Munster SHC: Ballygunner (Waterford) 0-18 Na Piarsaigh (Limerick) 0-15
And on they go. In all the hand-wringing about their autocratic dominance of the Waterford championship, very little heed is paid to Ballygunner’s extraordinary appetite. With a new management, and a core group of familiar names, they have now beaten the Limerick champions seven years in a row as they set out on a well-worn path.
In the end, they were made to work and sweat. Na Piarsaigh took the lead for the only time in the game with eight minutes remaining and having led by five points early in the second half, Ballygunner had lost all momentum.
In the time that remained, though, they were clinical. Cormac Power and particularly Conor Tobin gave them a surge of energy off the bench and some of their load-bearing players stood up. Dessie Hutchinson and Peter Hogan came up with their first points from play and the outstanding Patrick Fitzgerald landed a critical 65. The Limerick champions suddenly needed a goal and that had been a troublesome task all afternoon.
“Overall, second-half wise, it was just real attrition and if someone had that bit of luck and scored a goal that was the end of it then,” said Jason Ryan, the Ballygunner manager.
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“Thankfully from our point of view Na Piarsaigh didn’t get in for that goal. Credit to our defenders that they blocked things up really well. It was an area that we were very aware of. Against Doon [in the Limerick county final] Na Piarsaigh did create goalscoring chances. In the Kilmallock game and the games prior to that they’d been scoring goals. We’re delighted to have protected the goals so well.”
Na Piarsaigh didn’t find any rhythm until well into the third quarter, when they outscored Ballygunner by 0-5 to 0-1 in a blistering six-minute spell to drag themselves back into the game. That rush of scores, though, was at odds with their overall efficiency.
For once, at this time of the year, there were no mitigating factors for crooked shooting. There was no rain and scarcely any breeze and the pitch even entertained a bounce. But by half-time Na Piarsaigh had committed seven wides and were short with another five attempts; they didn’t score in the first 10 minutes or in the last seven minutes before the break. According to Shane O’Neill, the Na Piarsaigh manager, they had 32 attempts at goal and scored with just 15 of them.
“We knew we were creating shots,” said O’Neill. “We knew we were controlling the game because we were set up really well. We knew that was a huge positive to go in [at half-time] and say you’re after getting 16 shots off. We were dominating their long puck-out, which again was a huge positive for us.
“So, we were very confident at half-time and I think that showed in the second half. David [Dempsey] going out midfield, I thought he was immense. And [we just came up] just short in the end.”
Ballygunner shot half a dozen wides in the first half too, but their attacks were slicker and more promising. Young Mark Hartley, a teenager making his first start in place of the injured Pauric Mahony, landed two beautiful points and Harry Ruddle scored twice from wing back.
The Waterford champions were 0-3 to 0-0 in front before Peter Casey opened Na Piarsaigh’s scoring, but by then they had already felt the sting of some ragged finishing.
Much of it revolved around Kevin Downes, their veteran full forward, who ended the game with six scores, five wides and a couple of aborted goal attempts. In a rare lapse of concentration Stephen O’Keeffe in the Ballygunner goal batted the ball into his path on the edge of the square, but he seemed as surprised as everyone else and couldn’t co-ordinate his response.
A few minutes later a ball deflected off an upright into his orbit close to goal, but Tadhg Foley smothered Downes’s lunging shot as soon as he made contact.
Ballygunner led by 0-8 to 0-5 at the break, and hit the first two scores of the second half. But as the half wore on Na Piarsaigh squeezed up on the Waterford champions and established a foothold in the middle third, even with the hugely significant absence of Will O’Donoghue – ruled out with a hamstring injury.
Downes’s free-taking, which had been erratic in the first half, settled down with some easier opportunities, and Ronan Lynch landed two terrific frees from long distance, the second of which gave Na Piarsaigh the lead after 52 minutes.
Ballygunner’s response, though, was clear headed and emphatic. In the closing eight minutes they outscored Na Piarsaigh by 0-5 to 0-1, setting up a Munster semi-final against the Cork champions Sarsfields in a fortnight.
NA PIARSAIGH: S Dowling; J Boylan, V Harrington, R Lynch (0-3, 3f); E McEvoy, M Casey, M Foley; T Grimes (0-1), JJ Carey; C Boylan (0-1), P Casey (0-3), D Dempsey; K Downes (0-6, 4f, 1 65), W Henn, A Breen (0-1).
Subs: K Dempsey for Henn (41 mins); J Finn for M Foley (43); D Lynch for A Breen (46); E Brosnan for Grimes (54); W Kearns for Carey (59).
BALLYGUNNER: S O’Keeffe; A O’Neill, I Kenny, T Foley; H Ruddle (0-3), Philip Mahony, R Power; C Sheahan, P Leavey; D Hutchinson (0-5, 3f, 1 65), K Mahony, P Hogan (0-1); P Fitzgerald (0-4, 1 65), M Hartley (0-2), M Mahony (0-2).
Subs: C Power for Sheahan (50 mins); C Tobin (0-1) for Hartley (53).
Referee: N Malone (Clare).
