Na Piarsaigh Senior hurlers are once again top dogs in Limerick.

On Saturday night under lights in the Gaelic Grounds we came up against a very difficult opponent in Patrickswell. Having been turned over by the same opposition only 3 months previous in the first round of the Championship, it was a game that carried a little extra spice.

It was a game where an array of hurling talent was on display and lots of interesting matchups to enjoy as both teams aimed to establish a foothold in the contest. It was the well who got the first score swiftly followed by a second. Ronan Lynch and Peter Casey had us level and Kevin Downes had us level again on 15 mins.

Our lead was stretched to two and 0-7 to 0-5 before a brilliant stop from Shane Dowling to deny the well. The Patrickswell netminder was in top form too denying Adrian Breen and Peter Casey a green flag. However, there was nothing he could do on 25 minutes when Peter Casey showed tremendous footballing skills to kick the ball to the net to put us 5 points up. Two further Patrickswell points closed the gap before Kevin Downes punished a poor puck out to leave it 1-8 to 0-7 at the break.

We soon stretched the lead to six points with a point from the excellent Mike Foley and ever-accurate Ronan Lynch. 3 unanswered points for the well had them back in the contest but we managed the game well and kept the scoreboard moving with points from Conor Boylan, Will Henn, and Daithi Dempsey.

In the closing stages, our defence was well tested, especially with 3 inter-county all-stars in their full forward line. Huge credit to the backs superbly marshalled by the captain Mike Casey ably assisted by Emmet McEvoy and Cathal King while outside them Mike Foley was immense while Will o Donoghue and Vince Harrington were excellent.

The final whistle brought huge relief and great pride. Another County title for this amazing group of men. An 8th county title since our first appearance back in 2009. This one will be hugely satisfying with the loss of Jerome Boylan and Sean Long and then to lose All-Star nominee Will O Donoghue to the whole campaign until a welcome return for the final. Final score was Na Piarsaigh 1-20 Patrickswell 0-19

Huge congratulations to Shane O Neill who returned this year to win his 3rd county as bainisteoir. His backroom staff which included John Fitzgerald, Com Callanan, Damien Quigley, Lukasz Kirszenstein, Peter Sheehan, . A support team of Dennis Duggan, Barry O Regan, Ben O Regan, Eoin Grimes, Paul McNamara, Paul Downes, John Madden, Pat McCarthy, and David Burke. Medical team which included Dr Dave Boylan, David Power and Tom Synott.

Team: Shane Dowling, Emmet McEvoy, Mike Casey (capt), Cathal King, Mike Foley(0-1), Will O Donoghue, Vince Harrington, David Dempsey(0-2), Conor Boylan(0-2), Kevin Downes(0-4), Ronan Lynch(0-8, 7f), JJ Carey(0-1), Adrian Breen, Will Henn(0-1), Peter Casey(1-1). Evan Condon, Keith Dempsey, Gearoid Synnott, James Finn, James O Brien, John Fitzgerald, Kevin Daly, Marcus Hogan, Pa O Neill, Padraic Heaney, Pat Gleeson, Bradley Moran, Dylan Lynch, Josh Sheehan, Sean Long, Jerome Boylan, Niall Buckley, Alan Dempsey, James Daly, Kieran Daly