St Gabriels 5-21 Robert Emmetts 0-13
A five-star performance and four goals from Danny Coyne saw St Gabriels claim their 19th London Senior Hurling Championship title as they brushed Robert Emmetts aside 5-21 to 0-13.
Conor O'Carroll and Sean Glynn got St Gabriels' account up and running within 60 seconds before Robert Emmetts were quick to hit back and were leading by the sixth minute thanks to a brace of points from Dylan Dawson and a Brian Dowling free.
Two minutes later, Danny Coyne would score his and Gabriels' first goal of the game as he was given space to fire past Tommy Wallace in the Emmetts net.
The goal ignited a spark and the club from Wembley took control of the game, Glynn and Conor O’Carroll continued to add scores to their team’s tally, while Cathal O’Carroll and Paddy Naughton didn’t pass up an invitation to join the scorer's list before Coyne netted for a second time to put clear daylight between the two.
Robert Emmetts were struggling to get out of their own half, but when they did, they produced some fine scores. Donnacha Leahy and Tom Millerick did their bit, but they were left a mountain to climb as they went into the break 12 points behind.
The second-half wouldn’t be kinder to Robert Emmetts despite a brighter start. Coyne scored yet again before Conor O’Carroll also raised a flag in the space of six minutes and the mountain Emmetts were tasked with climbing began to look more and more like Mount Everest.
An avalanche of Gabriels scores buried any chance of an incredible comeback as Robert Emmetts struggled to give their attackers any proper service. Dowling was keeping his end of the bargain, but unfortunately for him and his teammates, their opposition were more than comfortable dealing with their attack.
Glynn continued to top up the ever-growing St Gabriels lead as frustration from Robert Emmetts players began to show and their woes were compounded when Niall Geoghan became the final St Gabriels player to fire the sliotar over the bar before Coyne found himself in again and fired home for number five to wrap up the 23-point win and St Gabriels first London senior hurling title since 2022.
St Gabriels: Padraig Collins; Niall Eames (0-1), Niall Geoghan (0-1), Tadgh Linnane; Stevie Whelan, Cathal O'Carroll, Calum Gardiner; Niall Broderick, Robbie Murphy; Paddy Naughton (0-1), Conor O’Carroll (1-5), Andrew Curtin; Fiachra Fitzpatrick, Sean Glynn (Captain) (0-11 7f), Danny Coyne (4-1, 1f)
Subs: Martin Hickey for Andrew Curtin (46’), Eoin Kelly (46’), Josh Tobin for Fiachra Fitzpatrick (0-1) (52’), Adam Bookle for Tadgh Linnane (55’) Brian Lohan for Calum Gardiner (56’)
Robert Emmetts: Tommy Wallace; Eoin Phelan, Cahir Healy, Kevin Fennelly; Shane O’Connor, Ronan McGrady (Captain), Jonathan McCarthy; Sean Lordan, Tom Millerick (0-1); Fionn Ó Riain Broin (0-2), Ronan Crowley, Dylan Dawson (0-3); Brian Dowling (0-4, 2f), Donnacha Leahy (0-1), Killian Burke
Robert Emmetts Substitutes: Cian Lordan (0-2) for Shane O’Connor, Stephen Bardon for Sean Lordan, Alan O’Leary for Eoin Phelan (all h/t), William Cronin for Donnacha Leahy (42’), Danny Buckley for Ronan Crowley (49’)
Referee: Liam Barry (Fulham Irish)
