Tasty west Limerick derby with Junior Hurling Championship on the line
Pay no heed to the 16-point difference when the sides met two months ago, a close battle is expected today
IT’S AN all-west Limerick affair in the Woodlands House Hotel Junior Hurling ‘A’ Championship final as Monagea and Kileedy bid for local bragging rights - and promotion to Premier Junior Championship.
The silverware will be on the line in Newcastle West with a 2pm throw-in.
The two sides met in late August in round 3 - with Monagea huge 2-24 to 1-11 winners that evening in Tournfulla.
It would be a stretch to say that result propelled Monagea’s season - they were defeated in their following outing against Rathkelake.
But they finished the group stage with a win over Ballybrown which secured top spot in the group and a semi-final place.
For Kileedy, who played in the SHC in 1991, the defeat against today’s opponents was their second loss in their first three games.
However, since then, they have piled on four wins on the trot to still be involved on the last day of the season.
Wins over Rathkeale and a 19-point success over Garryspillane saw them finish in third place - beating out their fellow west Limerick men on the head-to-head rule.
Since that huge victory over the Bouncers, it has been much more nail-biting for the beaten 2018 finalists.
They had successive one-point wins over Templeglantine and Ballybricken-Bohermore to get back to the final.
For Monagea, who won this title in 2008 and lost the final in 2012, they were three-point winners over Ballybrown last time out.
Pay no heed to the 16-point difference when the sides met two months ago, a close battle is expected today.