Second half rally sees Adare beat Kildimo-Pallaskenry in Limerick SHC
Adare fought back from a seven-point deficit to earn their second win in the Limerick Senior Hurling Championship
ADARE made it two wins from two in Group 2 of the Whitebox Limerick Senior Hurling Championship after a stunning second half showing saw them beat Kildimo-Pallaskenry by 0-20 to 2-12 in Mick Neville Park, Rathkeale.
Mark Foley’s side looked in deep trouble at the break when they trailed by seven points but came back to earn their second victory.
Kildimo-Pallaskenry manager Declan Nash may be scratching his head after his charges let strong leads slip in the second half. They are without a point from their two games.
It took less than a minute for Kildimo-Pallakenry to inflict damage on the scoreboard as Ciaran McMahon sped onto an inviting diagonal ball from Robert O’Farrell to fire over.
Davy Fitzgerald doubled the lead inside four minutes before admirable perseverance from Brendan O’Connor carved out Adare’s opening score of the contest.
O’Farrell then clawed an aerial delivery and bounded his way towards the Adare goal before flashing a low stinger into the far right corner of the net.
Adare almost raised a green flag of their own moments later as O’Connor attempted to bat a John Fitzgibbon line-ball towards goal.
However, O’Connor’s effort would only fly over the crossbar. Paidi Hartigan worked a good return pass with Ciaran McMahon to create an easy scoring chance before Jack O’Keeffe converted the rebound from another O’Farrell goal chance after ten minutes.
An excellent Willie Griffin point was followed by another decent effort from John Fitzgibbon to keep the deficit at three points.
Hartigan and O’Farrell then combined to restore Kidilmo-Pallaskenry’s five-point advantage with 14 minutes on the clock.
Adare again hit back with a pair of placed balls from Griffin and Fitzgibbon before a flurry of scores from O’Farrell and O’Keeffe halted their progress.
Brendan O’Connor was proving to be a good out ball for Adare and notched his third score of the first half in the 25th minute.
A couple of Griffin frees again cut into the Kildimo-Pallaskenry lead before a wonder score from O’Farrell split the posts from out on the left wing.
Another deep ball found Jack O’Keeffe in space who spun his man before finishing to the Adare net to give his side a seven point cushion at the half with the score at 2-10 to 0-9.
Another free for O’Farrell provided a positive beginning to the second period for Kildimo-Pallaskenry.
However, it would turn out to be a bleak 30 minutes of hurling for those in blue and white. Quickfire scores from Fitzgibbon and Griffin set the Adare momentum rolling.
A pair of placed balls sandwiched a long range effort from Wayne McNamara and suddenly the lead was back to just three in the 38th minute.
The game descended into a stop-start dynamic and Kildimo-Pallaskenry’s ill-discipline presented Fitzgibbon with further opportunities to add to his tally.
Patrick Kearney had a glorious chance to put Adare in front in the 49th minute but he blasted his effort straight at James Mason with the goal at his mercy.
Two final placed balls from Fitzgibbon were followed by an insurance score from a surging David O’Mahoney to place Adare three ahead.
Nash’s men tried desperately to claw back but a Conor McMahon point was all they could muster in the closing stages and it was Adare that held on for the win.
SCORERS - ADARE: John Fitzgibbon 0-9 (4f, 3 ‘65s), Willie Griffin 0-6 (4f), Brendan O’Connor 0-3, David O’Mahoney and Wayne McNamara 0-1 each; KILDIMO-PALLASKENRY: Robert O’Farrell 1-5 (3f), Jack O’Keeffe 1-2, Paidi Hartigan 0-2, Davy Fitzgerald, Ciaran McMahon and Conor McMahon 0-1 each.
ADARE: Bryan Curtin; James Gahan, Joe Sweeney, Conor Ryan; John McSweeney, Wayne McNamara, Darragh Gleeson; David O’Mahoney, Ronan Connolly; Shane Gleeson, John Fitzgibbon, Sean Connolly; Willie Griffin, Brendan O’Connor, Patrick Kearney; Subs: Charlie McCarthy for Gleeson (h-t), Jack Doran for Connolly (45 mins), Alfie Fitzpatrick for McNamara (57 mins, inj), Sean Connolly for O’Connor (60 mins, inj).
KILDIMO-PALLASKENRY: James Mason; Shane Carroll, Luke O’Keeffe, Jose Azzopardi; Sean Kavanagh, Kyle Hayes, Cathal Downes; Tony McCarthy, Davy Fitzgerald; Paidi Hartigan, Ciaran McMahon, Dylan Moloney; Shaun Barry, Jack O’Keeffe, Robert O’Farrell; Subs: Conor McMahon for Barry (38 mins), Luke Guinane for O’Farrell (47 mins, inj), Shaun Barry for Hartigan (56 mins).
Referee: Liam Berkery (Ahane).