Monaleen and Kildimo-Pallaskenry share the spoils in Limerick senior hurling championship

IN THE end, Saturday afternoon's final round match in Group Two of the Whitebox Limerick senior hurling championship in Clarina had no bearing on how the table panned out as Monaleen had already secured the single promotion slot from topping the group and, barring a mathematical miracle, Kildimo-Pallaskenty were safe from relegation.

So a 0-21 each draw between the sides left neither unhappy although, had they snatched victory and other result going their way, Kildimo-Pallaskenry might have joined Monaleen in the county quarter-finals.

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“We were really looking for a performance and we got it. May we might have won but for a few late wides,” was the reaction of Kildimo-Pallaskenry manager Declan Nash post-match.

“The focus was on next week's quarter-final,” was his his opposite number Eoin Brislane immediate reaction. “We brought on some of our younger players and I was particularly pleased by how they stood up on the day."

Yet, despite lacking the edge of a do-or-die contest, the game turned out to be quite competitive with each side enjoying periods of dominance.

Monaleen opened the shoulders during the first quarter to open up a sizeable lead before Kildimo-Pallaskenry, who were again without their injured Limerick senior star Kyle Hayes, had them all but reeled in by half-time.

Then, having been overtaken early in the second period, the Castletroy-based team found a second wind as their subs slotted into their line-up but, once again after racking up a lead of substance, Monaleen were hauled back to parity by their opponents' objective of at least avoiding defeat.

Both sides atarted with an intensity that led more to frees rather than scoring chances from play and, using the wind at their backs, Monaleen took the lead through a pair of Matthew Fitzgerald pointed frees before one at the other end gave Shaun Barry the chance to get Kildimo-Pallaskenry off the mark.

However, once their passing settled down, Monaleen were also getting into range for shooting from play and moved four points ahead through Lorcan Lyons's free, and scores from skipper Luke Murphy and Ben Hayes.

Barry broke the sequence with a free down at the other end but, with the momentum behind them, Monaleen powereed on with a pair of long range Lyons frees either side of a Murphy point on the run to leave them leading by seven at the end of the first quarter.

With the rain now coming down, the drop in pace allowed Kildimo-Pallaskenry to find their front men and for Jack O'Keeffe and Barry (free) to reply with points.

Nor did it step there despite Eoghan O'Driscoll firing a score back as O'Keeffe, Seanie Hartigan and O'Keeffe drew them back wihin two of Monaleen. Despite Lyons's pointed free and Conal Ó Duinn, from play, putting a temporary halt their gallop, Liam Griffin's sublime sideline cut and a pair of Barry frees had Kildimo-Pallaskenry breathing down the City club's shoulders as they trailed 0-11 to 0-10 at the break.

The second half started like the first as O'Keeffe's instant equaliser was cancelled out by Fitzgerald's pointed free and was followed by Barry and Fitzgerald trading further points from paced balls.

However, Monaleen's half-time changes hadn't quite settled into the formation when their opponents began finding the spaces for Barry's free to tie up the scores again and for points from O'Keeffe and Barry's free to give them the lead for the first time.

But their advantage lasted barely two minutes as Monaleen rediscovered their shape for Fitzgerald and Dara Ferland to level with further points.

Even though O'Keeffe responded  with a score for Kildimo-Pallaskenry, the momentum continued to build and, by the time two Mark O'Dwyer pointed frees within a minute of coming on, further points from Ferland, Eoghan Maher and Fitzgerald's free had put them four to the good with just eight regulation minutes remaining, the outcome appeared to have been decided.

But then the rain and the wind, which had died down over the breek, returned to Kildimo-Pallaskenry's assistance for two Seanie Hartigan pointed frees and a further score from O'Keeffe to bring them back to within a score before Andrew La Touche Cosgrave pulled one back.

They might have closed the gap earlier had a few hasty shot not gone wide but, going into added time, Griffin's pointed free got them back on track.

Davy Fitzgerald equalised for Kildimo-Pallaskenry after collecting a hand pass, but the sands of time ran out before either side  could find a winner.

SCORERS, MONALEEN: Matthew Fitzgerald 0-6 (6 frees), Lorcan Lyons 0-4 (4 frees), Luke Murphy, Dara Ferland, Mark O'Dwyer (2 frees) 0-2 each, Ben Hayes, Conal Ó Duinn, Eoghan O'Driscoll, Eoghan Maher, Andrew La Touche Cosgrave 0-1 each; KILDIMO-PALLASKENRY: Shaun Barry 0-7 (7 frees), Jack O'Keeffe 0-6, Seánie Hartigan (2 frees), Liam Griffin (1 free, 1 sideline cut) 0-3 each, Robert O'Farrell, Davy Fitzgerald 0-1 each.

MONALEEN: Jamie Power; Marcus Southern, Bryan Canny, Ronan Lyons; Conal Ó Duinn, Darragh Langan, Lorcan Lyons; Joseph Fitzgerald, Lochlann McHale; Luke Murphy, Eoghan O'Driscoll, Matthew Fitzgerald; Ben Hayes, Eoghan Maher, Donnacha Ó Dálaigh. SUBS: Noel Clancy for Lorcan Lyons (half-time), Dara Ferland for Donnacha Ó Dálaigh (half-time), Andrew La Touche Cosgrave for Eoghan Maher (40 mins), Mark O'Dwyer for Joseph Fitzgerald (45 mins), Simon Griffin for Conal Ó Duinn (50 mins).

KILDIMO-PALLASKENRY: James Mason; Jack Mullane, Ciarán Barry, Jose Azzopardi; Kevin O'Connell, Davy Fitzgerald, Liam Griffin; Eddie McLoughlin, Peter Nash; Robert O'Farrell, Cathal Downes, Ciarán McMahon; Seánie Hartigan, Shaun Barry, Jack O'Keeffe. SUB: Seán Kavanagh for Shaun Barry (51 mins).

REFEREE: Timmy McGrath (Oola).