Holders Newcastle West edge past Monaleen to reach Limerick SFC final

A DIARMAID Kelly goal proved to be the difference as holders Newcastle West took one step closer in their bid to retain their Limerick SFC title thanks to a  1-10 to 0-10 semi-final win over Monaleen in Askeaton on Sunday afternoon. 

It was Monaleen who had the narrowest of leads at the half time break, taking a 0-5 to 0-4 advantage into the dressing rooms. 

However, Jimmy Lee's Newcastle West side outscored their city counterparts by 1-5 to four points in the final 30 minutes to secure their spot in their sixth Limerick SFC final in 10 years. 

It was a game where both sides were level on five separate occasions before Kelly found the net two minutes into time added on. 

The counterattack, game winning goal, came after Monaleen pushed forward in search of an equalising point after a Ger Collins free had narrowed the Castletroy men's losing deficit to just one point - 0-10 to 0-9 in favour of Newcastle West. 

Both sides had exchanged early frees before the first point from play came in the 11th minute when Niall Donovan superbly pointed from in front of goal to put Monaleen a point ahead - a lead they held at half time. 

After the restart, Newcastle West went ahead for what was only the second time after quick-fire scores from Hurley (two) and McMahon. An fantastic Iain Corbett point, after the Limerick star ran from deep before slotting over with his left foot, put two points between the two sides midway through the second half - 0-8 to 0-6 in favour of the West Limerick men.
 
Credit to Monaleen, the men in red fought back and were again level two minutes from regular time when Collins tapped over his third free of the afternoon. 

Newcastle restored their two point lead by the way 60th minute before Collins again pulled one back for Monaleen. 

The rain held off in Askeaton, and just as it liked looked like the goals would too, up popped Kelly up to raise the green flag for what would prove to be the game winning goal. 

SCORERS: NEWCASTLE WEST: Brian Hurley 0-5 (three frees); Diarmaid Kelly 1-0; Mike McMahon 0-2; Brian O'Sullivan, Iain Corbett, Thomas Qulligan (one free) 0-1 each. MONALEEN: Ger Collins 0-5 (five frees); Brian Donovan 0-2; Pádraig Quinn, Donal O'Sullivan (one free), Shane Cusack 0-1 each.