Na Piarsaigh GAA Club Notes:
U20 Hurling Championship Final:
Na Piarsaigh 1-10 Mungret/St Pauls 2-15
Mick Neville Park in Rathkeale was the setting for our U20 county final meeting with Mungret on Sunday afternoon. This was a repeat of the first round tie, of which our city opponents came out on top by a single point. We scored a wellearned semi-final win over Doon last Monday night at the same venue, with Mungret recording a comfortable victory over Monaleen in the other semi-final.
We got off to a bright start with Alex Kearns landing a lovely score from the far sideline. Eoin Brosnan drove one over a couple of minutes later to leave the sides level at 2 apiece. Mungret responded to our leveller with their first goal. They added a couple more points in the opening half while Alex kept our hopes alive with a handful of frees. It was clear from the opening exchanges the physical power of our opponents. While we were doing our utmost to match them for hurling, we were coming up short in the 50:50 challenges and rucks. But we stuck it out and didn’t drop the heads. Score at half time: Na Piarsaigh 0-04 Mungret 1-07.
Both teams traded scores at the start of the second half. David O’Keeffe landed a neat point, with Mark Hogan adding a second. We were unfortunate to lose Ronan Benson to a head injury soon into the second period. Ronan was one of our standout performers in the opening half, continuing his great form from the semi-final. He was switched to wing back before throw-in following Tadhg Mullane’s withdrawal due to illness. Mungret struck their second goal with 46 minutes on the clock to put 9 between the sides.
Our best play of the game came with 10 minutes remaining. A goal finished to the net by Alex Kearns. Josh Sheehan delivered a long ball into the full forward line, wonderfully fielded by Mark Hogan. He turned for goal, flicking the ball across the goal mouth for Alex to bat to the net. It was a great phase of play from our lads to bring the deficit back to 5 points. Unfortunately, that was as close as we were to get, with Mungret running out 8-point winners.
Great credit is due to Evan Condon and his management team of Emmet Beston, Evan Sweaney, Podge Kennedy and William O’Donoghue for the great time and commitment given to the group over the past few months. With the new split season, the U20 grade is a hard one to get right with players being pulled from all angles at the tail end of the season. Our U20 squad had lads involved in senior, intermediate, junior B, Junior C and minor hurling this year. This coupled with a handful of lads involved with Harty Cup, third level and intercounty squads. The squad had 5 players up to the age in James Finn, Josh Sheehan, Sam Jordan and Ger O’Tiarnaigh along with the injured John O’Tiarnaigh. The campaign will bring these lads on so much and the hurt of losing a county final will surely drive the group to bigger and better things in the future.
Team: Darragh Jordan, Mike Duggan, John O’Keeffe, Harry McGann, Ronan Benson, James Finn, Adam Fitzsimons, David O’Keeffe (0-01), Sam Jordan, Josh Sheehan, Paul McDonogh, Ger O’Tiarnaigh, Alex Kearns (1-07, 0-06f), Eoin Brosnan (0-01), Mark Hogan (0-01).
Subs used: Conor Bermingham, Ferdia Minihane, Danny Sheehan & Ben O’Regan.
Subs not used: Marcus Murphy, Padraig Murnane, Thomas Fitzgerald, Sean Harrington, James McGann, Brian Óg Connolly, Louis Murphy, Ben Murray, Edmund Hillary, Leon Power, John O’Tiarnaigh(inj), Tadhg Mullane(inj).
U20 Hurling Championship Semi-Final:
Na Piarsaigh 3-12 Doon 2-08
Mick Neville Park was the venue for our U20 county semi-final meeting with Doon on Monday night. While a cold evening, the conditions were dry and pitch in solid nick. We were set up for a right match.
It took both teams a few minutes to warm into the game as scores were hard to come by. We struck first with a goal after 4 minutes following some great work by Mark Hogan on the far sideline. He found David O’Keeffe free on the edge of the 21, for the Ferndale man to lash the ball to the net. Our goal was cancelled out minutes later when Doon found the net at the other end. David would add a point from play before Eoin Brosnan struck our second goal. I say struck but in reality, it was more bundled to the net. A shot for a point came down off the post for Brossie to outmuscle a Doon defender and the keeper, forcing the ball over the line. Doon stayed in the hunt with a couple of frees before Brossie added a point just before the break. The ref blew for half time with Na Piarsaigh leading 2-04 to 1-03. Our full back line were the standout performers of the opening half with John O’Keeffe having a stormer at number 3. He had the reliable help of Mike Duggan and Harry McGann on either side, both performing diligently not only in the opening half but right across the hour.
Doon opened the second half with a free but we responded well with Alex Kearns landing a ‘65 followed by another placed ball. Doon registered another from play before Brossie drove one over from close to the stand. Sam Jordan added his name to the scoresheet directly from the resultant puckout. We were motoring well at this stage and Doon had started to miss some scorable frees. Ronan Benson landed the point of the day on the 43 minute mark, coming in off the far sideline, evading his man and launching the ball over the bar from 50 yards. A beauty.
David O’Keeffe scored our 3rd goal with 5 minutes of normal time to play. High ball in on top of the keeper, David applied the necessary pressure to force a fumble and guide the ball to the net. A bit of scuttery one but it counted and all but sealed the result. Doon got their second goal in the dying moments but their day was spent. There where no man of the match awards given out on the night but if asked, I’d be sharing it between David and our captain James Finn. James was simply awesome at centre back from start to finish. Be it a high or low ball, he dealt with it so well along with providing a serious attacking threat with his rangey runs. A colossal at the heart of our defense.
Such a pleasing drive home from Rathkeale, discussing what was another positive night for Na Piarsaigh. The blend of skill and work rate from our boys was a joy to watch. We’ve had some great days at senior level over the past few years but Monday’s result sees us through to our first U20/U21 final since 2019. A 2-point loss to Doon on that occasion, with our last victory coming in 2017.
The county final is provisionally fixed for next Sunday the 30th with venue and throw-in time to be confirmed. We await the winner of Tuesday’s semi-final between Mungret and Monaleen, which may be known by the time you read this.
Team: Darragh Jordan, Mike Duggan, John O’Keeffe, Harry McGann, Tadgh Mullane, James Finn, Adam Fitzsimons, David O’Keeffe (2-02), Ronan Benson (0-01), Josh Sheehan, Paul McDonogh, Sam Jordan (0-01), Alex Kearns (0-06, 0-05f 1’65), Eoin Brosnan (1-02), Mark Hogan. Subs used Ger O’Tiarnaigh, Conor Bermingham, Ben O’Regan, Ferdia Minihan & Padriag Murnane. Subs not used Marcus Murphy, Thomas Fitzgerald, Louis Murphy, Sean Harrington, Ben Murray, James McGann, Edmund Hillary, Brian Connolly, Leon Power, Danny Sheehan(inj), John O’Tiarnaigh(inj).