Daire Connery impresses as Na Piarsaigh edge out Courcey Rovers with late goal
Na Piarsaigh's Kelvin Forde battling Courcey Rovers' Liam Collins. Picture: Denis Boyle
A 67th-minute goal from Luke Sheehan gave Na Piarsaigh a hard-earned win over Courcey Rovers in an absorbing Co-Op Superstores SAHC clash at Brinny on Friday.
In a game that could have gone either way Na Piarsaigh dug deepest when the game hung in the balance. Both teams had disappointing league campaigns with Na Piarsaigh losing their Division 1 status and Courcey Rovers dropping down to Division 3.
It only took Na Piarsaigh 15 seconds to get up and running courtesy of a free executed by the returning Daire Connery. Courceys responded in style with a point from Sean Twomey who split the posts from all of 70 yards.
Connery was looking sharp at right half-back and he followed up with a second point in the fifth minute. The hurling was crisp in the opening 10 minutes and a second Tadgh O’Sullivan tied the game at three points.
The city side produced a magnificent move in the 11th minute that yielded the opening goal of the game. A fantastic catch by Padraig Guest saw him place a pinpoint pass to Ross O’Sullivan who had little difficulty finding the back of the net.
There was an immediate response from Courceys as Richard Sweetman nailed four consecutive frees with the city side guilty of silly fouling. Their shooting was poor too, and by the 20th minute, they had amassed seven wides to their opponents' none. Indeed Courceys had to wait until the 27th minute to register their first wide.
Up 1-8 to 0-9, Na Piarsaigh fired their 13th wide before the break.
Sweetman converted a free on the resumption followed by a Tadhg O’Sullivan point to tie proceedings. On the next Courcey attack, Sean Twomey found the back of the net but the referee and his umpires deemed him inside the square.
However, sub Brendan Ryan scored a point on his first touch three minutes later to nudge the South East side in front. Credit to Na Piarsaigh they responded with three unanswered points and midway through the half the game was still in the balance.
The lead had increased to four points with 10 minutes remaining and Na Piarsaigh had a golden goal opportunity but a Kevin Collins block denied them a goal.
The tension was unbearable before a magnificent Patrick O’Rourke point with a minute remaining edged them ahead by the minimum. Then came Sheehan’s late goal which produced ecstatic scenes from Na Piarsaigh faithful.
P Guest 0-6 f, D Connery 0-6 (0-2 f, 0-2 65), R O’Sullivan 1-1, L Sheehan 1-0, S Forde, P O’Rourke, C Hannifin 0-1 each.
R Sweetman 0-11 (0-8 f, 0-1 65), T O’Sullivan 0-4, B Ryan 0-2, O Crowley, S Twomey 0-1 each.
L Donovan; P Murphy, C Buckley, A Dennehy; G Joyce, D Connery, K Moynihan; C Hannifin, D Lee; O Galvin, S Forde, P Guest; SP Cooke, R O’Sullivan, K Forde.
L Sheehan for SP Cooke (35), C Hogan for K Forde (35), P O’Rourke for O Galvin (41).
S Nyhan; K Collins, B Mulcahy, D Collins; C Roche, F Lordan, L Collins; M Collins, D J Twomey; O Twomey, S Twomey, R Sweetman; D O’Donovan, T O’Sullivan, R O’Callaghan.
B Ryan for D O’Donovan (36), A O’Donovan for O Crowley (45), D Lordan for M Collins (52).
Niall O’Neill (Midleton).
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