Na Piarsaigh earn third Limerick SHC win that ends Ballybrown's season

Na Piarsaigh qualified for a 17th Whitebox Limerick Senior Hurling Championship semi-final in 18 seasons following a 2-21 to 2-18 victory over Ballybrown in Adare.

The result sees Ballybrown eliminated on scoring difference. Tied with Monaleen on the table and head-to-head, their -18 was inferior to the -15 of their cross-city rivals. In a super-tight championship, that is a margin which will sting the Clarina outfit.

This game was physical, fast and oozed quality. Goals from Peter Casey and David Dempsey looked to have Na Piarsaigh in a commanding first-half position, only for the lively Luke O’Connor to match that due with a goal either side of the interval.

Ballybrown have failed to defeat the Caherdavin side since 2016, the last time Na Piarsaigh failed to appear in the knockout stages.

A late burst to draw the game fell short, with Shane Dowling denying Andrew Cliffe from close range, late on. Had they tied the game up, Kilmallock’s late victory would have seen them progress.

William O’Donoghue was a notable absentee, with the Limerick star due to get married on Friday afternoon. Meanwhile, his inter-county teammate, Aidan O’Connor was absent for Ballybrown, once again, owing to injury.

Those goals, which arrived on 15 and 20 minutes gave Na Piarsaigh a lead which they would only relinquish briefly, but crucially, they wouldn’t trail for the final three-quarters of the match.

After an even opening quarter, Casey collected a Conor Boylan pass and raced beyond the cover to bounce to the net. David Dempsey finished from a narrowing angle five minutes later and there was an air of superiority around the nine time winners.

However, through Killian and Mikey Gavin, Kevin Lally’s men powered back into the contest and it was Mikey Gavin who fed Luke O’Connor for the first of his green flags after 22 minutes.

Shane O’Neill’s men led 2-10 to 1-10 by half time with Leigh Doolan and Conor Boylan trading points. Na Piarsaigh had registered just three first half wides, compared to seven for their opposition.

O’Connor raced onto a Bryan Griffin pass in the opening seconds of the half, before blasting to the net. Keith Dempsey (frees) and Tommy Grimes, however, stemmed the flow once more.

Grimes would finish with three white flags, as he hopes to nail down a starting berth in a very strong squad.

By the three quarter-mark, Na Piarsaigh continued to lead, but only by a point as Andrew Cliffe landed two quick-fire points having been introduced from the bench.

Grimes, Keith Dempsey and Peter Casey once again gave the favourites more comfort, but Ballybrown didn’t go down easily.

Leigh Doolan, Killian Gavin’s frees brought them closer, but Ronan Lynch, unerring from frees all evening, landed a fourth before Keith Dempsey established a two-point gap.

Cliffe was denied by Dowling in stoppage time, with James Coughlan converting a 65. However, in the short few seconds that remained, a game levelling goal failed to materialise and scoring difference saw Ballybrown eliminated.

SCORERS - NA PIARSAIGH: David Dempsey and Peter Casey 1-3 each; Keith Dempsey 0-5 (3f, 1 ’65); Ronan Lynch 0-4 (4f); Tommy Grimes 0-3; Conor Boylan 0-1; Kevin Downes 0-1; Will Henn 0-1; BALLYBROWN: Killian Gavin 0-10 (7f, 2 ’65); Luke O’Connor 2-0; Mikey Gavin 0-2; Leigh Doolan 0-2; Andrew Cliffe 0-2; Ross Kenny 0-1; James Coughlan 0-1 (1 ‘65).

NA PIARSAIGH: Shane Dowling; Jerome Boylan, Vince Harrington, Emmett McEvoy; Ronan Lynch, Mike Casey, James Finn; Tommy Grimes, JJ Carey; Keith Dempsey, Peter Casey, David Dempsey; Eoin Brosnan, Dylan Lynch, Conor Boylan; Subs: Will Henn for D Lynch (34 mins); Kevin Downes for Carey (51 mins), Adrian Breen for Brosnan (51 mins).

BALLYBROWN: Josh O'Reilly; James Coughlan, David Hartnett, Keith Punch; Colin Coughlan, Josh Adams, Ross Griffin; Killian Gavin, Mikey Kiely; Ross Kenny, Leigh Doolan, Mikey Gavin; Luke O'Connor, Bryan Griffin, Barry Adams; Subs: Andrew Cliffe for B Griffin (44 mins); David Hall for Kiely (50 mins); Bobby Smith for M Gavin (59 mins).

Referee: John O’Halloran (Bruree).