Na Piarsaigh (Limerick) 3-22
Clonoulty-Rossmore (Tipperary) 0-13

Holders Na Piarsaigh cruised into another Munster club SHC final thanks to an 18-point victory over Clonoulty-Rossmore at the Gaelic Grounds.

The victory came at a cost, however, with Shane Dowling retiring before half-time with a hand injury and Ronan Lynch and Kieran Kennedy also being forced off through injury in the second half. 

The Limerick champions' proud record of having never lost a game in the provincial championship wasn't threatened in the slightest by a Clonoulty-Rossmore team who looked to have celebrated too much after winning their first Tipperary SHC title in 21 years a fortnight ago. With Adrian Breen, Dowling and Lynch in fine scoring form, Na Piarsaigh had opened up a 0-10 to 0-3 lead by the 21st minute. Goals from Kevin Downes and Peter Casey in the final 10 minutes of the half left Paul Beary's charges perched on a 2-13 to 0-5 interval lead, with Timmy Hammersley (three frees) and Paudie White (two points from play) accounting for Clonoulty-Rossmore's first half tally.

Despite losing Shane Dowling to injury, Na Piarsaigh reeled off an unanswered 1-5 after the restart with Casey grabbing his second major. It was an utterly dominant performance from the Limerick city side who appear hellbent on making amends for their All-Ireland final replay loss to Cuala earlier this year.

Na Piarsaigh - P Kennedy; J Boylan, M Casey, K Kennedy; R Lynch (0-3, 1f), W O’Donoghue, C King; A Dempsey (0-1), G Brown; D Dempsey (0-1), S Dowling (0-5f), C Boylan (0-1); A Breen (0-6), K Downes (1-1, 0-1f), P Casey (2-2). Subs: C Houlihan for S Dowling, K Ryan for P Casey, M Foley for R Lynch, T Grimes (0-2) for A Dempsey, J O’Brien for C King, P Gleeson for K Kennedy.

Clonoulty-Rossmore - D O’Dwyer; Joey O’Keeffe, C Quirke, J Ryan; S O’Connor, John O’Keeffe, E Heffernan; C Hammersley (0-1), J Heffernan; P White (0-2), D Quirke (0-1sl), Tom Butler; C Bourke (0-1), T Hammersley (0-8, 5f), F O’Keeffe. Subs: Thomas Butler for F O’Keeffe, R Heffernan for J Heffernan, N Shanahan for Joey O’Keeffe, P Ryan for Tom Butler, Donnchadh Quirke for J Ryan.

Referee - D Kirwan.

Tweet

Most Read Stories