), G Sinnott (1-0), N Kirwan (0-5, 3f, 1'65). Subs: D Morton for M Jacob, P Murphy for T Dunne, P Sutton for G Sinnott.

Cuala - S Brennan; S Timlin, C O'Callaghan, J Sheanon; R Tierney, O Gough, S Moran; J Malone, D O'Connell; C O'Callaghan (0-2), C Cronin, C Waldron; D Treacy (0-10, 7f), M Schutte, S Treacy (0-1). Subs: C Sheanon for S Moran, N Kenny for C Sheanon.

Referee - D Hughes.

Tweet

Most Read Stories