Boss Beary points to experience of troops as Na Piarsaigh impress again
NA PIARSAIGH manager Paul Beary believes winning the Liam MacCarthy Cup has given his club’s Limerick contingent an extra edge this year as they look to avenge their All-Ireland final defeat last St Patrick’s Day.
The reigning Munster champions advanced to another provincial semi-final after they eased past the challenge of Doon with nine points to spare in the Limerick SHC decider under floodlights at the Gaelic Grounds on Saturday.
It was a fifth county title since 2011 for Na Piarsaigh and they will look to defend their perfect record in Munster in a final-four clash against recent Tipperary champions Clonoulty-Rossmore next weekend.
David Dempsey and Adrian Breen scored the goals for the winners, while Limerick All-Ireland winner Shane Dowling added 12 points to crown an outstanding personal year.
Na Piarsaigh featured six of the Limerick panel that claimed victory over Galway at Croke Park on August 19, and Beary knows that experience was crucial at the weekend.
“I am thrilled, it’s a fantastic night for our club. It’s our 50th anniversary this year and to be bringing back the club title tonight, our fifth title in all, it’s great,” said Beary.
“Things won’t always go our way and we spoke about it a lot this season, to keep our composure, to find the spaces, to keep on hitting our forwards.
“A lot of that is down to experience and the experience of past defeats. It worked out well in the end here.
“There is massive hunger, selfdrive and great self-motivation in this group. They just want to keep on winning. It’s a great team to be involved in.
“Limerick winning an All-Ireland has been fantastic for us, because it’s just super-charged our confidence and the experience they had of that.
“Composure is something they have now in abundance, especially at the start of the second half when
Doon came back at us. We kept our composure right until the very end.”
Doon had plenty of chances to cause an upset and win their first county title. But after Pat Ryan scored a goal in the second minute, Na Piarsaigh were back level eight minutes later.
Breen’s first score set the tone for the game and the 2016 All-Ireland champions overawed Doon to get the scores at vital times throughout the hour.
Na Piarsaigh hit three unanswered points at the end of the first half to hold an 0-11 to 1-5 lead at the interval. And despite Dean Coleman’s brilliant goal inside one minute of the second half, the holders never faltered.
Dempsey found the net in the 38th minute and Breen secured the win with 10 minutes left of normal time.
Next up for Na Piarsaigh is a clash with the Tipperary champions next Sunday at the Gaelic Grounds, and Beary believes his players must get back on track fast.
“I have gone to a fair amount of Tipperary club matches over the years and I had heard that Clonoulty-Rossmore were coming. They have seen us tonight and they have got a headstart on us,” said Beary.
“We will celebrate, you always have to when you win a county title. Then we will reset the mindset on Monday and Tuesday and get ready for them next weekend.”
Barry Murphy scored a late goal for Doon but their wait for a first county title goes on. They featured in Limerick deciders in 1989 and 2000 but this was another heart-breaking defeat.
“Na Piarsaigh are unbelievable. They are probably the best club team in the country,” said Doon manager Tom Murphy. “They were better than on us on the day. Every time we came at them they kept plugging away.
“It was a major achievement for us to get into a county final, first time in 18 years and they have only ever been in three of them.
“We thought it might be third time lucky and it’s not, but these lads will come back again.”