Title number 9 for Na Piarsaigh and arguably the sweetest one of the lot as we marched to a 7-point victory over Doon on Sunday afternoon. The winning margin may look deceiving as there was certainly a stage in normal time when the game looked to have slipped from our grasp. Moments of incredible character were needed and Na Piarsaigh men of incredible character delivered. We’ll savour this one for a long time to come.
Throw-in was delayed 15 minutes as the Premier Intermediate final went to penalties, the Bouncers winning in the end 3-nil. Extra time in that game was ravaged with a downpour, but luckily the rain cleared just as the tie concluded. Otherwise there wasn’t a puff of wind.
Adrian got us off the mark with a neat point inside the opening minute. Downesy would convert a free shortly after before Doon got their first. Foley and Will Henn would make it 4. We traded points for the next while before Doon struck their first goal. A shot for a point, hit the post and landed kindly for Dean Coleman to guide into the net. Calls for a square ball fell on deaf ears but the Dow did his best to protest. Doon went ahead from the resultant puck out before Peter levelled the game again. We went point for point for the remainder of the half with Ronan landing a monster free from inside his own 45, the pick of the bunch. The half time whistle blew with the teams level. Half time score: Na Piarsaigh 0-10 Doon 1-07
We had a dream start to the second half with Downesy landing a free, and Adrian following with a goal. A lovely delivery from Mike Casey into the full forward line. Adrian was out ahead of his man and turning for goal. His strike gave the ball not one but two bounces as it deceived the Doon keeper and ended up in the back of the net. Willie Mulcahy might have described it a “scuttery ould goal” but I’m sure Adrian would beg to differ. It worked as intended and raised a green flag. JJ added another point from the next phase of play to have us 5 up inside the opening 3 minutes of the second half. You’d be forgiven for assuming we’d kick on from there but Doon had other plans. They narrowed the gap back to one over the following minutes and had us within touching distance again. Foley landed his second of the day to put us out to 2 again on 42 minutes before William added his second not long after. Speaking of the man himself, William was simply outstanding in Sunday’s county final. Awarded man of the match, his tracking, work rate, link up play and contribution of 2-points were instrumental in delivering the end result for Na Piarsaigh.
William being presented his man of the match award.
Ronan landed a free with 15 to play to put us 3-points ahead but Doon weren't long clawing back our lead. Darragh O’Donovan sent a sideline between the posts to level the game with 10 to play. Will Henn made way for Conor Boylan at this stage, Will having put in a serious shift for close to 50 minutes. We went a point ahead again following another converted free from Downesy after 55 minutes. The free was awarded following a great catch by sub Conor Boylan. Kev went 100% once again from placed balls of which he has been impeccable all year.
With 3 minutes of normal time to play, Eddie Stokes fielded a Doon puck-out and offloaded to a sprinting Darragh O’Donovan. A path to goal opened up in front of the Doon man, Jerome doing his best to hunt him down. He gave a slight dummy before firing past the Dow. A goal of serious quality. There was little Shane or Jerome could have done. Doon registered the next score from a wayward puckout to put them 3 up. Things were looking ominous as the clock was ticking past the 60 minutes. We needed a goal. But cometh the hour, cometh the man. A long ball from the stick of Ronan Lynch found its way into the paw of Conor once again. He turned to find space, and riffled the ball to the net. Draw game. The ref blew on 64 minutes. Extra time was to come. Score after normal time: Na Piarsaigh 2-17 Doon 2-17
James Finn was introduced for extra time, the young buck bringing a welcome boost of energy to our armory. Keith Dempsey got us off the mark in the additional period with a lovely score inside the opening 2 minutes. Conor added our second not long after before Keith raised another white flag, this time from a free. Cathall King entered the fray to replace Jerome, Kingers picking up a yellow for discarding his markers hurley. A welcome delay to proceedings as the ref issued him his card. Shane also pulled off an excellent save in the first period. Adrian and Peter got 2 more from play as Ronan registered another free prior to the extra time break. Our legs looked to be outlasting our opponents in the extra time. We lead by 5 at the break. Score at half time of extra time: Na Piarsaigh 2-23 Doon 2-18
We limited Doon to a single point in the extra time, that from a free, with our backs not giving them room to breathe. Emmet McEvoy was replicating his exceptional semi-final performance, but for much of Sunday's affair lining out at midfield. JJ Carey was simply class. He came out with the world of ball in the closing stages, and in the end made way for Wayne Kearns. Tommy Grimes gave an outstanding extra time display, catching an awesome high ball just at the start of the second period.
Peter and Daithí scored a point each to close out the tie and bring the John Daly Cup back to Na Piarsaigh for the 9th time. Not alone is it 9 titles for Na Piarsaigh, it also makes it 9 county medals for Cathall King, Shane Dowling, Adrian Breen and Kevin Downes. All have been there since our maiden victory in 2011. A fantastic victory for Shane O’Neill also, his 4th as Na Piarsaigh manager. The impact that coach Tomás Downes has brought this year must not be underestimated. Tomás has spent many years plying his trade in various clubs around Munster. His return home to Na Piarsaigh has been a breath of fresh air for the group. A man who coached many of our lads at underage, always having such a positive impact on the players he mentors.
The first round of the Munster club will take place on the 2nd of November in the Gaelic Grounds against who else, only Ballygunner. We’ll see ye all there.
Subs: Keith Dempsey(0-02, 0-01f) for Dylan(HT), Conor Boylan(1-01) for Will Henn, Tommy Grimes for Mike Foley, James Finn for Kevin Downes(ET), Cathall King for Jerome, Wayne Kearns for JJ.
Na Piarsaigh victorious senior squad.
Additional note: I’m not sure what the obsession is with blasting Fatboy Slim at every break in the Gaelic Grounds. The county board had a top quality pipe band there today but still insisted on having our eardrums assaulted at every opportunity bar the parade and national anthem.
