Na Piarsaigh junior hurlers beat great rivals Glen Rovers to reach Seandún semi-final

Na Piarsaigh 2-17 Glen Rovers 0-15

Na Piarsaigh have qualified for the semi-finals of the AOS Security Seandún Junior A Hurling Championship, as they saw off the challenge of Northside neighbours Glen Rovers before a sizeable attendance at Ballinlough. 

Next up for the northsiders is a last-four clash with Douglas.

In the opening half, Glen Rovers were dependent on scores from placed-balls while the Fair Hill side, who got the game’s two decisive goals, played a more open game.

With wind advantage in the opening half, the Blackpool side opened the scoring with a point from play by Ryan Long. Na Piarsaigh’s Michael Sheehan exchanged pointed 65s with Jamie Corkery, before Peter Lehane set up Shane O’Connell-Aherne for the game’s opening goal in the ninth minute.

Persistent fouling was proving to be costly for Na Piarsaigh, as Corkery converted two unanswered frees. Corkery also added a point from play, before Peter Lehane and Sean Downey each added points for the Fair Hill side, which left Na Piarsaigh leading 1-3 to 0-5.

The Fair Hill side continued to have Glen Rovers pinned back as Sheehan slotted over two unanswered frees to stretch Na Piarsaigh’s lead to three points, before Corkery responded with his third pointed free.

Dale Tynan added a point for the Blackpool side deep into stoppage time at the end of the first half: 1-5 to 0-7.

With the elements in their favour for the second half, the Fair Hill side promptly had Glen Rovers on the back foot. Within two minutes of the restart, Alan Keating embarked on a solo run, following a free deep inside his own half, to set up O’Connell-Aherne for his second goal.

The Blackpool side’s net-minder Josh Goulding and Corkery also chipped in with a pointed free each, before Keating replied for the Fair Hill side.

Glen Rovers levelled matters, courtesy of unanswered points by Jack Kennefick, Long and Corkery, to tie the scores at 2-6 to 0-12, before the Fair Hill side seized the initiative.

Midway through the second half, Sheehan tagged on a hat-trick of points, including two frees.

In the final quarter, Na Piarsaigh outscored the Blackpool side 0-8 to 0-3, with Eric Healy getting Glen Rovers’ only score of this period from play. Sheehan got a further three points, including one free for the Fair Hill side, while Ian McDonnell added a further two points.

Scorers for Na Piarsaigh: M Sheehan 0-9 (0-5 f, 0-1 65), S O’Connell-Aherne 2-0, I McDonnell, K O’Leary 0-2 each, SP Cooke, A Keating, P Lehane, S Downey 0-1 each.

Glen Rovers: J Corkery 0-7 (0-4 f, 0-1 65), J Goulding 0-3 (0-2 f, 0-1 65), R Long 0-2; D Tynan, J Kennefick, E Healy 0-1 each.

NA PIARSAIGH: S Fitzgerald; L Murphy, A Dennehy, A Higgins; J Scanlon, P Cunningham, D Scanlon; SP Cooke, P Lehane; S Galgey, S Downey, K O’Leary; S O’Connell-Aherne, M Sheehan, A Keating.

Subs: I McDonnell for Downey (47), C Galvin for D Scanlon (56).

GLEN: Josh Goulding; S Cronin, O O’Connell, J Dorney; D Tynan, A Evans, J Murphy; M Gayer, D O’Callaghan; R Long, J Maher, J Corkery; J Kennefick, E Healy, T Horgan.

Sub: E O’Neill for Maher (52).

Referee: Trevor Lyons.