This year’s All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship comes to a close today as Tyrone’s Errigal Ciarán come up short against Dublin’s Cuala as they took their first All-Ireland senior title.
Errigal Ciarán have taken the country by storm in this championship, with some memorable performances right the way through from the Tyrone competition to their All-Ireland semi-final win against Dr Crokes.
Powered by the Canavan brothers, Darragh and Ruairi, the blue and yellow sash has taken some big scalps on the way to Croker, including Down’s Kilcoo in the Ulster final but the Red Hand side failed to add Cuala to that list.
Cuala themselves have truly had a season to remember, winning their first Dublin Senior Football title against Kilmacud Crokes.
They then took on Leinster, toppling all teams in front of them and taking their first provincial title against St Mary’s of Louth.
Their win against Coolera-Strandhill, powered by the O’Callaghan brothers of Con (of Dublin fame) and Niall, cemented their place at Croke Park today.
The Andy Merrigan Cup is the icing on the cake for the red and whites in a season of firsts for the club, but hopefully not their last.
The game started off as a training session for Cuala, with Errigal Ciarán struggling to get out of their own half for the first period, in which they lost their talismanic captain Darragh Canavan to a head injury.
In the second half, Errigal Ciarán emerged from the Hogan stand as a rejuvenated side, with Tommy Canavan and Peter Harte leading the charge as they came within three points of the Dublin side but it was not their day as Cuala secured the win in added time.
Take a look back at Errigal Ciarán and Cuala’s hard-fought All-Ireland final in Dublin.