Douglas turn on power to shock Na Piarsaigh
It took Douglas most of the first half to establish themselves but once they did, they shut out the favourites. Na Piarsaigh threw county star John Gardiner forward in the final minutes — in a last desperate attempt to manufacture a badly-needed goal or two. But they faced a resolute Douglas defence well marshalled by full-back David McSweeney and there was no way back.
Douglas led by just a point, 0-6 to 0-5, after 38 minutes. However, it didn’t augur well for the southsiders who were finding it particularly difficult to get past the outstanding Na Piarsaigh half-back trio of Séan Óg Ó hAilpín, John Gardiner and Ronan McGregor. The bulk of their scores came as a direct result of the massive puckouts by keeper Tom Delaney (a Kilkenny man, a Cork-based Garda) over the heads of that line.
