Adam English: Doon must improve to defeat rivals Na Piarsaigh

ADAM English’s red-hot form continued as he notched 0-11 in Doon’s rout of Adare at The TUS Gaelic Grounds on Sunday.

Joint-top scorer in the Whitebox Senior Hurling Championship after the round robin stage, English is now 22 points ahead of Shane Hassett, the next highest scorer among players whose clubs are still in the competition.

Far from a one man band, Doon had 11 different scorers in the 16-point success.

“To be fair, over the last two games you see different lads stepping up at different times with different scores,” said English after the game.

The county star also praised the impact of the wider panel.

Gareth Thomas came on and set up Pat Ryan’s late goal while the introductions of Kevin Maher, Sean McDonnell and Cormac Ryan didn’t weaken the side.

“You even see now our bomb squad, lads coming off the bench, they're having a big influence on the game as well, so it's great to see,” added English.

Up next is a repeat of the last two county finals as the east Limerick side take on defending champions Na Piarsaigh.

The pair meet a round earlier than previous seasons, in part due to a mid-season slump where the County Hurling League champions were beaten by Kilmallock and Monaleen on consecutive outings.

The last time the sides met at the penultimate hurdle, it went all the way to penalties with Kevin Downes the hero as Na Piarsaigh edged past their rivals en route to the county title.

Downes was also among the goalscorers along with Peter Casey in the side’s previous semi-final clash in 2017.

Back to 2026 and Doon bounced back from those group stage defeats with a draw against their next opponents but to match - or even better - that results against the Caherdavin men, Doon will need to put in a more complete performance than they showed in this quarter-final.

“It started well but I think over the last 10-15 minutes we kind of shied away, we let him back into the small bit, so that's another work-on for us,” English reflected.

“To win against Na Piarsaigh you have to perform for the whole 60 minutes and into injury time, so listen, we'll be targeting that in the next few weeks of training.

“We're coming at the right time now, we started very poorly in the championship but we’re getting our ducks in a row now and we’re looking forward to two weeks’ time.”

Na Piarsaigh were able to sit back and watch the quarter-final double header as their top-two finish in Group 1 booked a bye into the semi-final.

For Shane O’Neill’s side, they are an hour away from a 14th final since their maiden appearance in 2009.

They men in sky blue are looking for a fifth county final appearance in a row on Sunday week but know they are in for a real challenge against their bitter rivals.

The game will be the second part of a TUS Gaelic Grounds semi-final double header on October 11.

Throw-in will be at 3.30pm.