Na Piarsaigh 1-20
Patrickswell 0-19
Stephen Barry reports from TUS Gaelic Grounds
NA PIARSAIGH HELD Patrickswell at arm’s length to defend their Limerick SHC title with a four-point victory at the Gaelic Grounds.
Kevin Downes and Conor Boylan delivered powerful performances and they could’ve had more than their one goal scored by Peter Casey.
In a contest that didn’t fully ignite, some of the hotly anticipated inter-county match-ups were avoided or occurred only sparingly.
Aaron Gillane started at centre-forward but Mike Casey stayed to mind the house, with Emmet McEvoy following him out. Gillane re-emerged for the second half with significant strapping around his right knee and appeared laboured in his movements at times, although he remained a constant threat.
Will O’Donoghue returned from injury for his first appearance since the All-Ireland final but rather than track Cian Lynch, he took over the sweeper role from Downes, who moved into a more customary half-forward spot.
It was Boylan who was assigned the Lynch brief and he was named the man of the match by the end of the hour.
Patrickswell freed Diarmaid Byrnes to operate as a spare man, although Peter Casey was placed inside his orbit at centre-forward, where he was tagged by John Flynn.
It was some of the less heralded players who shone in their stead. Downes was a huge outlet under puck-outs, slotting four points. They won plenty of frees for Ronan Lynch, who also landed a monster point from play.
Patrickswell vice-captain Jack Kelleher was in flying form, taking four points including one from a sideline cut.
But while the Well’s passing let them down when presented with potential goal chances, Na Piarsaigh had the greater cutting edge. They found Jason Gillane on top of his game, however.
He saved from Peter Casey and Adrian Breen, while Shane Dowling had to make a reflex save from Kevin O’Brien at the other end.
Piarsaigh did get the consolation of a point from both attacks, though, and Casey beat Gillane at the third attempt in the 25th minute. He did all the work, picking up a break, shimmying inside, and kicking the sliotar to the net with his left boot.
That made it 1-7 to 0-5 and it could’ve been more but for Byrnes blocking a Breen shot with his trailing leg. They went in 1-8 to 0-7 behind at the break.
Piarsaigh moved six clear but Patrickswell never let them go beyond that mark as Ronan Lynch’s magical turn almost resulted in a goal but Kelvin Lynch got his body in the way.
Well full-back Mark Carmondy came forward for a point, Gillane and Byrnes frees kept them ticking over, and O’Brien added two more to cut the gap to two, 1-16 to 0-17.
But Piarsaigh had the extra gears, with a Downes point followed by three tap-over Ronan Lynch frees.
Flynn scooped the sliotar over the bar but Piarsaigh otherwise survived the late air raids to seal their eighth title.
Scorers for Na Piarsaigh: Ronan Lynch 0-8 (7f), Peter Casey 1-1, Kevin Downes 0-4, Conor Boylan 0-2, David Dempsey 0-2, Mike Foley 0-1, Will Henn 0-1, JJ Carey 0-1.
Scorers for Patrickswell: Aaron Gillane 0-7 (5f), Jack Kelleher 0-4 (1 s/l), Diarmaid Byrnes 0-2 (2f), Kevin O’Brien 0-2, Mark Carmody 0-1, John Flynn 0-1, Evan Fitzgerald 0-1, Calvin Carroll 0-1.
Na Piarsaigh
1. Shane Dowling
3. Mike Casey (captain), 4. Cathal King
8. Will O’Donoghue
7. Vince Harrington, 2. Emmet McEvoy, 5. Mike Foley
10. Conor Boylan, 6. Ronan Lynch
12. Kevin Downes, 15. Peter Casey, 22. JJ Carey
13. Adrian Breen, 14. Will Henn, 18. David Dempsey
Subs:
11. Keith Dempsey for Henn (53-54, blood)
11. Keith Dempsey for Breen (57)
23. John Fitzgerald for Henn (60+3)
Patrickswell
1. Jason Gillane
2. Kelvin Lynch, 3. Mark Carmody, 9. Josh Considine
6. Diarmaid Byrnes
7. Cian Fitzgerald, 4. John Flynn, 5. Evan Fitzgerald
8. Jack Kelleher, 11. Cian Lynch
13. Tom O’Brien, 14. Aaron Gillane (captain), 12. Jordan Higgins
10. Kevin O’Brien, 15. John Kirby
Subs:
19. Patrick Kirby for T O’Brien (h-t)
21. Tom Nolan for E Fitzgerald (37-40, blood)
20. Calvin Carroll for Considine (44)
17. Nigel Foley for Kirby (49)
21. Tom Nolan for Higgins (60)
Referee: Michael Sexton (Bruree)