Mungret St Paul's dethrone champions Adare to book first Limerick senior final appearance in 24 years

“PANELS make winners,” was jubilant manager Kevin O'Hagan's explanation of Mungret St Paul's shock dethroning of Limerick senior football champions Adare on a 0-17 to 1-13 scoreline in Saturday's Irish Wire Products county semi-final in Askeaton.

“The lads who came on for us delivered big time.”

Mungret St Paul's used the fresh legs in their substitutions to not only edge closer during injury time, but then snatch the club's only second-ever appearance in a senior county final with a nerves-of-steel two-pointer free.

The win secured a first county senior football final appearance for the city side since 2001.

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Mungret St Paul's bounded out of the traps and, making use of the breeze at their backs to pin Adare back in their own half, rattled off scores through James Hutton's free, Brendan Giltenane's point from a tight angle, another Hutton free and Shane Barry's shot on the turn to run up a four point advantage before their opponents had a chance to draw their breath.

When Adare did hit back, their first two efforts drifted wide but, after Davy Lyons opened their account, the game changed course when Hugh Bourke laid off to Mike O'Mahony off the end of a solo to slot into the far corner of the Mungret St Paul's net.

Frank Corcoran's runs up the right gave Mungret St Pauk's some relief from growing Adare pressure but, apart from Giltenane's point on the turn, their efforts were squeezed of space by tight defensive marking.

After an exchange of frees between Bourke and Hutton, the reigning champions exerted control of the middle third going into the second quarter for O'Mahony, Paul Maher and Shane O'Connor to put them two points ahead.

There the gap remained as two brought-in frees on the kickout yielded a two-pointer for Hutton and a single-pointer for Bourke.

In the run-up to the half-time break, Adare missed a chance to take a decisive advantage when O'Mahony's finish to the the corner off Bourke mazy run was stopped by Ronan McElligot.

Just to rub it in, James Killian sent over the equaliser and Darragh O'Sullivan struck in added time to leave the Raheen club leading 0-10 to 1-6 at half-time.

Although neither side found any joy from their opening exchanges on the restart, Adare's speed on the break led O'Mahony's equaliser breaking the logjam and, once they started to pressure the Mungret kickout, Ronan Connolly and O'Mahony's two pointer restored the Adare advantage.

However, the momentum dropped and the finishing faltered as they lost their edge and, after wasting a few chances, their opponents took over the primary possession for Barry's brought-in free and Jack McCarthy to pull the gap back to a point.

With Robbie Bourke collecting the clearances, Adare picked it up again for him to find O'Mahony to strike twice. However, after an exchange of scores between Oisín Moss and Shane Costelloe, their accuracy faltered again as three clear chances for a point were squandered.

With subs adding fresh energy to them in the middle third, the City team regained their dominance of the engine room. However, with only Diarmuid Hynes' point in reply, they looked to have run out of time as the stopwatch eased past the thirty minute mark.

Another Hynes strike brought them back within a point and then the game changed when a free was disputed, Barry sent it over to level matters.

Mungret St Paul's then poured forward in the next passage of play and fed Barry to burst onto the lay-off and whack over the game's winning score.

SCORERS: MUNGRET ST PAUL'S: John Hutton 0-5 (3 frees, 1 2x free), Shane Barry 0-4 (2x frees) 0-5, Brendan Giltenane, Diarmaid Hynes 0-2 each, James Killian, Darragh O'Sullivan, Jack McCarthy, Oisín Moss 0-1 each; ADARE: Michael O'Mahony 1-6 (1 2x), Hugh Bourke 0-2 (2 frees), Davy Lyons, Paul Maher, Shane O'Connor, Ronan Connolly, Shane Costelloe 0-1 each.

MUNGRET ST PAUL'S: Ronan McElligot; Jason Hassett, Robert Hegarty, Ciarán Uwatse; Frank Corcoran, Oisín Moss, James Garvey; Darragh O'Hagan, Jack McCarthy; Killian Ryan, Darragh O'Sullivan, James Killian; John Hutton, Shane Barry, Brendan Giltenane. SUBS: Diarmaid Hynes for John Hutton (37 minutes), Tom Lloyd for James Garvey (37 minutes), Jack Somers for James Killian (47 minutes), Conor Ó Longaigh for Robert Hegarty (53 minutes), Darragh Bridgeman for Brendan Giltenane (57 minutes).

ADARE: Jeffrey Alfred; Oran Collins, Eoghan Costello, Jack Fitzgerald; Mike Keane, Cian Sparling, Paul Maher; Joe Sweeney, Ronan Connolly; Robbie Bourke, Hugh Bourke, Davy Lyons; Michael O'Mahony, Shane O'Connor, Shane Costelloe. SUBS: Darragh Lane for Davy Lyons (injured, 29 minutes), Mikey Lyons for Shane O'Connor (45 minutes), Stephen Flynn for Jack Fitzgerald (56 minutes).

REFEREE: Donnacha O'Callaghan (Castlemahon).