Lory Meagher Cup Final

Lancashire v Sligo, Saturday, 12.00, Croke Park

By Colm Shalvey

Starting the triple-bill of hurling finals at Croke Park on Saturday is the Lory Meagher Cup decider between Sligo and Lancashire.

Sligo are in this final for the third time in four years after losing in 2015 and 2016 to Fermanagh and Louth, respectively, while it is a first appearance at this stage for Lancashire, who are one of three English-based teams in action at GAA Headquarters.

Lancashire have been entering the Lory Meagher since 2015 and they took a sense of momentum into this year’s competition after winning the Allianz Hurling League Division IIIB title, defeating Sligo on the way to beating Leitrim after extra-time in the final.

Sligo turned the tables on Lancashire in their Lory Meagher group opener in Manchester and a win over Fermanagh saw them secure a final place with a round to spare, meaning their loss to Cavan last time out meant little. Lancashire recovered from their early defeat to secure comfortable wins over Fermanagh and Cavan and top the table on score difference.

Lancashire have a scoring machine and a potential trump card in former Cork minor Ronan Crowley, who has a remarkable 8-155 to his name in 13 games in the last two campaigns, including 5-100 in total this year. His brother, Darren, could also be prominent, along with Edmond Kenny, JJ Dunphy, Tommy Duane and Nathan Unwin as Lancashire look to round off a hugely progressive year with another statement victory.

Sligo have a greater spread of scorers, with Eoin Comerford, Kevin Banks, Larry and Gary Cadden, the long-serving Keith Raymond and dual star Gerard O’Kelly-Lynch all capable of contributing.

Lancashire hit 5-62 in their three group games for an average score of 25.67 points, while they conceded 7-33 or 18 points per match. Sligo’s ratios are skewed by their heavy defeat against Cavan, when they had already qualified, with their 4-49 for and 7-47 against working out at 20.33 to 22.67 per game.

Sligo will be desperate to avoid making it a hat-trick of final defeats after falling short by narrow margins on their last two appearances, while Lancashire will be seeking to follow in the footsteps of Warwickshire, who lifted this title 12 months ago before progressing all the way to this year’s Nicky Rackard Cup Final.

Lancashire’s Lory Meagher Cup scorers 2018: Ronan Crowley 1-37 (0-29f); Edmond Kenny 2-6; JJ Dunphy 1-3; Tommy Duane 0-5; Seán Power 1-1; Darren Crowley 0-3; Martin Hawley, Nathan Unwin, Stephen Duncan, Darragh O’Brien, Shane Dunne, David Power, Ross Mullins 0-1 each.

Sligo’s Lory Meagher Cup scorers 2018: Eoin Comerford 0-13 (10f); Kevin Banks 1-8; Gerard O’Kelly-Lynch 1-7 (0-7f); Larry Cadden 2-1; Gary Cadden 0-5; Keith Raymond (3f), Kieran Prior 0-4 each, Ronan Cox, Eoin McDonagh, Ruairí Brennan, Matthew Davey, Ronan McNamara, Tony O’Kelly-Lynch, Frankie O’Flynn 0-1 each.

Lory Meagher Cup top scorers 2018:

Ronan Crowley (Lancashire)  1-37

Shea Curran (Fermanagh)      0-21

John Sheanon (Cavan)           1-13

Eoin Comerford (Sligo)           0-13

Seán Keating Cavan)              1-10

Lancashire sharp-shooter Ronan Crowley tops the Lory Meagher Cup scoring charts for the second year after notching 1-37 in his side’s three group games. That has him on almost double the total of his nearest challenger, Fermanagh’s Shea Curran. Eoin Comerford is currently the only Sligo player in the top five, which also features Cavan duo John Sheanon and Seán Keating.