14/05/2025

Na Piarsaigh 2-24

Monaleen 2-17

Wednesday evening saw us take the short spin across town to Claughaun for this year's edition of the City League final. Monaleen were our opponents, them having overcome Mungret in the semi-final by a solitary point. We beat Patrickswell to book our spot in the decider. Our previous meeting with the lads from Castletroy had us come away with a hard-fought two-point win in Peafield. 

Monaleen raced into a 4-1 lead inside the opening minutes but for Downesy to kick us on with a booted point. It looked like he was going for goal, but had to settle for the white flag. Kevin added a couple of frees before Wayne Kearns levelled the game at 6-points a piece on 15 minutes. Wayne’s score came directly from Evan Condon’s puck out, caught by JJ in the middle of the park, JJ laying off to a moving Wayne, before he slotted over the bar from 50 yards. A good team score with more of that to come. Keith then added a lovely point from the right following great work from Kevin Daly in the corner. Daly registered one of his own from the opposite side moments later after a great delivery from Alan Dempsey. Alan would put in a solid shift at cornerback, mopping up the world of ball throughout.

Our first goal of the game came on 25 minutes. Condi found John O’Keeffe with a short puck out, with John driving it long into the half forward line to be wonderfully fielded by a leaping Keith Dempsey. Tommy was racing through the middle to receive Keith’s pass before he offloaded for Conor Boylan to whip the ball to the net. A smashing team goal, straight from our puck out. Tommy was proving to be a thorn in Monaleen’s side from the start. Selected at wing back, he found himself bearing down on goal on no less than 3 occasions in the first half. He would slot a long range point of his own later in the game.

Our second green flag came just on the stroke of halftime, after Downesy was dragged to the ground en route to goal. He would step up to bury the penalty to the keeper's right. This led us nicely into the break, leading 2-11 to 10 points. 

Keith Dempsey got us off the mark early in the second half with a beautifully taken score from the centre of the field. Jerome put in a heroic block with Tommy sweeping up the loose ball. He linked up with JJ, for the latter to pick out Keith in space. Demps made no mistake with the shot. Keith would finish the day with 2 points to his name but his overall play over the 60 minutes was immense. A constant threat to our opponents from puck outs and long balls, he pulled the strings in the Na Piarsaigh forward line all evening. 

Monaleen’s forwards looked dangerous in the second half with some of their lively Limerick U20’s being introduced. Kingers came up with what could only be described as a try saving tackle early on in the half. The Monaleen attacker found a route to goal but for Cathall to bring him down. It proved to be the right call with them converting the resultant free, and the 3-pointer being denied. As with Keith setting a high bar up front, Kingers gave a commanding performance at the back, getting in some crucial blocks and tackles to deny Monaleen almost certain goals. Great to see him back motoring after an injury ravaged 2024. 

Ronan stepped up to convert 4 impressive long range frees in the second period. Himself and Downesy were 100% from placed balls for the day. We were 8 points to the good when Monaleen struck their first goal. It was a setback we responded well to, with Keith grabbing our puck out, offloading to Downesy, who popped it over the bar. Monaleen got their second goal not long after but for Downesy to again settle us with a smashing point from a tight angle. An excellent day for the Coonagh man as he finished with 1-11, 4 of those scores coming from play. Wayne closed out the game with a free to see us win by 7 points. 

The result sees us facing into a county league semi-final, with a provisional date of Saturday the 24th. Opponents and other match details are yet to be confirmed. 

Team: Evan Condon, Alan Dempsey, Cathall King, John O’Keeffe, Ronan Lynch(0-05, 0-04f), Jerome Boylan, Tommy Grimes(0-01), JJ Carey, Wayne Kearns(0-02, 0-01f), Sean Long, Will Henn(0-01), Conor Boylan(1-01), Kevin Daly(0-01), Kevin Downes(1-11, 0-07f, 1-00p), Keith Dempsey(0-02).

Subs: Gordon Brown for Sean Long, Ronan Benson for Alan Dempsey, Padraic Heaney for Tommy Grimes, Marcus Hogan for Kevin Daly.