Newcastle West thwart Na Piarsaigh's double bid in thrilling Limerick IHC decider

RESILIENT Newcastle West ended Na Piarsaigh's dream of scoring a famous county final double in less than 24 hours when emerging victorious in a thrilling Limerick county intermediate hurling decider at the LIT Gaelic Grounds on Sunday afternoon.

Newcastle West recorded a nail-biting 1-24 to 1-22 success after extra time in sun-drenched conditions.

Na Piarsaigh had been hoping to add the county intermediate title to the senior crown the Caherdavin won so emphatically on Saturday night.

The sides had finished deadlocked 1-15 each at the end of normal time after Na Piarsaigh rallied from five points in arrears late on to force extra time.

And the teams were level 1-20 each at half time in extra time.

Leading through most of normal time, Newcastle West were suckered by an equalising injury-time free and were left chasing the equaliser through the two tit-for-tat added periods before
finally plundering the winner.

Like any ding-dong contest, free-takers played a deciding role and, while they missed a chance or two at vital moments, Diarmuid Moran Kelly and James Daly kept their nerve to end up with matching tallies of 1-11.

Scoring slowed down in the second half of extra time, before Mark Kelly edged the Magpies ahead, Kieran Daly then levelled, tired legs were failing to convert opportunities before Brian Nix gave Newcastle hope only for Daly to nullify with a free but in time added on to added time, Eoin Hurley restored their lead and Aaron McCarthy made sure before Mike Sexton's whistle finally blew.

SCORERS: Newcastle West: Diarmuid Moran Kelly 1-11 (0-9 frees), Mike McMahon (1 free), Eoin Hurley, Brian Nix 0-3 each, Mark Kelly 0-2, Brian Foley, Aaron McCarthy 0-1 each. Na Piarsaigh: James Daly 1-11 (1-7 frees, 0-3 '65's), Keith Dempsey, Kevin Ryan, Evan Gilvarry 0-2 each, Dónall Ó Conaill, Kevin Daly, Pat Gleeson, Emmett McEvoy, Kieran Daly 0-1 each.