Liam Healy hat-trick fires Sarsfields past Na Piarsaigh to top of hurling league
Goalkeeper Donnacha McCarthy on the ball for Sars as Padraig Guest tries to keep the goal opportunity alive for Na Piarsiagh in the RedFM Senior Hurling League. Picture: Larry Cummins
SARS joined Charleville and Blackrock at the top of Division 1 of the Red FM hurling league after a first-half hat-trick from Liam Healy proved to be the difference between the sides in Páirc Uí Chonaire on Saturday evening.
Healy’s goals all came in the 10 minutes before half time and all of them were carbon copies of one another. Long balls from Donnacha McCarthy, Luke Elliott and Craig Leahy all landed around the Na Piarsaigh square, and each time Healy was on hand to pick up the breaks to put his side in firm control of the game.
The impressive Daniel Hogan added a point after Healy’s third major to give their side a 4-8 to 1-3 lead though to be fair to the hosts, they had played well in patches.
They were the slower out of the blocks though, as Hogan pointed before setting up Shane O’Regan for the game’s opening goal. The excellent Colm McCarthy then hit the first of his four points but from there, the game stagnated. Eoin Moynihan finally got Na Piarsaigh off the mark in the 16th minute and when Pádraig Guest billowed the net after Healy struck for goal number one, the game seemed set to ebb and flow.
It was not to be, however, as Sars supplemented Healy’s goals with points from Elliott, Colm McCarthy and Hogan and though Alan Hogan and Kevin Moynihan were on the mark for Na Piarsaigh, they faced an uphill challenge in the second half.
However, they did rise to that challenge after the break. Hogan, Daniel English and Cian Darcy hit the first three points of the second period for Sars but from there, Na Piarsaigh began to find their groove, aided by the red card issued to Sars’ Brian Murphy.
Shane Forde gave their forward division some shape when he went into the edge of the square while Kevin Moynihan hurled up a storm at wing-back, firing over two long-range points as Owen Galvin did the same from wing-forward and Dayne Lee popped over a brace from midfield.
Sars’ scores began to dry up, though McCarthy and Darragh Long did enough to keep them ticking over. Na Piarsaigh lost Alan Hogan to a knee injury before Pádraig Guest tagged on four points for Na Piarsaigh while also looking the most likely man to get the goal that they needed to put the Riverstown side under serious pressure.
That failed to materialise, however, as both sides will have taken plenty from an enjoyable game on a rare sunny evening.
P Guest 1-4 (0-3 f), K Moynihan 0-4 (0-1 f), O Galvin, D Lee 0-2 each, E Moynihan (f), A Hogan, S Forde, SP Cooke, C Hanifin (f) 0-1 each.
L Healy 3-0, D Hogan 0-6 (0-3 f), S O’Regan 1-1, C McCarthy 0-4, D Long (0-1 f), L Elliott 0-2 each, C Darcy D English 0-1 each.
L O’Donovan; P Murphy, A Dennehy, G Healy; K Moynihan, C Buckley, A Hogan; E Moynihan, D Lee; C Hanifin, S Forde, O Galvin; P Guest, K Buckley, C Hogan.
L Sheehan for E Moynihan (40), A Burke for A Hogan (inj, 44), SP Cooke for C Hogan (47), P Lehane for K Buckley (57).
D McCarthy; D English, K Crowley, K Walsh; C Leahy, E Murphy, S McNamara; C Darcy, C McCarthy; L Elliott, B Murphy, D Hogan; L Healy, D Long, S O’Regan.
C Roche for Leahy and C O’Rourke for Hogan (both 52), D O’Mahony for Healy (58), D O’Callaghan for Walsh (60).
Simon Stokes (Tullylease).
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