Na Piarsaigh snatch draw against Whitechurch in Seandún Junior A Hurling final

Na Piarsaigh 0-11 Whitechurch 0-11

Na Piarsaigh and defending champions Whitechurch will have to do it all again, as their AOS Security Seandún Junior A Hurling final in blustery conditions, before a sizeable attendance at Ballinlough, ended in a stalemate.

This game went down to the wire, as Jamie Hegarty converted his seventh free for Whitechurch to give his side a lead of 0-11 to 0-10, with time almost up. Na Piarsaigh's Ian McDonnell tied the scores with a point from play deep into stoppage time.

Scoring opportunities from play were at a premium, owing to the heavy underfoot conditions. The Fair Hill side were on top for most of the opening half, as they played a more open game. Whitechurch had Na Piarsaigh pinned back for most of the second half, as persistent fouling proved costly for the Fair Hill side.

Playing against the wind in the opening half, Dayne Lee put Na Piarsaigh in front with a point from play within a minute of the throw-in. Michael Sheehan also chipped in with his first point from a free. Hegarty opened Whitechurch's account with a pointed free.

Sheehan converted his second free for the Fair Hill side and Cillian Egan responded with Whitechurch’s first point from play.

Na Piarsaigh had Whitechurch on the back foot as Peter Lehane got their second point from play, which was followed by Sheehan’s third pointed free. This gave the Fair Hill side a three-point lead.

Whitechurch responded with two frees by Hegarty, but Na Piarsaigh replied with points from play by Daniel Scanlon and Lee.

The Fair Hill side laid siege to Whitechurch's goal in the second quarter, but they were denied several goal-scoring opportunities, as Whitechurch net-minder Con Mulcahy was pulling off some spectacular saves. Wayward shooting was also proving to be costly from long range for Na Piarsaigh.

Darragh O’Connell and Hegarty each added points from play for Whitechurch as the half-time scoreline read 0-7 to 0-6 in favour of the Fair Hill side.

Whitechurch raised their game for the second half as Hegarty levelled matters with his second point from play, within two minutes of the restart. Shane Galgey responded with a point from play for Na Piarsaigh. Hegarty tagged on two unanswered frees to put Whitechurch in the driving seat for the first time in the contest.

Lee slotted over his third point from play, before Hegarty and Sheehan exchanged pointed frees, to set the scene for a dramatic finalé.

Scorers for Na Piarsaigh: M Sheehan 0-4 f, D Lee 0-3; P Lehane, D Scanlon, S Galgey, I McDonnell 0-1 each.

Whitechurch: J Hegarty 0-9 (0-7 f), D O’Connell, C Egan 0-1 each.

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

Subs: I McDonnell for Keating (41), C O’Leary for J Scanlon (52), S Downey for D Scanlon (58, inj).

WHITECHURCH: C Mulcahy; A Murphy, B O’Sullivan, J Dennehy; K Ryan, M Callanan, R O’Connell; S O’Reilly, R Buckley; D O’Sullivan, J Hegarty, S Keane; D O’Connell, C Egan, C O’Brien.

Subs: C Hennessy for B O’Sullivan (25), A Kelleher for O’Brien (41), J McGrath for O’Reilly (47), C Kelleher for J Dennehy (56).

Referee: David Daly (Brian Dillon’s).