St Gabriels power to another London SHC title

St Gabriels 4-15 Robert Emmetts 3-12

St Gabriels claimed an 18th London SHC title as the men from Wembley overcame fierce rivals Robert Emmetts 4-15 to 3-12 in a thrilling climax to championship hurling in the English capital.

Gabriels took control of the game from the word go and had a seven-point lead in the opening exchanges thanks to Conor O'Carroll, whose powerful effort found the top corner of the net.

Shortly before the 10-minute mark, Donal Hannon would get Emmetts on the scoresheet before Benny McCarry got his side back into the match with a goal of his own and closed the gap to two points.

With scores splitting the posts at either end the game began to open up as Emmetts kept the pressure on St Gabriels.

However, the game then became a contest once more when Kevin O’Loughlin dispatched a free and the sides were level.

O’Carroll managed to find the posts with a driven long-range effort before he was denied by Tommy Wallace in the Emmetts goal who pulled off a magnificent save to prevent Gabriels from taking the lead once more.

Emmetts finished the first half strongly after their slow start and a levelling point from Cian Lordan and a point from O’Loughlin put them into the lead for the first time.

The first half had more excitement in store for those in attendance at McGovern Park and it was St Gabriels who went into half-time with their tails up.

Kerryman Jack Goulding found himself through on goal but Wallace did well to smother the ball before the sliotar broke and fell to O’Caroll who made no mistake and had his second goal of the afternoon.

Eoin Kelly followed up the second Gabriels goal with a converted free as Gabriels led 2-09 to 1-09 at the break.

O’Carroll would get the first score in the second half before the