Spirit carries the day for Na Piarsaigh 

 

Bon Secours PIFC Round 2: Na Piarsaigh 0-14 Newmarket 0-11 

Na Piarsaigh’s Intermediate footballers dug deep in Mourneabbey on Saturday afternoon to get their 2021 championship campaign back on track.

After a sluggish start to their second-round game against Newmarket the city side took control keeping their opponents at arm’s length till the final whistle.

Manager Alan Daly was thrilled not only with the result, but also his side’s spirit – particularly considering the limited time they had to prepare for this one.

“We dug this one out – it is difficult for the dual clubs – for us six games in seven weeks. We didn’t even kick a football since the loss to Castletownbere. Last Wednesday night we didn’t even have a goalkeeper – we searched through the team and got one of the lads to do it – he did it for the team and did it well.

“All these lads did it for each other, the black and amber and the crest and I can’t ask anymore from them. All I ask of any fella is that when they get back to the carpark they have nothing more to give and today I can say that is the case.” 

Led in the scoring stakes by Keith Buckley, Na Piarsaigh looked lively throughout with scores from Kelvin Forde, Alan Keating and Conor Bowen helping them back on track after they lost their opening fixture to Castletownbere in Round 1.

For Newmarket, Conor O’Keeffe was their main scoring threat with five points from play with Ryan O’Keeffe, TJ Brosnan and Alan Ryan also raising white flags on the day.

Points from Conor and Ryan O’Keeffe saw the Duhallow men in front early on however far too many wides would eventually cost them.

The city side had scores from Bowen, Buckley and Keating which saw them trail by just two as the sides stopped the first water break.

The victors struck the front in the second quarter winning that 15 minute period by five points to one — 0-9 to 0-7 at the break.

Na Piarsaigh pushed on in the second half with Buckley keeping the scoreboard ticking over and despite battling on till the finish Newmarket just ran out of both road and time.

Scorers for Na Piarsaigh: K Buckley 0-7 (five frees); C Bowen 0-3 (one free); A Keating 0-2; P Guest, K Forde 0-1 each.

Newmarket: C O’Keeffe 0-7 (two frees); R O’Keeffe 0-2 (both frees); A Ryan, TJ Brosnan 0-1 each.

NA PIARSAIGH: A Hogan; G Healy, T Lawton, P Murphy; A Higgins, E Gunning, K Power; E Sheehan, C Bowen; G Joyce, K Forde, K Buckley; A Keating, P Guest, P O’Rourke. Subs: D Maguire for K Power (42), C O’Mahony for G Joyce (45), P Murphy for K Forde (50), P Gould for C Bowen (55).

NEWMARKET: B Newman; M Browne, A Ryan, P Allen; K O’Sullivan, G Forde, B Daly; TJ Brosnan, M Cottrell; D O’Keeffe, C Browne, D Cottrell; C O’Keeffe, R O’Keeffe, J Ryan. Subs: T Murphy for D O’Keeffe (38), B O’Connor for D Cottrell (45).

Referee: D Daly (Brian Dillons)