Na Piarsaigh rally to snatch draw in thriller

Adare 3-16 Na Piarsaigh 2-19 Limerick SHC

A joyous shoot-out in the Limerick SHC saw Na Piarsaigh wipe out a nine-point deficit in the space of 10 minutes to rescue an unlikely draw.

In a repeat of the 2009 and 2013 county finals, Adare had been the frontrunners since Willie Griffin opened the scoring with a goal and held a 3-13 to 0-13 advantage with 13 minutes remaining.

Yet Adrian Breen turned the tie on its head with a brace of goals, the second a lucky bouncer that deceived the keeper. With their inter-county stars coming to the fore, points from Kevin Downes and David Breen put Na Piarsaigh level with three minutes in hand.

Adare dug in with a grit characteristic of their whole display to take two late leads, via John Fitzgibbon and Griffin, but Shane Dowling nervelessly converted a pair of frees to force Adare into settling for a third consecutive draw.

That draw is enough to leave Na Piarsaigh in control of Group 2, with Adare scrapping for a top three spot. However they will take encouragement from the attacking brilliance of Griffin, and Mike Mackey, who scored two goals before a knee injury ended his day.

In Group 1 defending champions Kilmallock made it three-from-three, with a 4-13 to 0-17 dismissal of Murroe-Boher.

A huge wind and a Gavin O’Mahony penalty helped them into a 1-10 to 0-4 half-time lead, despite a remarkable 19 wides. Paul Doona’s goal pushed them 12 points clear before Murroe-Boher rallied, scoring eight of the next nine points. However late goals from Graeme Mulcahy and Robbie Egan made the points safe.

Scorers for Adare:

W Griffin (1-8, 4fs), M Mackey (2-1), J Fitzgibbon (0-4, 1f, 1sl), D Hannon, A O’Connell, L O’Brien (0-1 each).

Scorers for Na Piarsaigh:

S Dowling (0-10, 5fs, 3 65s), A Breen (2-3), D Breen, K Downes (0-2 each), D Dempsey, P Casey (0-1 each).

ADARE:

S O’Donoghue; E Costello, J Hannon, R Kennedy; J Gahan, W McNamara, D Sexton; N Mulvihill, J Fitzgibbon; A O’Connell, W Griffin, L O’Brien; M Connolly, D Hannon, M Mackey.

Subs:

E Ryan for Mackey (48).

NA PIARSAIGH:

P Kennedy; J O’Halloran, N Buckley, K Kennedy; M Foley, J O’Brien, C King; D Breen, P Gleeson; D Dempsey, A Breen, K Downes; D Shepard, S Dowling, P Casey.

Subs:

R Lynch for O’Halloran (34), K Ryan for Gleeson (41).

Referee:

J Daly (Kildimo-Pallaskenry).