Na Piarsaigh 2-19

Ahane 2-17

We entered this game having secured a convincing win over Mungret in round 1 two weeks ago while our opponents lost out to Kilmallock by a single point in their opening game. Unfortunately we didn’t seem to carry much momentum from that Mungret win into the Ahane game as the Castleconnell men hit us for 1-05 to our solitary point inside 8 minutes. While a little bruised and slightly shellshocked, our lads slowly but surely fought their way back into the game. Ahane’s big lads were very strong under their puck outs, us struggling under the high ball. We did however have a decent spread of scores in the opening half with Bermo, Padraig Murnane, Charlie Ryan and Alex all raising the white flag. The pick of them came from the stick of Ferdia Minihane, driving over from long range. Sean Connolly struck a well timed goal also, soloing in from the left to place the ball low to the keepers right hand side. It was a badly needed 3-pointer. We entered the break a goal behind, 2-09 to 1-09.

While we finished the first half strongly, it was clear a change was required. Shane moved from midfield to the half forward line, providing another target for Bobby’s puck-outs. It didn’t take long for teh switch to have an effect, Shane fetching a puck-out with 4 or 5 Ahane lads around him. He was fouled and converted the resultant free. Frees were a common enough theme in the second period as we got into a habit of winning them. Ben Murray alone won 3 following some dogged work at midfield. Shane stepped up to land all 3. The Ashbrook man was simply sublime in the second half, be it in open play or frees. He came very close to adding a goal halfway through, forcing a top quality save from the Ahane keeper. Alex Kearns got in on the action half way through with a lovely score, darted over from an acute angle on the right to out us 2 points up. Chasing the game for long periods, we now found ourselves ahead but Ahane reeled us in again to level the tie. A draw game with 1 minute remaining, Charlie snuck in for an exquisite goal, slipping it past the Ahane keeper, using every ounce of ingenuity to not get blocked or hooked by the Ahane defenders surrounding him. Shane pointed a free directly after the goal to add an extra level of comfort. Ahane brought the margin back to 2 with a couple of frees before one of their forwards riffled the ball off the outside of Bobby’s goal. Luckily for us it was the wrong side of the post. The ball was pucked out and the final whistle was blown. A hard fought win for Na Piarsaigh that required some real character. 

Our next game sees us take on Kilmallock in round 3 on Wednesday the 29th in Páirc Uí Dromgúil. Both teams are through to the semi-final following 2 wins each. Round 3 will decide who’ll take top spot in the group. 

Team: Bobby Collins, Sean O’Brien, Ronan Gleeson, Liam Sheahan, George Stack, Marcus Murphy, Ferdia Minihane(0-01), Shane Waters(0-13, 0-08f), Ben Murray, Padraig Murnane(0-01), Alex Kearns(0-02), Charlie Ryan(1-01), Ross O’Flanagan, Conor Bermingham(0-01), Sean Connolly(1-00).

Subs: Danny Sheehan, Daniel O’Donovan. 

Na Piarsaigh 0-17

Claughaun 1-09

Rhebogue was the venue for round 2 of the Intermediate Football Championship on Friday evening last. If you’re wondering what happened in round 1, this game was refixed for Wednesday the 9th of September due to St. Senan’s having a player involved with the Limerick senior hurlers. 

It was a cagey opening half from our lads, coming into this game possibly undercooked due to the refixing of round 1. Claughaun were coming in off the back of a 2-point victory over Crecora in their first match. Our opponents played with the breeze at their backs in the opening half, they landed a 2-pointer early on. Evan Egan did well, ending the half with 4 points, 2 from play, while Stephen O’Halloran also struck 2. His second blazing inches above the crossbar, a definite goal chance. The half ended with us a point to the good. We were playing a small bit within ourselves at times but you could say there was a bit of dirty diesel we needed to get out of the system. Half time score: Na Piarsaigh 0-08 Claughaun 0-07

We got the ideal start to the second half with Kieran Daly adding a lovely curling strike over from his right, on the right. Egan followed with a free before Claughaun got back on the score sheet. They slotted a free before landing a fortuitous goal, bouncing off elbows and backsides before ending up in Eoghain Sherlock’s net. It was the wakeup call we needed to get properly going. We went on to score 7 unanswered points, the pick of them coming from 2 of our young substitutes Odhran Gilroy and Daniel Collins. Sean Long also got in on the action, getting on the end of a good team move. Sean was my pick for man of the match. His physicality and ball-carrying ability proved incredibly difficult for Claughaun to contain all evening. Cathal McMullan and Ralph Leonard were also impressive throughout the 60 minutes. We looked solid and assured in the final 10 minutes, closing out the game with a comfortable 5-point win. 

Huge credit to Con Daly and his management team for the work and effort they’ve put into this team since the turn of the year. It’s brilliant to get off to a winning start and I’ve no doubt the lads will build on Friday’s performance in the championship games to come. Round 3 sees us take on Drom Broadford on the weekend of the 14th of August. 

Team: Eoghain Sherlock, Aaron Rush, Cian Counihan, Cathal McMullan, Adam Jordan, Sean Long(0-01), Christy O'Hagan, Ralph Leonard, Jack  McCarthy, Darragh Jordan, Kieran Daly(0-04, 0-01f), James Daly, Stephen O'Halloran(0-02), Evan Egan(0-06, 0-04f), Tommy Glynn(0-02).

Subs: Odhran Gilroy(0-01), Daniel Collins(0-01), Ronan Houlihan, Ferdia Minihane.