Na Piarsaigh GAA Club Notes:
Féile na nGael Round 1:
Na Piarsaigh 1-09 John Lockes 3-07
We got off to a slow start but gradually built ourselves into the game. Peter Bowen got us off the mark followed by a trio of Evan Waters frees. Adam Butler struck a goal on 14 minutes before Casey Doran, Jacob Burke and Evan Waters all added points from play. We entered the break ahead by 4 and were confident of victory. Unfortunately our Kilkenny opponents kept pace in the second half, burning 2 killer goals. Evan Waters notched our 2 scores, the first an impressive effort from the side, the second a free. The ref blew for full time with John Lockes winning by 4, overturning our half time lead. A hard pill to swallow losing our opening game but still plenty to play for.
Team Conor Flanagan, Jack Hogan, Mannix Buckley, Will O’Leary, Peter Bowen (0-01), Liam Sheahan, Sean Ryan, Casey Doran (0-01), Paddy McCaul, George Conway, Evan Waters (0-06, 0-03f), Max Ross, Michael Linnane, Adem O’Neill, Adam Butler (1-00).
Subs Adam O’Rahilly, Jacob Burke (0-01), Danny Prieto, Gavin Hayes.
Féile na nGael Round 2:
Na Piarsaigh 2-06 Oulart-The-Ballagh 2-01
Reeling from a tough result in round 1, it looked as if the stuffing was knocked out of the lads in the opening minutes of our second game against Oulart-The-Ballagh. Our Wexford opponents struck 2 goals inside the opening 5 minutes as our lads looked to be stuck to the ground. Fortunately for us, we didn’t panic. Evan Waters landed 2 frees along with a peach of a score from Toby Conlon, driving one over from an acute angle just outside the arc. We entered the break down by 3, 2 goals to our 3 points. We started the second half in convincing fashion. A few words of encouragement from Micheál and co seemed to spark a serious bit of life into the boy’s legs. Coming on as a first half substitute, Adem O’Neill got on the end of a great move from Michael Linnane, flicking the ball to the net to level the game. Casey Doran added a long range score from midfield before Evan Waters added his first from play, again following excellent build-up from Michael Linnane. Max Ross got onto the score sheet having come on as a second half sub, another good score from close to the 45. We closed out the game with an Adam Butler goal, Butts blazing the ball to the net following a goal mouth scramble.
Oulart-The-Ballagh went on to defeat John Lockes in the last group game leaving all 3 teams equal on 2 points. The ruling for Féile is if all teams finish level on points, it will go down to least points conceded across all group games. Unfortunately, our concession of 5-08 across both ties didn’t do us any favours and we had to settle for second place in the group. Oulart-The-Ballagh came out on top, qualifying them for the semi-final of the cup. We qualified for the semi-final of the Shield and John Lockes went on to compete in the Plate competition. Team Conor Flanagan, Adam O’Rahilly, Sean Ryan, Mannix Buckley, Peter Bowen, Liam Sheahan, Colin Halpin, Casey Doran (0-01), Gavin Hayes, George Conway, Evan Waters (0-03, 0-02f), Paddy McCaul, Michael Linnane, Toby Conlon (0-01), Adam Butler (1-00). Subs Jack Hogan, Adem O’Neill (1-00), Max Ross (0-01), Will O’Leary, Odhran O’Shea
Féile na nGael Shield Semi-Final:
Na Piarsaigh 2-03 Lismore 3-07
Lismore burst out of the traps in the opening half of our Shield semi-final, burying 2 goals early on. We struggled to overturn the strong lead the Waterford side had built up but we certainly made a good go of it. Paddy McCaul got in for an exceptional goal close to half time, soloing from midfield, tucking the ball into the corner of the net just as got inside the 21 yard line. Evan Waters added a neat point to leave us trailing by 6 at the break. Evan grabbed a goal in the second half along with a class score from captain Liam Sheahan, out on the wing and a pointed free from George Conway. Lismore would run out deserving winners for a finish. Team Conor Flanagan, Jack Hogan, Sean Ryan, Mannix Buckley, Peter Bowen, Liam Sheahan (0-01), Odhran O’Shea, Casey Doran, Gavin Hayes, George Conway (0-01f), Evan Waters (1-01), Paddy McCaul (1-00), Michael Linnane, Toby Conlon, Adam Butler.
Subs: Jacob Burke, Max Ross, Adem O’Neill, Will O’Leary, Danny Prieto, Adam O’Rahilly, Danny Galligan, Luke Hartnett, Robert Tunn, Thomas Fitzgough, Sam Prieto, Liam Rellihan, Aaron O’Keeffe, Colin Halpin. And so an incredible journey comes to an end in Portlaoise. Following one of the great Limerick championships, the lads may feel a few “what ifs” having agonizingly lost out on qualifying for the semi-final. We must commend the players and the incredible work and dedication they have shown to the Na Piarsaigh jersey over the past number of months. They all carry themselves so well both on and off the pitch and each and every one of them giving 110% for Na Piarsaigh.Tthat’s all you can ask for at the end of the day. Great credit to Micheál Downes also. It’s impossible to measure the time and effort he has given to this group since they arrived down to Páirc Uí Dromgúil on a Saturday morning 8 or 9 years ago. It’s a good sign when all the players speak so highly of their manager. Not forgetting his management team, who had the lads in serious shape for both the Limerick and All Ireland Féile. Fair play to his son Kevin, Billy O’Keeffe, Keith Dempsey and Niall Buckley. Finally, a word to all the parents, family members and friends who provided great support to our lads on Saturday. We were without doubt the best supported team at Féile and I’ve no doubt the players appreciated all your cheers.
City Senior Football Championship Final
Na Piarsaigh 2-10 Mungret/St Pauls 2-20
Our Intermediate footballers lost out to the 2025 County Senior Champions Mungret in the City Senior Final on Friday evening. We went in a point behind at half time following a serious 30 minutes of football from our lads. Evan Egan landed a 2-pointer early on while the score of the game came from the boot of Odhran Gilroy, slotting the ball to the net a couple of minutes before the half time break. Even Egan marked a pin-point kick-out from Eoghain Sherlock, delivering a lovely kick-pass to Odhran just inside the opposition 45. Odhran took off at pace, giving a 1-2 with Kieran Daly before passing the ball calmly to the net. The second half was a slightly tougher slog. Kieran Daly picked off a beaut of a 2-pointer close to the end but our moment of the half was his brother James rattling the Mungret net. Overall it was a decent display from our lads considering the many young players introduced to the squad for 2026. The opening round of the championship sees us face St. Senan’s on the 9th of July. Team Eoghain Sherlock, Aaron Rush, Fionn O’Tiarnaigh, Cathal McMullan, Adam Jordan, Sean Long, Ronan Houla, Ralph Leonard, Jack McCarthy, James Daly (1-00), Kieran Daly (0-06, 1’45 1’2P), Thomas Fitzgerald, Evan Egan (0-03, 1’2P 0-01f), Tadhg Mullane, Odhran Gilroy (1-01).
Subs Mark Hogan, Harry McGann, John Robinson, Alex Harris, Ferdia Minihane, Cian Cronin.