No ring-rust for Ballygunner as Limerick hex extended
Once more, Ballygunner have demonstrated space and time are no barriers to them.
This was their fourth trip in as many years beating the Limerick champions in Limerick and yet again they were not found wanting despite the yawning gap from their county final exploits.
On this occasion, it had been eight weeks since they overcame Mount Sion but there was little sign of rustiness as they started and finished this Munster quarter-final the better to defeat Na Piarsaigh for a third consecutive time.
They did so without their leader Paraic Mahony who had rolled an ankle in the build-up but in the closing stages they found inspiration from others. Not that he would curse his All-Ireland winning goal but Harry Ruddle might have wondered if he could ever build on that stunning intervention against Ballyhale Shamrocks in 2022 as he struggled to become a permanent fixture in the Ballygunner first team.
Here, on the back of a healthy county championship campaign, he delivered a man-of-the-match winning performance with three points and Patrick Fitzgerald wasn’t too far behind him. Dessie Hutchinson had an iffy day on placed balls, missing four, but did a mountain of work further out the field in the void left by Mahony.
The TUS Gaelic Grounds crowd of 2,667 took in a match that only came to life in the closing quarter. A Kevin Downes’s free in the 45th minute levelled this quarter-final for the first time since the 23rd minute.
In between, Ballygunner had led by three at half-time – 0-8 to 0-5 – and by as much as five a couple of minutes into the second half as Fitzgerald stormed into the affair. Na Piarsaigh manager Shane O’Neill wasn’t slow to make changes from the bench but Daithà Dempsey repositioned in midfield and Downes were growing into it. The home side went ahead for the first time through a Ronan Lynch free in the 42nd minute.
It was short-lived. Ruddle and Hutchinson fired back and while Peter Casey showed great dexterity to equalise in the 55th minute the remaining three scores were supplied by Ballygunner.
Peter Hogan had ample space to score his first point, substitute Conor Tobin made his first contribution count and he then forced a 65, which Fitzgerald converted. Jason Ryan credited a couple of his substitutes for lifting the side.Â
“Some exceptional outside striking. Guys that came into the game brought a level of energy to it. Cormac Power gave us energy in the half-forward line. Conor Tobin is a real dynamo and he really went at things. It’s good to have that type of talent to be able to bring on in the game.” Na Piarsaigh were thwarted by Ballygunner’s “low block” as O’Neill referenced it. “There was everybody back there. But, you know, when you're coming towards the end of a game, most teams are actually doing that now.
“We got caught maybe for a score or two but generally the boys, one-on-one back there, did very well. But it was hard to create space then up front. We were trying to recycle it and stuff. But in fairness to Ballygunner, they worked very hard. They're very systematic. But they put in a serious shift there as well.” This had been a game that threatened to be defined by those who weren’t available: the talismanic Mahony and Na Piarsaigh’s inter-county midfielder William O’Donoghue who wasn’t togged out due to a hamstring problem picked up in extra-time of the county final win over Doon.
After an insipid first half, it was a fixture in danger of being characterised by the number of missed scoring chances. By the break, Na Piarsaigh had accumulated seven wides and another four opportunities that either dropped short or hit the posts and Ballygunner had recorded six off target.
Aside from the target he provides for Stephen O’Keeffe, the concern for Ballygunner was Mahony’s reliable free-taking would be sorely missed and at half-time Hutchinson had struck three placed balls either side of the posts. At the other end, Downes wasn’t much better with a return of just one from three.
Ballygunner never trailed in the opening period. A Hutchinson 65 and Ruddle inside the first four minutes set them on their way, while Na Piarsaigh went close to a goal when Stephen O’Keeffe batted down a Peter Casey point attempt into Downes’s path but his split-second reaction tap went wide.
Starlet Mark Hartley, Mahony’s replacement, put Ballygunner three up in the 10th minute before Na Piarsaigh scored their opener via Casey from the resultant puck-out. Casey followed up Ruddle’s second point prior to another Na Piarsaigh goal opening. Again, it fell to Downes after Tommy Grimes had struck the post but Tadhg Foley responded sharply.
Scores by Adrian Breen and Ronan Lynch tied up the game for Na Piarsaigh by the 23rd minute but Ballygunner posted the remaining three scores of the game, often finding ample space on their right wing.
Hutchinson’s first free was followed by Hartley’s second after superb work by Kevin Mahony and his brother Michael rounded out the half with another white flag.
It was a cushion they retained but not without some pain. “Overall, second-half wise, it was just real attrition,” admitted Ryan, “and if someone had that bit of luck and scored a goal that was the end of it, then. Thankfully, from our point of view Na Piarsaigh didn’t get in for that goal.”
K. Downes (0-6, 4 frees, 1 65); R. Lynch (all frees), P. Casey (0-3 each); A. Breen, T. Grimes, C. Boylan (0-1 each).
D. Hutchinson ( 0-5, 3 frees, 1 65); P. Fitzgerald (0-4, 1 65); H. Ruddle (0-3); M. Hartley, M. Mahony (0-2 each); P. Hogan, C. Tobin (0-1 each).
: S. Dowling; R. Lynch, V. Harrington, J. Boylan (c); E. McEvoy, M. Casey, M. Foley; J.J. Carey, T. Grimes; W. Henn, P. Casey, D. Dempsey; K. Downes, C. Boylan, A. Breen.
Subs for Na Piarsaigh: K. Dempsey for W. Henn (41); J. Finn for T. Foley (43); D. Lynch for A. Breen (46); E. Brosnan for T. Grimes (54); W. Kearns for J.J. Carey (59).
: S. O’Keeffe; I. Kenny, T. Foley, A. O’Neill; H. Ruddle, P. Mahony, R. Power; C Sheahan, P. Leavey; D. Hutchinson, M. Mahony (j-c), P. Hogan (j-c); P. Fitzgerald, K. Mahony, M. Hartley.
Subs for Ballygunner: C. Power for C. Sheahan (49); C. Tobin for M. Hartley (53).
Referee: N. Malone (Clare).
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