Hard struggle appears to end with marriage (5,5)

I believe the answer is:

close match

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'hard struggle appears' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I cannot judge whether it can be defined by this definition.

'end with marriage' is the wordplay.
'end' becomes 'close' (close can mean the closing part of something).
'with' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'marriage' becomes 'match' (I've seen this before).
'close'+'match'='CLOSE MATCH'

'to' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.