Old-school hurling people are sometimes heard bemoaning the death of traditional first-time hurling. If that brand of hurling is dead, then nobody told DCU’s full-forward, Cathal Curran. The Waterford native put on a brilliant display as DCU overcame DIT at St. Clare’s by a score of 1-24 to 2-14.
There were a whole host of star performers as DCU made light work of the college that knocked them out of last year’s Fitzgibbon Cup in the group stages.
Forwards Cian Boland and Padraig Brehony and goalkeeper Cormac Ryan all gave accomplished performances. However it was Curran who stood out for the Glasnevin men as he produced several moments of genius.
The first half was tight and tense, with neither side giving any ground. DCU went in trailing by a point at the break. Aaron Nugent’s goal for DIT midway through the half was what separated the seemingly closely matched sides.
Padraig Burke hit three points in the first half for DCU to keep things close and his accuracy from placed balls proved crucial throughout the game, as he ended the match with six points to his name.
You would have been forgiven for thinking at half-time that this game would be close until the end but that wasn’t the case.
Aaron Nugent netted again for DIT early in the second half with a ground strike, but after this blip DCU dominated the remainder of the game.
The second half saw an exhibition of score taking from DCU, with Curran contributing 1-05. On four occasions Curran scored skillful lift and strike points but the highlight of his exploits came with 15 minutes to go.
When a well aimed pass picked out the Waterford man in the middle of the field he killed the ball with one touch and without even pausing to think about catching, struck it sweetly between the posts. The crowd of around 100 in attendance gave Curran a deserved round of applause for what was a magical point.
Curran’s goal came from a well worked DCU move when Cormac Ryan picked out Boland in the midfield. The Oliver Plunketts man played a long ball which eventually reached Curran and the Dungarvan club-man finished with ease from 10 metres.
DCU found themselves leading by eight points with 12 minutes to go but the lead was reduced to five after three successive Jack Guiney frees for DIT.
The Wexford inter-county star gave a solid performance but was overshadowed by those in the DCU gold and navy.
Late points from Cian Boland and Padraig Brehony kept Guiney and DIT at arms length and DCU saw the game out comfortably.
Kevin Taylor
Image Credit: Aidan Broletti
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