Hat-trick of goals eases Kildimo-Pallaskenry past Dromin-Athlacca in Limerick senior hurling championship

“GOOD first half, but we didn't build on it. However, the two goals after the break got us over the line,” was manager Declan Nash's take on Kildimo-Pallaskenry opening their Whitebox Property Develpments Ltd Limerick senior hurling championoship Group Two campaign with a 3-16 to 0-18 victory over Dromin-Ahlacca in Ballyagran on Saturday evening.

Showing greater cohesion throughout, a 20-minute burst coming up to the break allowed them overtake their opponents' energetic start and set up a lead that would always challenge their opponents when playing into into a second-half breeze.

You could say that the final margin was inflated by a last minute goal, but the winners never really looked like they going to be overhalued once they stuck their noses in front.

READ NEXT: Doon and Na Piarsaigh share the spoils in Limerick senior hurling championship

Sure, Dromin-Athlacca's intense effort at a response at a response brought themselves back to within three with 12 minutes to go but it was almost all on the back of David Reidy's pointed frees and the inaccuracy that led to their 12 wides over the hour came back to haunt them when they began to run out of steam.

It wasn't that Kildimo-Pallaskenry produced a 60-minute performance as they dialled down the tempo after bagging their second goal eight minutes after the break but they always had the stregth in depth to string the moves together and strike whenever their lead was threatened.

Dromin-Athlacca, on the other hand, struggled to get the passes together when they were on the attack and were forced to rely heavily on the gallant but vain heroics of Reidy to keep them in touch.

Both sides ran up a few wides before Robert O'Farrell opened the scoring to which Dave Reidy replied. After Liam Griffin's pointed free put Kildimo-Pallaskenry ahead again, Dromin-Athlacca got the best out of the breeze at their backs to move ahead through David Breen's equaliser and scores from Seanie O'Leary and Reidy's free.

However, the Kildimo-Pallaskenry grip around the middle was tightening around Kyle Hayes and Davy Fitzgerald and delivering enough possession forward for O'Farrell to ignite.

In just three explosive minutes, he collected the delivery at full pace, danced past three challenges and then pulled on an overhead tap to whip to the net before following up with two quickfire points from tight angles.

A long Reidy free pointed reignited the Dromin-Athlacca side with the scoreboard going into the second quarter but it proved to be just a brief respite as Seanie Hartigan's pointed free, a monster point from Kyle Hayes and O'Farrell once again from out near the sideline, stretched the gap to five points.

Again, it left to a Reidy pointed free to signal Drlomin-Athlacca's resistance as their front unit were racking up another few wides and, in the tun-up to the break, Hartigan's pointed free and play struck for Kildimo-Pallaskenry before Reidy's free in reply narrowed their lead to 1-9 to 0-7.

Tadhg Boddy then restarted the game with a Dromin-Athlacca free which was quickly overtaken by two huge scores from Griffin, despite their opponents moving Reidy up to lead the forwards and get one from play for a change.

However, that left the spaces open at the back and Jack O'Keeffe, after a handpass and return with Ciarán McMahon, burst through the rearguard to whack home Kildimo-Pallaskenry's second goal.

Now with an advantage of eight points, they then settled for containment only to be suckered into a pair of fouls which Reidy punished. Even after Peter Nash replied, a Boddy pointed free, a Reidy score from play and then from two frees brought the South Limerick side back within just three of their opponents.

However, they were still struggling to finish from open play and, after Hartigan's pointed free was met by Reidy's point, Shaun Barry's '65' after Robbie Breen's extended hurley deflected Hartigan's shot wide as he left his marker for dead.

Hartigan's pointed free and a Barry score on the run moved the Kildimo-Pallaskenry club back into the comfort zone.

Going into the four added minutes, Dromin-Athlacca, who had lost Peter Ryan to a second yellow, threw the kitchen sink forward in a last deperate onslught, raining deliveries into their opponents square in search of the goal.

Two of them, Daniel Scully's free and brother Cian's shot from play dropped just over the crossbar and, to add insult to injury, their opponents then sallied from the siege in numbers, with McMahon whipping the sliotar across the face of the goals and Nash was first to react to the scramble and pulled to net just as the final whistle blew.

SCORERS: KILDIMO-PALLASKENRY: Robert O'Farrell 1-4, Peter Nash 1-1, Seanie Hartigan 0-4 (4 frees), Jack O'Keeffe 1-0, Liam Griffin 0-3 (3 frees), Kyle Hayes, Shaun Barry (1 '65') 0-2 each; DROMIN-ATHLACCA: Dave Reidy 0-12 (8 frees), Tadhg Boddy 0-2 (2 frees),David Breen, Seanie O'Leary, Daniel Scully (free), Cian Scully (free) 0-1 each.

KILDIMO-PALLASKENRY: James Mason; Jack Mullane, Ciarán Barry, Kevin O'Connell; Liam Griffin, Kyle Hayes, Cathal Downes; Tony McCarthy, Davy Fitzgeald; Robert O'Farrell, Peter Nash, Ciarán McMahon; Seanie Hartigan, Jack O'Keeffe, Seán Kavanagh. SUBS: Jose Azzopardo for Liam Griffin (41 minutes), Shaun Barry for Tony McCarthy (50 minutes).

DROMIN-ATHLACCA: Robbie Breen; Shane Scully, Michael Reidy, William Dore; Shane Fitzgibbon, Dave Reidy, Daniel Scully; Cian Scully, David Griffin; Patrick O'Donoghue, Seanie O'Leary, Tadhg Boddy; Jack Fitzgibbon, David Breen, Seán Morrissey. SUBS: Peter Ryan for Patrick O'Donoghue (47 minutes), Mikey Quaid for Shane Scully (49 minutes).

REFEREE: Timmy McGrath (Oola).