PIFC: Na Piarsaigh back on track after edging out Newmarket
Greg Healy in action for Na Piarsaigh in their first round loss to Castletownbere. Picture: Denis Boyle
Na Piarsaigh 0-14 Newmarket 0-11
NA Piarsaigh are back in PIFC contention after an impressive and fully deserved win over Newmarket in Mourneabbey.
After a sluggish start, the city side took control in the middle third, and without ever totally dominating they kept their opponents at arm’s length till the final whistle.
Led in the scoring stakes by Keith Buckley, they looked lively throughout with scores from Kelvin Forde, Alan Keating and Conor Bowen helping get Na Piarsaigh back on track after they lost their opening fixture to Castletownbere.
For Newmarket, Conor O’Keeffe was their main scoring threat with five points from play and a brace of frees. Ryan O’Keeffe also added a pair of frees with TJ Brosnan and Alan Ryan also raised white flags but it wasn't enough.
From the off, Newmarket looked like the side most likely to take the spoils as they dominated possession and scoring chances in the first 10 minutes.
Points from Conor and Ryan O’Keeffe saw them in front however their wides count was an issue, though Na Piarsaigh struggled to get their hands on the ball.
The city side had scores from Bowen, Buckley and Keating which saw them trail by just two at the first water break.
The victors struck the front in the second quarter winning that 15-minute period five points to one, leaving it 0-9 to 0-7 at half-time.
Na Piarsaigh again pushed on with Buckley keeping the scoreboard ticking over as Newmarket began to get ever more desperate.
The North Cork’s chances of turning this one around suffered a blow on 40 minutes with a straight red for wing-back Bart Daly however they still managed to cut the gap to two thanks to points from Brosnan and Ryan.
Na Piarsaigh were in no mood to let this one slip though.
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