Na Piarsaigh rally to beat St Vincent's and move on in Seandún Junior A Hurling Championship

Na Piarsaigh 2-23 St Vincent’s 3-14

Na Piarsaigh have booked their place in the knock-out stages of the AOS Security Seandún JAHC in a northside derby before a sizeable attendance at Ballinlough.

Late goals from top-scorer Michael Sheehan and Ian McDonald saw the victors come from behind in the last quarter.

St Vincent’s played an open game as their three goals came in the first half, while scoring opportunities from play were at a premium for the Fair Hill side.

The scoreline was reading 0-2 to 0-1 in favour of Na Piarsaigh before they were pinned back. St Vincent’s scored three unanswered goals by Luke Callanan, Blake Murphy and Sean Daly. Callanan tagged on a point from play and Murphy slotted over two frees to give St Vincent’s a lead of 3-4 to 0-2.

Paul Cunningham tagged on a point for the Fair Hill side, before Murphy and Michael Sheehan exchanged pointed frees. Callanan and Sean Daly each added points for St Vincent’s, before Sheehan converted a free for Na Piarsaigh.

Sheehan outscored Murphy 0-3 to 0-2 on frees approaching the break as St Vincent’s led 3-8 to 0-10 at the interval.

The Fair Hill side raised their game for the second half as Shane O’Connell got two points and Dayne Lee also scored one. Callanan and Sean Daly replied with a point each for St Vincent’s.

Na Piarsaigh continued to have St Vincent's on the back foot as persistent fouling was proving to be St Vincent’s undoing. Lee tagged on a point from play and Sheehan converted three frees. Murphy replied with St Vincent’s only free of the second half, as St Vincent’s led by 3-11 to 0-17.

Entering the final 10 minutes, the scores were level at 3-14 to 0-23, when Sheehan drilled home a goal for Na Piarsaigh. The momentum shifted.

Two minutes from time, Ian McDonald capitalised on a defensive error by St Vincent’s to score Na Piarsaigh’s second goal.

Scorers: Na Piarsaigh: M Sheehan 1-14 (0-11  f), D Lee 0-3, I McDonald 1-0, S O’Connell 0-2, P Cunningham, P Lehane, SP Cooke, S Downey 0-1 each.

St Vincent’s: B Murphy 1-5 (0-5 f), L Callanan 1-4, Sean Daly 1-3, A O’Donoghue, A Harte 0-1 each.

NA PIARSAIGH: S Fitzgerald; L Murphy, A Higgins, S Daly; J Scanlon, J Morrissey, P Cunningham; P Lehane, E Dorgan; D Lee, S Downey, C O’Leary; SP Cooke, S Galgey, M Sheehan.

Subs: A Dennehy for S Daly (8), S O’Connell for Dorgan (h/t), I McDonald for Galgey, A Keating for Lehane (both 51).

ST VINCENT'S: W O’Donoghue; D Butler, E O’Brien, J O’Reilly; J O’Mahony, K Murphy, C Lynch; A Harte, T Broderick; Cian O’Neill, Cormac O’Neill, J O’Donovan; B Murphy, L Callanan, S Daly.

Subs: A O’Donoghue for Lynch (h-t), C Desmond for O’Mahony (35, inj), K Sorensen for O’Donovan (41).

Referee: Cathal McAllister (Aghada).