Kildimo-Pallaskenry and South Liberties share spoils in exciting Limerick senior hurling championship clash:
By John Redington Limerick Leader Sport
KILDIMO-PALLASKENRY and South-Liberties played out an exciting 1-12 each draw in their Bon Secours Limerick senior hurling championship Group 2 fixture at Clarina on Thursday evening.
“The wides in the first half killed us, we should have been well ahead. But fair dues to Liberties, they hung in right to the end,” was Kildimo-Pallaskenry manager Natal O’Grady’s immediate post-match reaction.
His opposite number, South Liberties’ Albert McSweeney, agreed that the outcome was fair in their fourth round fixture. “We’ll take the result. We both had chances to win it.”
As it turned out, the final score left both sides fairly much where they were as they face into the last round of the qualifiers with Liberties stuck in a head-to-head dogfight with Adare to avoid relegation to premier intermediate ranks
Kildimo-Pallaskenry will face up to Monaleen in their final group fixture with the winners likely to make the quarter-finals of the championship.
And maybe that consideration seeped into the back of both sets of players’ minds over the course of a dogged, but intriguing clash that could have gone any way as opportunities were squandered, leads were immediately cancelled out and both sides stopped resolutely short of landing the knockout punch.
Maybe it was a case of Kildimo-Pallaskenry leading and Liberties following. Over the course of the first half, the blue and whites shot up an extraordinary total of 15 wides as they turned over trailing instead of being well ahead. Their difficulties were compounded by losing five-time All-Ireland winner Kyle Hayes after just twenty minutes with an injury.
Up to his departure, Hayes had been tormenting the opposing defence with his ability to collect the long delivery and use it to bring his fellow forwards into the game although most of his lay-offs ended up in shots wide of the posts.
Top Stories
However, it was after his departure that his side had its most productive period, turning a deficit of four points into a lead of two inside 12 minutes spanning the interval. But that didn’t provide the springboard for victory as Liberties’ countyman Barry Nash inspired his team-mates to not just hang in but come within inches of stealing the points.
Kildimo-Pallaskenry’s wide tally started straight from the throw-in before they found a goal chance when Hayes caught a long delivery and beat two challenges only to be stopped by Anthony Nash at the expense of a ’65’ which Shaun Barry converted.
However, that score was met immediately by John Hickey’s equaliser and Liberties found the breakthrough straight from the resulting puckout which Shane Brosnahan collected before streaking past the challenges to blast to the net.
After another run of wides, Kildimo-Pallaskenry found a reply through Seán Kavanagh’s point, but their stuttering finishing then caught up with them as Brosnahan’s point, Barry Nash’s pointed free and Ben Crompton’s score shot Liberties four points ahead just as Hayes’s goal on the burst was called back for overcarrying. Hayes evening ended with an injury soon after.
However, Kildimo-Pallaskenry’s shooting improved as an O’Keeffe effort and a pair of Barry frees all found the target and shaved their half-time deficit back to a single point, 1-4 to 0-6.
Kildimo-Pallaskenry then looked as if they had turned over a new leaf for the second half when, off their first sustained attack, Griffin gained possession off Peter Nash’s handpass and picked his spot in the far corner of the net.
He maintained his side’s two-point advantage as he cancelled out Brendan McSweeney’s point with a free.
It was Liberties who emerged from the subsequent stalemate when Limerick senior star Barry Nash pointed on the run and followed up with an equalising ’65’ as the game entered the final quarter.
Collecting the puckout, Kavanagh edged Kildimo-Pallaskenry ahead again only for them to be overtaken by Nash punishing a careless foul and Cooney edging the Souths ahead with a further point.
A Nash exchange of points followed, Peter being cancelled out by Barry’s free before, Kildimo-Pallaskenry found a surge coming up to regulation time as Seanie Hartigan and Rob O’Farrell emerged with points from a passage of missed chances to giving them the advantage.
But chances of them snatching it dimmed with a Nash pointed free, before Barry replied in kind. The see-saw nature of the scoring continued when Barry Nash pointed on the run and the four extended minutes ended in the inevitable draw when Barry’s free from halfway drifted wide.
SCORERS: KILDIMO-PALLASKENRY: Liam Griffin 1-1 (0-1 free), Shaun Barry 0-4 (3 frees, 1 ’65’), Jack O’Keeffe, Seán Kavanagh 0-2 each, Peter Nash, Seanie Hartigan, Rob O’Farrell 0-1 each. SOUTH LIBERTIES: Barry Nash 0-7 (4 frees, 1 ’65’), Shane Brosnahan 1-1, John Hickey, Ben Crompton, Brendan McSweeney, Barry Cooney 0-1 each,
KILDIMO-PALLASKENRY: James Mason; Jack Mullane, Luke O’Keeffe, James Pomeroy; Eddie McLoughlin, Davy Fitzgerald, Ciarán Barry; Conor Staff, Liam Griffin; Rob O’Farrell, Shaun Barry, Ciarán McMahon; Jack O’Keeffe, Kyle Hayes, Seán Kavanagh. SUBS: Peter Nash for Kyle Hayes (injured, 21 minutes), Seanie Hartigan for Coarán McMahon (45 minutes), Ciarán McMahon for Luke O’Keeffe (61 minutes).
SOUTH LIBERTIES: Anthony Nash; Mike O’Brien, Eoin Quilty, Alex Keys; John Hickey, Owen Dunne, David Garry; Paddy O’Donnell, Ken Byrnes; Shane Brosnahan, Barry Nash, Barry Cooney; Ben Crompton, Brendan McSweeney, Joe Hegarty. SUBS: Enda Meaney for Mike O’Brien (20 minutes), Brian Garry for Joe Hegarty (46 minutes),
REFEREE: David Deady (Bruree).