Na Piarsaigh primed for glory
Their final opponents, Ahane, are Limerick hurling royalty, with 19 senior crowns, a point not lost on Na Piarsaigh coach Sean Stack.
“Having never won a Limerick senior hurling championship, psychologically that’s a huge obstacle for any group of lads to have to get over,” says Stack. “Usually you’ve got to win your first one fairly ugly because there are all sorts of mental barriers there — it’s difficult enough to explain if you haven’t won one already.
“In one way that’s the biggest obstacle we face, particularly when you consider our opponents. Ahane are steeped in Limerick hurling history with all those county titles. That’s a huge challenge for us, trying to rise to that because we have a very young team.
“Our team are maturing a lot, though, and I think if they can win one title then the future looks very bright for them.”
Na Piarsaigh had one of those “winning ugly” days in the semi-final, beating Patrickswell by five points in a dour encounter.
“The standard that day wasn’t great, and the standard of club hurling in Limerick generally wouldn’t be exceptionally high at the moment,” says Stack, a stylish defender in his day with Clare.
“I thought Adare would be back as strong challengers this year, and Kilmallock were very good last year, but surprisingly enough they both lost.
“We’re very happy with the progress the team has made, particularly when it comes to handling adversity on the field. We feel they’ve come from a situation where they couldn’t really handle that to a stage where if they go five or six points down, as happened in the semi-final, then they can deal with that. They can face up to it and fight their way back into the game.
“In our first final, two years ago, we went a few points down and the wheels started coming off the wagon a bit — all the players were looking around at each other with everybody looking for someone else to take responsibility.
“Now they’ll each take responsibility, which is a big plus for us.”
Experience of the decider two years ago should stand to the city club, says Stack.
“That has a big bearing. Shane Dowling is still a kid in school, he wasn’t involved in the previous final because he was only playing U16 that time but Kevin Downes and the others have been through it.
“There are seven of the club U21 side are on the senior team, which is a lot, and they’re facing into the county U21 final as well, having won that competition last year as well.
“Six of them were on the Limerick U21 panel this year as well, which is all exposure. They’ve grown up a lot in two years. A lot of them have played Harty with Ardscoil Ris as well.”
Stack says the players are showing the benefit of elite colleges hurling with Árd Scoil Rís.
“The likes of Shane Dowling would have been good players before going into Árdscoil, but the fact that the school is attracting the likes of Declan Hannon in from Adare and Jamie Shanahan in from Clare, that all means they’ve been able to reach two All-Ireland colleges finals.
“The more big occasions a player is involved in, the more he’s able to cope with them.”
For Na Piarsaigh, the biggest occasion yet comes tomorrow.
*Tomorrow: Limerick SHC final: Na Piarsaigh v Ahane, Gaelic Grounds, 3.30pm.
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