Na Piarsaigh edge past Mungret St Pauls in Limerick IFC semi-final

RELEGATED twelve months ago, Na Piarsaigh took the penultimate step on an immediate return to senior football when edging out Mungret-Saint Paul's 3-12 to 3-10 in the intermediate championship semi-final played in Claughaun on Saturday afternoon.

A fourteen-minute second-half barrage which saw them turn a five-point deficit into a five-point advantage gave them enough of a cushion to hold off a late rally by their City rivals in a contest that kept the crowd entertained right up to the final whistle.

A gusting wind from the road end made it a game of two halves where the Mungret kickout was snaffled up by their midfield before the break but which struggled to find the length and the height to stop Na Piarsaigh's highly effective scavenging in the middle third.

However, the big difference lay in attack where the Northiders had the options both on the wings and up the centre to open up the spaces and get the best return out of their play-makers Gordon Brown and Dylan Cronin.

For Mungret, it was another year of being the bridesmaid instead of the bride as their young side lacked the bulk in some positions to power past the challenge and were left to depend heavily on skipper John Hutton converting two penalties and a five frees to go with his two strikes from play.

It weighed against them when they let opportunities slip to move themselves out of sight coming up to half-time and, again, when they struggled to create the spaces to get the most out of their late rally.

That said, they weren't helped by an organised Na Piarsiagh defence that never lost its shape when the pressure was on and which also remained on the alert throughout for the chance of creating the fast break.

The Northsiders might have been shaded in their share of possession over the hour but, whenever they had the ball, they used it to better effect.

SCORERS: NA PIARSAIGH: Dylan Cronin 0-7 (4 frees), Kieran Daly 1-3, Kevin Nolan (penalty), Reuben McCarthy 1-0 each, Gordon Brown 0-2; MUNGRET-SAINT PAUL'S: John Hutton 2-7 (2-0 penalties, 0-5 frees), Shane Barry 0-3, Brian Barry 1-0.