Na Piarsaigh 3-23
Kilmallock 2-15
NA PIARSAIGH COLLECTED the Limerick senior hurling title for the seventh time in their history after dethroning Kilmallock in today’s final.
The 2016 All-Ireland champions were good value for their victory. Their work-rate and tackling was immense, while up front Peter Casey (0-7) and Adrian Breen (2-4) did the damage.
Breen’s second goal, which arrived at the end of first-half stoppage-time, gave Na Piarsaigh a nine-point cushion and pretty much put the game beyond Kilmallock.
Na Piarsaigh face the winners of Ballygunner and Kilruane MacDonaghs in the Munster club semi-final in three weeks.
It was a high quality game, featuring 10 players from Limerick’s All-Ireland winning panel, although Na Piarsaigh never looked like losing in the second-half, despite the concession of two late goals.
Na Piarsaigh are managed by Kieran Bermingham, who was captain when they won the first title in the club’s history in 2011.
Breen’s sixth minute goal handed Na Piarsaigh the initiative early on, firing them into a 1-2 to 0-2 lead. The city side found their groove and stretched ahead by five after 12 minutes following scores from David Dempsey, Casey and William Henn.
Both teams played the style of hurling embodied by the county team, using short stick passing to work the ball out of defence, while hunting in packs all over the field. The quality of shooting was notable on both sides. They shot just one wide apiece in a first-half that contained 27 scores.
Kilmallock hung in there and stayed with Na Piarsaigh. The teams traded scores frequently, with Kevin Downes and Michael Houlihan both accurate from placed balls.
Na Piarsaigh landed a sucker punch near the end of the half after Casey’s point attempt was half-blocked and dropped into Breen. The inside forward fetched brilliantly over Aaron Costello and batted in one-handed past Barry Hennessy.
That left the county champions facing a seven-point deficit at the interval, 2-13 to 0-12.
Na Piarsaigh stretched that lead to 10 points three minutes after the restart, as Casey (two) and Lynch (free) added to their tally.
Kilmallock were guilty of three misses in the third quarter and only scored through a pair of frees. Casey cut loose, bringing his tally to six points with a quick fire brace that put the game beyond Kilmallock.
Kilmallock introduced Conor Hanley Clarke, son of former Limerick All-Star Dave Clarke, as they chased the game. Mulcahy never gave up and landed a fine score, Kilmallock’s first of the half in the 45th minute.
Breen stroked over two fine efforts and Downes added a free to extend Na Piarsaigh’s lead to 2-22 to 0-15.
Hanley Clarke drilled a 21m free into the net for Kilmallock to start off a madcap finale. Moments later Shane O’Brien hit a goal chance into the side netting for Kilmallock, before David Dempsey fired a strike on goal narrowly wide at the far end.
As the game ticked into stoppage-time, another Kilmallock substitute found the net. This time Killian Hayes latched onto a break after a long ball inside and stroked it home, reducing the deficit to eight points.
Dempsey had the final say, surging through to dispatch a stunning strike into the top corner, handing his team a 3-23 to 2-15 victory.
Scorers for Na Piarsaigh: Adrian Breen 2-3, Peter Casey 0-7, Kevin Downes (0-6f) 0-7, David Dempsey 1-1, Ronan Lynch (0-2f) 0-2, Mike Foley, Keith Dempsey and William Henn 0-1 each.
Scorers for Kilmallock: Michael Houlihan (0-4f) and Graeme Mulcahy 0-4 each, Conor Hanley Clarke (1-1f) 1-1, Killian Hayes 1-0, Robbie Hanley and David Woulfe 0-2 each, Paddy O’Loughlin and Paudie O’Brien 0-1 each.
Na Piarsaigh
1. Evan Condon
24. Sean Long, 3. Mike Casey, 4. Cathal King
5. Mike Foley, 6. Emmet McEvoy, 7. Ronan Lynch
8. Will O’Donoghue, 9. Keith Dempsey
10. Kevin Downes, 11. Peter Casey, 12. David Dempsey
13. William Henn, 14. Conor Boylan, 15. Adrian Breen
Subs
22. Evan Gilvarry for Keith Dempsey (56)
26. Gearoid Synnott for King (59)
33. Tommie Grimes for Lynch 60)
Kilmallock
1. Barry Hennessy
2. Mark O’Loughlin, 3. Aaron Costello, 4. Dan Joy
5. Philip O’Loughlin, 6. Gavin O’Mahony, 7. Paddy O’Loughlin
8. Robbie Hanley, 9. Paudie O’Brien
10. Phelim O’Reilly, 11. Oisin O’Reilly, 12. Michael Houlihan
13. Shane O’Brien, 14. Graeme Mulcahy, 15. David Woulfe
Subs
18. Kevin O’Donnell for O’Loughlin (37)
19. Robbie Egan for Houlihan (42)
20. Conor Hanley Clarke for Woulfe (42)
17. Killian Hayes for O’Reilly (59)
Referee: Johnny Murphy (Ballylanders)