Na Piarsaigh GAA Club Notes:
Senior Hurling Championship Round 4:
Na Piarsaigh 2-23 Kilmallock 1-14
Our senior hurlers booked their semi-final spot with a game to spare on Saturday evening following an 11-point victory over Kilmallock in Mick Neville Park. Conditions were bad. Strong breeze blowing from the dressing room end and in favour of Kilmallock in the first half. Their keeper landed 2 long range frees along with sending a puck-out wide. That tells you all you need to know about the strength of the wind. We played well in the opening 30 with 7 Na Piarsaigh men getting on the scoresheet. This included a penalty converted by Shane Dowling but the pick of the scores in the opening half came from Emmet McEvoy. He got on the end of a pass inside our ‘65, put the head down and set off for goal, driving the ball over the bar from 25 yards out. The teams were level at half time, 1-09 to 0-12. Keith Dempsey had to be withdrawn halfway through the first half due to injury, with Will Henn replacing him. Wishing Keith the best in his recovery and we’ll hopefully see him back fit for the semi-final.
We got off to a blistering start in the opening minutes of the second half, scoring 1-03 inside 4 minutes. A point each from William O’Donoghue and Ronan Lynch, along with a goal and a point from the stick of Dylan Lynch. Peter and Mike Foley were introduced around the 40 minute mark and both contributed handsomely to a solid team display. Peter slotted 2 lovely points with Foley landing his regular point from wing back. Kilmallock did claw back a goal but we steadied the ship and refused to let them in for a second. Downesy was flawless from the frees up front while Mike Casey, Vince and Jerome looked very assured at the back. William gave a man of the match performance at midfield, while Daithí was awesome from start to finish at wing forward. 12 Na Piarsaigh scorers in all and Mark Hogan introduced for his first senior championship appearance made a good day at the office for Na Piarsaigh. Patrickswell await in the last group game the weekend after next.
Team: Shane Dowling (1-00p), Ronan Lynch (0-04, 0-03f 0-01’65), Vince Harrington, Jerome Boylan, Emmet McEvoy(0-01), Mike Casey, Tommy Grimes, William O’Donoghue (0-01), James Finn, JJ Carey, Keith Dempsey(0-01), Daithi Dempsey (0-02), Kevin Downes (0-07, 0-05f 0-01’65), Dylan Lynch(1-02), Adrian Breen (0-01). Subs: Will Henn (0-01), Peter Casey (0-02), Mike Foley (0-01) & Mark Hogan.
Intermediate Hurling Championship Round 4:
Na Piarsaigh 0-24 Pallasgreen 2-12
As with the senior match on Saturday, weather conditions were to play a central role in our intermediates victory in Fedamore on Sunday. The slimmest of margins separated the sides at halftime, us leading by 0-09 to 1-05. We also had a decent spread of scorers with 7 lads getting points in the opening half. Playing with the breeze in the second half, we ground out a result. Pa O’Neill was 100% from placed balls while Eoin Brosnan gave a man of the match display from midfield, landing 4 points. Johnny Murphy did force him to go in and apologise to an umpire at one stage for protesting a wide ball decision. We would run out 6-point winners. Team Evan Condon, Padraig Heaney (0-01), Mark O’Connor, Adam Fitzsimons, John O’Keeffe (0-01), Gordon Brown, Dean McLoughlin (0-01), Eoin Brosnan (0-04), Evan Gilvarry (0-01), Kevin Daly, Evan Sweeney (0-02), Jack McCarthy, Marcus Hogan (0-02), Pa O’Neill (0-10, 0-09f), Kieran Daly (0-01). Subs: Paul McDonogh (0-01), Pat Gleeson.
Junior C Hurling Championship Round 3:
Na Piarsaigh 1-08 Monagea 2-11
Team: Finbar Ryan, Jason Ronan, Neil O’Gorman, Cathal Hassett, Sean Harrington, Aidan Hennessy, Brian Buckley, Peter Hodnett, Thomas Fitzgerald, Joseph Corcoran, Leon Power, James Naughton, Adam Hallihan, Eddie O’Neill, Colm Downey.
Subs: Tom Quinn & Gareth Airey.
Fixtures:
Senior Football Championship round 3 v Rathkeale, Askeaton Friday 18:15pm.
Limerick Underage:
Well done to Shane Waters and Sean O’Brien who both played with the Limerick U16’s at the weekend, winning the U16 National Academy Shield. Shane captained Limerick on the day. In the Tony Forristal, we had Liam Sheehan, Sean Ryan, Paddy McCaul and Adam Butler representing Na Piarsaigh in the Limerick jersey. Liam captained Limerick also. Limerick Green were beaten in both their games so they didn’t make it out of the group unfortunately. Limerick white beat North Cork and drew with South West Tipp. They got through to a semi final and lost by a point in a match they should’ve won. Fair play to the lads on a fantastic summer dining the green jersey.
In the Arrabawn U15 tournament, Limerick got all the way to the Shield Final, losing out to Cork after extra time. Well done to Charlie Ryan, Cian Moore, George Bourke, George Stack, Joe Daly, Ronan Gleeson and Ross O’Flanagan on an excellent summer representing their club and families in the Limerick jersey. Ye did us proud and will no doubt build on the incredible experience.