Adare hold off Na Piarsaigh to secure victory in Limerick senior football championship

“A NERVOUS victory,” admitted manager Harry Gleeson after defending champions Adare retained their unbeaten record with four wins out of four after getting the better of Na Piarsaigh 4-10 to 3-8 in their Group One senior football championship qualifying round clash in Ballybrown on Saturday afternoon.

“Injuries didn't help and we lost our way in the second half but at least the team showed the character to get over the line.”

The result closed off Na Piarsaigh's last chance of avoiding the relegation play-off but, coming into the game without a win in their campaign, the city side almost brought off the shock of the season as they pulled their opponents' lead back to a single point with five minutes to go despite trailing by eight midway through the second half.

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The introduction of Dylan Cronin just before the break for his first action of the season gave a focus to a Na Piarsaigh attack that had been held on a tight rein up to then but was stopped just short of going the distance.

Already qualified for the play-offs and with the semi-final spot already down to their head-to-head clash with Monaleen in the final round, the result actually didn't matter to Adare. However, that didn't stop the Maiguesiders from dominating the game until it lost its shape during a stoppage-ridden passage midway through the second half.

When action resumed, a few quick Na Piarsigh scores had Adare looking over their shoulders before they survived the hectic closing minutes for a victory that was magnified by a last-minute goal.

Despite playing into the breeze blowing into the Road End, Adare took an immediate lead through Shane Costelloe and then held out the immediate Na Piarsaigh response before breaking from deep which had goal written all over it only for the the final pass being fumbled.

Hugh Bourke did send over the free for a foul in the build up after which Jack English added to the Adare lead before Cian Counihan got the Northsiders off the mark at the end of a solo up the right.

However, their efforts to draw closer were hampered by hasty shots or conceding fouls in the build-up, allowing turnovers which ended with two points for Shane O'Connor to put the Maiguesiders four points to the good at the quarter mark.

In a quick burst of activity, Costelloe added another and was followed by Bourke's quick free finding O'Connor to finish to the net. Kieran Daly broke the run of scores against his side only for his point to be cancelled out by a Costelloe score but they were flung back into contact when a speculative Evan Egan shot dropped well short only to bounce over the head of the last line of the Adare defence and into the net.

The relief proved to be fleeting, however. A lightning Adare move from the back found Jack English who laid off for Davy Lyons to slot home his goals but Na Piarsaigh did get the last say of the first half as Egan rattled over a two-pointer free to reduce the gap to 2-7 to 1-4.

A chaotic restart saw the Northsiders' all-out attempts to eat into the margin held up by the Adare rearguard until Cronin got himself on the scoresheet and all that effort then appeared to go down the drain when Costelloe's shot from distance came back high off the upright only for Eglish to collect and bang home Adare's third goal.

The game seemed to be theirs for the taking when O'Connor followed up with a point but, at that point, play was broken up by a succession of heated stoppages which led to a rash of yellow cards.

Na Piarsaigh were the first rediscover their rhythm when tempers cooled down as Daniel Collins pointed from a tight angle and it was game on again when he burst in from the left and lay-off to the inrushing Donal O'Connell to fist past Jeffrey Alfred on his goal line line. Seizing the initative, they then sprayed the ball quickley through the previously impenetrable Adare full-back line and, despite seeing two goal chances saved, were breathing down their oppenents' throats after Daly and Tommy Glynn split the posts.

O'Connor finally found a reply at the other end to break a run of wides and dropped passes, but it didn't settle his side's nerves as an all-out Na Piarsaigh attack saw a desperate clearnace fall into the hands of Cronin who swivelled on a sixpence to blast into the low far corner.

With their lead now down to just a single point, the Maiguesiders held their shape long enough for the kickout to find its way down to Costelloe to point.

Forced to search for a match-winning goal, the Caherdavin team resumed the offensive. But the Adare rearguard had rediscovered its shape, held out long enough to run down the clock and, with a final flourish, dropped a clearance into the Bourke's path and, with an exquisitely-weighted pass, found O'Connor to stroke home his second goal right on the final whistle.

SCORERS: ADARE: Shane O'Connor 2-4, Shane Costelloe 0-4, Jack English 1-1, Davy Lyons 1-0, Hugh Bourke 0-1 (free)); NA PIARSAIGH: Evan Egan 1-2 (0-2 2x free), Dylan Cronin 1-1, Donal O'Connell 1-0, Kieran Daly 0-2, Cian Counihan, Daniel Collins, Tommy Glynn 0-1 each.

ADARE: Jeffrey Alfred; Oran Collins, Dave Connolly, Stephen Flynn; Cian Sparling, Eoghan Costelloe, Darragh Lane; Joe Sweeney, Robbie Bourke; Davy Lyons, Hugh Bourke, Ollie Desmond; Jack English, Shane O'Connor, Shane Costelloe. SUBS: James Gahan for Dave Connolly (injured, 8 minutes), Ronan Connolly for Davy Lyons (41 minutes), Darragh Tierney for Ollie Desmond (52 minutes).

NA PIARSAIGH: Eoghan Sherlock; Cathal McMullan, Ralph Leonard, Christy O'Hagan; Cian Counihan, Dean McLoughlin, Ronan Houlihan; Donal O'Connell, Jack McCarthy; Fionn Ó Tairnaigh, Evan Egan, Gordon Brown; Tommy Glynn, Kieran Daly, Daniel Collins. SUBS: Dylan Cronin for Christy O'Hagan (24 minutes), Jim Beary for Daniel Collins (54 minutes).

REFEREE: Mike Mann (Ballybrown).