Second half goals propel Na Piarsaigh past Ballysteen in Limerick SFC

BACK in the top level of Limerick club football after just a year's absence, Na Piarsaigh's senior footballers made a winning start to their Group Two championship campaign as two second half goals helped the city side past Ballysteen on a 2-8 to 0-7 scoreline in Clarina on Thursday evening.

Although they took their getting to the pitch of their game in the opening quater, a run of five unanswered scores put them in a position of control that they never subsequently lost against opponents who could manage no more than a single score from play over the entire hour.

Intensity was the difference between the sides. When they needed to regain the ball or turn possession into scores, the City team were able to put together enough concentrated effort to make the difference and, while it mightn't have been the prettiest to watch, it proved to be more effective than anything their opponents could come up with.

For Ballysteen, it was one of those evening when nothing seemed to come together as possession was spilled, passes went astray and wayward shots were taken in haste to fill their opponents with the growing conviction that this was a game they were never going to lose.

Maybe the single biggest influence on the game was the commanding display of Rory O'Connell in the Na Piarsaigh midfield. Early on, it took him some time to grips with his opponents but, once he found the pitch of his movement, he not only dominated the engine room to the extent of seeing his two direct opponents replaced early in the second half but then showed the hunger and sharpness to set up the decisive first goal and then following it with an individual point that cemented his sides' dominance.

Ballysteen were getting everything right at the start, winning the midfield possession, getting numbers into attack and finding their targets to take the lead with Shane Hallinan's free and David O'Shaughnessy's mark to put them ahead.

But that all fell apart once Na Piarsaigh found their shape and, once they moved into enemy territory, they kept up the pressure to close off the clearances and force the turnovers. Despite wasting some early chances, they drew level when Egan twice pounced on intercepted kick-outs to split the posts.

Ballysteen eventually broke the siege but their movement forward was riddled with errors, giving the opposing defence the time to reposition and, even when they sorted the handling errors and misplaced passes out, they lost their patience as they shot four 'Hail Marys' wide in a row while, down at the other end, a breakaway attack allowed Egan to shoot the Northsiders ahead.

Coming up to half-time, they found another burst with a Kevin Nolan strike on the run and Dylan Cronin converting a '45' after Jamie Dolan saved Ian Leonard's shot on goal before O'Shaughnessy sent over an injury time free for Ballysteen and narrowing the margin to two points, 0-5 to 0-3.

They pulled to within after another O'Shaughnessy free bookended a laboured period of pressure on the restart only to be met immediately by Egan to reply from out in the right corner and, minutes later, the writing was on the Deelsiders' wall when O'Connell forced the turnover on the Ballysteen clearance and fed John Moloney running in behind the defence to volley to the net under the advancing Dolan.

Na Piarsaigh celebrations were tempered by Evan Sweeney picking up a black card off the resulting kickout but it took the first six of his ten minutes absence for Ballysteen to take advantage as Seán Whelan ended a laboured attack and even that was quickly replied to by O'Connell.

After Sweeney returned, a Northsider attack ended with Leonard being fouled as he reached for the final pass and Nolan slotted home the penalty to kill off any remaining Ballysteen hopes. They did get the space to press forward as Na Piarsaigh settled for containment but the best they could manage was a pair of O'Shaughnessy frees and even they were separated by Cronin pointing at the end of a break from the back.

SCORERS: NA PIARSAIGH: Evan Egan 0-4, Kevin Nolan 1-1 (1-0 penalty), John Moloney 1-0, Dylan Cronin 0-2 (1 '45'), Rory O'Connell 0-1; BALLYSTEEN: David O'Shaughnessy 0-5 (4 frees, 1 mark), Shane Hallinan (free), Seán Whelan 0-1 each.

NA PIARSAIGH: Eoghan Sherlock; Diarmuid Ryan, Shane Walsh, Ralph Leonard; Reuben McCarthy, Cathal McMullen, Evan O'Brien; Rory O'Connell, Ronan Houlihan; Kevin Nolan, Evan Sweeney, John Moloney; Ian Leonard, Dylan Cronin, Evan Egan. SUBS: Christy O'Hagan for Ian Leonard (59 minutes), James Linnane for Cathal McMullen (61 minutes), Tom McKeon for Ronan Houlihan (63 minutes), Seán Jordan for Evan Egan (63 minutes).

BALLYSTEEN: Janie Dolan; Kevin McMahon, Shane Gallagher, Eddie Murphy; Cillian Ferris, Pakie Moran, Luke Gammell; Jamie O'Sullivan, Pádraig McMahon; Seán Whelan, Darragh Ranahan, Alan McGrath, Tomás Sheehan; Shane Hallinan, David O'Shaughnessy. SUBS: James O'Meara for Jamie O'Sullivan (half-time), Mark Ranahan for Pádraig McMahon (42 minutes).

REFEREE: Kevin O'Brien (Patrickswell).