It may have taken two games, but, finally, Cuala have retained their All-Ireland Club Hurling title.
At the half-way point in today's All-Ireland Club Hurling final replay between Cuala and Na Piarsaigh, you wouldn't struggle to figure out how one side didn't prevail in last weekend's drawn final
Dublin's Cuala had a one-point advantage, but, no less than a minute into the second-half and Limerick's Na Piarsaigh had leveled the tie again.
And so the game carried on in O'Moore Park as it had in Croke Park.
Constantly taking one, or even two steps forward, the aggressor would be reeled back in by their opponent. Two incredibly well-matched sides, it was Cuala that manufactured the first meaningful breakthrough; picking up on a loose Na Piarsaigh pass, Nicky Kenny drilled it home to give Cuala a goal and 3-point advantage.
Nicky Kenny scores the opening goal of the game for Cuala pic.twitter.com/xdn6Cgui7I
— The GAA (@officialgaa) March 24, 2018
No sooner had Na Piarsaigh restarted, and Cuala had another through Mark Schutte. With incredible close-control, two goals in no time at all had given the reigning holders a 6-point lead to protect.
Watch as Mark Schutte finishes brilliantly to the net for Cuala’s second goal pic.twitter.com/ecJMgpD4za
— The GAA (@officialgaa) March 24, 2018
Looking like a day of clubs retaining All Ireland Titles. 2 goals in 2mins will be hard to overcome #allirelandclubfinal #Cuala
— Aimée McAtamney (@AimeeMcAtamney) March 24, 2018
2 goals of beauty for Cuala! They’ll have some momentum now after that, but I would not rule out Na Piarsaigh yet at all - we saw last week that so much can happen in so little time! 😬 #TheToughest
— Leanne Hanafin (@Leanneafin) March 24, 2018
Some 60secs from Cuala #Hurling
— JMcDaid (@JMcDd) March 24, 2018
With a little over 15 minutes remaining, Na Piarsaigh had their work cut out for them if they wanted to claim a second All-Ireland in three years.
For anyone watching Limerick's county hurlers in recent weeks, what happened next may not be that much of a surprise.
Knocking over two points, Na Piarsaigh's pressure told and David Breen received a smart pass from Shane Dowling before grabbing a vital goal.
Watch as David Breen scores a brilliant goal for Na Piarsaigh v Cuala pic.twitter.com/w1t6tUipCa
— The GAA (@officialgaa) March 24, 2018
Ten minutes after a 6-point gap had been established, and these two were again only separated by a solitary score. Another marvelous pass from Dowling to Peter Casey would see Na Piarsaigh level the game.
Na Piarsaigh and Cuala are both just brilliant to watch - going to be tough on whatever team does not lift the trophy here #GAABEO
— Patrick Lynn (@LynnyQQ) March 24, 2018
Cuala NaPiarsaigh . Another EPIC battle #TheToughest
— Ben O'Sullivan (@Spinnaker0_1) March 24, 2018
1-3 for Na Piarsaigh in the 10 mins since the two Cuala goals. Brilliant response.
— Kevin O'Brien (@Kevobrien) March 24, 2018
Once again, the tit-for-tat scoring continued. In a frenzied final few minutes, Cuala's Mark Schutte and Con O'Callaghan drew two poor fouls from Na Piarsaigh and David Treacy duly obliged and scored two point that ultimately made the difference.
Schutte knocked over one more himself and with a 2-17 to 1-17 scoreline, Cuala retained their All-Ireland title.
