Adare and Mungret St Paul's can't be separated in Limerick Senior Hurling Championship

ADARE and Mungret St Paul's played out a 2-18 to 1-21 draw in round two of the Whitebox Limerick senior hurling championship on Wednesday evening in Clarina. 

It was Adare who led for the majority of the contest but Mungret St Paul's produced a strong finish in the last five minutes to snatch a draw. 

It was a thrilling encounter that delivered a dramatic finish, though Adare will surely feel frustrated having held a 1-21 to 1-17 lead late in the second half.

Mungret St Paul's displayed tremendous resilience, registering 1-1 in injury time to snatch a draw and they might have even stolen the win had Fintan Fitzgerald’s late effort found the target.

Patrick Kearney stood out for Adare with a superb tally of 1-7, while Darragh Gleeson and Jody Hannon also impressed for the West Limerick side.

Mungret St Paul's leaned heavily on Mark O'Brien’s reliability from placed balls during difficult phases of the game and the introduction of Fintan Fitzgerald, a member of Limerick’s senior hurling pre-season panel provided a much-needed spark to the team scoring 1-1 late on. 

Both sides were aiming to record their first win of the Limerick senior hurling championship. Despite leading by ten points in the first half last week against Newcastle West, Mungret St Paul's needed a stoppage time point from Mark O'Brien to force a draw. Meanwhile after a slow start in round one, Adare battled back in the second half against Monaleen but in the end the Castletroy side had too much for them. 

Adare started brightly in the opening period and led 0-7 to 0-1 after the first quarter. Darragh Gleeson and Patrick Kearney who were both on this year's Ardscoil Ris Harty Cup team scored 0-2 each during that period, while Declan Hannon, Willie Griffin and David O'Mahony all chipped in with scores for Mark Foley's side. 

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Adare suffered a huge setback on three minutes when Willie Griffin was forced off with a hamstring injury and Foley suffered another blow when former Limerick hurler Wayne McNamara was also forced off with a hamstring injury on 23 minutes. 

Two minutes later, Darragh Gleeson's extended Adare's lead to seven points. Mungret St Paul's were struggling to get to the same level of their opponents intensity. 

However, Begley's side began to find their rhythm, narrowing the gap with long-range points from Brendan Giltenane and Brian O'Meara to make it 0-9 to 0-3.

The electric Niall Mulcahy raced down the right wing, Mulcahy layed off the sliotar to the oncoming Barry Duff who drilled his shot low past Adare goalkeeper Shane O'Donoghue. 

Two frees in-a-row from Limerick U20 hurler Mark O'Brien now meant Mungret St Paul's trailed by a single point 1-5 to 0-9. 

The sides continued to trade scores in the closing stages of the first half as Adare went in 0-11 to 1-7 in front at the break. 

Liam Lynch levelled matters after the interval. Brian Begley made the decision to introduce Patrick Begley at half time and he made an instant impact into the city side's attack. Two frees from Mark O'Brien and Begley then set up Brendan Giltenane for his second point of the evening as they led for the first time 1-11 to 0-12. 

David O'Mahoney, Patrick Kearney, and Ronan Connolly helped swing momentum back in Adare’s favour, but Niall Mulcahy responded swiftly to level the game once more.

The contest remained finely balanced, with neither side able to establish a clear lead or take firm control on the scoreboard.

The teams were deadlocked 1-14 to 0-17 on 49 minutes. 

Mark Foley introduced John Fitzgibbon who wasn't fit enough to start. Fitzgibbon nailed a point straight away and then he set up for Patrick Kearney for a neat point and Adare were starting to gain a foothold in this tense contest. 

On 52 minutes, John Fitzgibbon somehow managed to keep the sliotar in the play and he handpassed the sliotar in the direction of Patrick Kearney who slotted the sliotar into the bottom of the corner to push Adare 1-19 to 1-14 clear. 

Fintan Fitzgerald who also wasn't fit enough to start was also introduced in the second half, Fitzgerald and the accurate Mark O'Brien left three points between the sides on 56 minutes. It looked as if Patrick Kearney had sealed the two points on offer for Adare when he sent his side 1-21 to 1-17 ahead.

Mungret St Paul's goalkeeper Conor O'Brien had no option but to launch his puckout long. Remarkably, Fintan Fitzgerald managed to get on the end of it, and the UL student expertly steered the sliotar into the net, reducing the gap to just a single point.

Adare won a free inside their own half, John Fitzgibbon opted to play the free short. Mungret St Paul's commited bodies forward and forced the turnover, Mark O'Brien played a clever pass out to Brendan Giltenane who levelled the contest in injury time. 

Referee Kieran Guina allowed the played to continue, Fitzgerald had the chance to win it but his effort dropped short and both sides had to settle for a draw. 

ADARE: Patrick Kearney (1-7, 0-3 frees), Darragh Gleeson 0-4, David O'Mahony 0-3, Jody Hannon 0-2, John Fitzgibbon, Declan Hannon, Ronan Connolly and Sean Connolly 0-1 each, Willie Griffin (0-1, 0-1 free)

MUNGRET ST PAUL'S: Fintan Fitzgerald1-1, Mark O'Brien (0-9, 0-8 frees), Brendan Giltenane 0-3, Niall Mulcahy 0-2, Brian O'Meara Conor O'Halloran and Liam Lynch 0-1 each, Barry Duff 1-0

MUNGRET ST PAUL'S: Conor O’Brien; Conor Flahive, Matt O'Sullivan, Liam Harrington; Billy Molyneaux, Brian O’Meara (C), Eoin O’Doherty; Cian Moloney, Barry Duff; Mark O’Brien, Brendan Giltenane, Niall Mulcahy; Conor O’Halloran, Michael Mullins Liam Lynch, .

SUBS: Patrick Begley for Mullins (Half-time), Fintan Fitzgerald for O'Halloran (45 minutes), Sean Duff for Moloney (49 minutes), Jack McCarthy for Harrington (52 minutes). 

ADARE: Shane O'Donoghue; David Connolly, Joe Sweeney (Capt), Conor Ryan John MacSweeney, Wayne McNamara, Jody Hannon; Ronan Connoly, Daragh Gleeson; David O'Mahoney; Declan Hannon, Willie Griffin, Sean Connolly; Mark Connolly,  Patrick Kearney.

SUBS: James Gahan for Griffin (3 minutes, injury), Eoin Connolly for McNamara (23 minutes, injury), Alfie Fitzpatrick for Eoin Connolly (45 minutes), John Fitzgibbon for Gahan (49 minutes). 

Referee: Kieran Guina (Feohanagh)