Early goals crucial as Craobh defeat Lucan in SHC 'A' quarter-final

Early goals crucial as Craobh defeat Lucan in SHC ‘A’ quarter-final

Sat, 21st September 2019

DUBLIN SHC ‘ A’ QUARTER-FINAL

CRAOBH CHIARAN 3-14 LUCAN SARSFIELDS 2-13

An electric start put Craobh Chiaráin on the road to victory in Saturday’s Dublin SHC ‘A’ quarter-final at Parnell Park.

Goals from Kieran McGouran, following clever play by Alan McCrabbe, and Billy Ryan inside the opening two minutes gave the Donnycarney men a lead they never conceded.

A point from Francis Usanga in the third minute put Craobh 2-1 to 0-1 ahead before Lucan’s Chris Crummey took responsibility to get a foothold for his side when he drove up the standside before unleashing an angled drive to the net past Stephen Chester.

Chester was a central character in Chiaráins victory with his massive puckouts, with the wind, in the opening half putting pressure on the Sarsfields defence.

Scores from Billy Ryan, Francis Usanga, Pak Kelly and two Cian Derwin frees saw Craobh move 2-6 to 1-1 clear by the midpoint of the first-half.

Two minute before the break Chris Crummey converted from the penalty spot, following a foul on his younger brother Paul, but crucially Craobh had the last word in the half with a Francis Usanga goal and point from Billy Ryan to lead 3-9 to 2-3 at the interval.

"We'll train hard for it & whoever we get, we'll give them a game". @craobhchiarain manager Ger Ryan reacts to his side's #DSHCA quarter-final win over Lucan Sarsfields this afternoon pic.twitter.com/h4Iy2Tb5O9
— Dublin GAA (@DubGAAOfficial) September 21, 2019

Lucan restarted the stronger with scores from Paul Crummey, Ben Coffey (free) and Ciarán Dowling to cut the deficit to six points.

The freetaking of Ben Coffey kept Lucan chipped away at the lead but overall the goals separated the sides with Billy Ryan (free), Paul Kelly and Kieran McGouran getting points to keep Lucan at a distance.

SCORERS – Craobh Chiaráin: B Ryan 1-4 (0-2f), C Derwin 0-5 (0-4f, 0-1 ‘65’), F Usanga 1-2, K McGouran 1-1, P Kelly 0-2. Lucan Sarsfields: B Coffey 0-7 (0-6f), C Crummey 2-1 (1-0 pen), P Crummey 0-2, C Dowling, J McCaffrey, D Flannery 0-1 each.