DOING IT BY THE DOZEN
Na Piarsaigh’s superb record continues on
TO understand how Na Piarsaigh set their own standards, there was a minor cameo from team captain William O’Donoghue as the clock ticked into the fifth minute of injury time and the Limerick champions led by 18 points.
With his hurley lost in one tackle, he set off to make another and chase down a ClonoultyRossmore player as the ball broke free.
Never mind that he had no stick, his determination was absolute. Second tackle made, the ball was moved on again to another opposition player and still O’Donoghue carried on as if the season depended on winning the very last ball.
Don’t for a second think that Na Piarsaigh are sated by achievements of the recent past.
At no point did the club’s proud unbeaten record in the Munster club hurling championship look under threat.
It’s a dozen games and counting now, and the Limerick champions have a fifth provincial crown since the breakthrough season of 2011 in their sights.
On a low-key afternoon at the Gaelic Grounds when all the semi-final drama and excitement was attached to events at Walsh Park, where Ballygunner and Ballyea fought out an extratime thriller, the gulf in class was obvious from the very start to the very end.
Ballygunner will present a very different proposition in the final in a fortnight’s time but there was a clear sense from this that the winners will have designs on Munster and beyond after coming agonisingly close to landing a second All-Ireland back in March.
Manager Paul Beary was asked to put words on the club’s remarkable strike-rate in Munster and he explained it well: ‘Put it down to the steely resolve of these guys and that goes all the way back to the way they are moulded in the club, their loyalty to each other… they are a very self-driven bunch, self-motivated.
‘They all drive each other, there is no let-up here. I would say if you step back, there should be a lot of physical and mental fatigue but at this point in time there isn’t any of it. We just need to hang in there for two more weeks.’
One source of concern is the hand injury that Shane Dowling sustained late in the first half as he was clearly fouled with the goal in his sights, and it was enough to force him straight from the field. He was spotted afterwards wearing a sling.
Ronan Lynch, whose pure ballstriking was a joy to behold, looked back to his best after spending the summer in America. After missing out on Limerick’s Liam MacCarthy Cup triumph, he will surely be pushing hard for a place on the squad in 2019.
‘Ronan was away for the summer and I think it did him the wealth of good,’ added Beary. ‘He’s showing fantastic, he’s one of the most skilful players to watch in training. I’m delighted for Ronan, he had a fantastic game.’
A minute’s silence was observed before the ball was thrown in to honour the passing of Limerick legend Leonard Enright on Friday, on a night when a poignant tribute was screened at the All-Star awards to accompany his earlier induction into the GAA Museum’s Hall of Fame.
Na Piarsaigh’s athleticism, speed of touch and slick support play had the Tipperary champions in all sorts of trouble from the off, with goalkeeper Declan O’Dwyer forced to make a superb reaction save from Kevin Downes just minutes in.
Two of the best scores of the half came from wing-back Lynch. For the first, eight minutes in, he dummied the strike to let his man fly past, then took the ball
on himself and floated the ball effortlessly over off his hurl, on the run near the right sideline.
He followed it up with a booming point from all of halfway on 18 minutes, this time created by the dashing corner-back play of Kieran Kennedy, who won the ball and provided the lay-off.
At this point it was 0-8 to 0-2 in Na Piarsaigh’s favour and awaiting the goal to remove any lingering doubts about the result.
It came after Will O’Donoghue plucked the ball from the clouds and set the move in motion that saw Kevin Downes finish to the net.
Peter Casey flashed a second to the roof of the net before half-time and from a point of leading 2-13 to 0-5 at the break, Na Piarsaigh rattled off 1-4 without reply on the resumption — Casey adding a second — to ensure that unbeaten record was never in doubt.
Just try telling that to captain William O’Donoghue.