A late rally from the Waterford champions was enough to continue their hunt for another Munster title
Doon 0-20 Ballygunner 0-25
Ballygunner’s hopes of securing a fourth Munster Senior Hurling Championship in a row remain intact thanks to a hard-fought win over Limerick champions Doon at the TUS Gaelic Grounds on Sunday evening.
In what was the Limerick champions first ever game in the provincial championship, a final score of 0-25 to 0-20 certainly reflects how close this encounter was and Derek McGrath’s side will come away from this clash full of pride considering how short a time they had to prepare for one of the All-Ireland favourites.
Two magnificent saves from Stephen O’Keeffe in the second half were the big turning points as Jack Ryan and Pat Ryan had glorious opportunities to potentially seal a famous win, only for the shot stopper to deny them both in terrific style.
Adam English once again was at the forefront for Doon as he scored four of his side’s last six points in a fiery six-minute spell coming up to the first half interval as well as being their standout performer in the second half.
Chris Thomas will also come away from this game with his head held high as the talented wing back ended with a personal tally of 0-4, with each score as good as the last.
However, a strong second half display from the likes of Dessie Hutchinson and Patrick Fitzgerald in which the dynamic duo racked up an impressive 0-10 between them firmly assured that the ‘Gunners’ would live to fight another day.
Darragh O’Sullivan’s troops held a slender advantage after 10 minutes, but Derek McGrath’s men stayed competitive and found themselves in front just 7 minutes later thanks to an Adam English free, followed up by a quick double by Chris Thomas and a fine score from Pat Ryan.
Dessie Hutchinson and Pauric Mahony were doing their best to keep their side in it, but five wides and a shot off the post summed up their performance at that stage.
The Treaty side did hit four wide’s themselves but were still the more clinical of the two teams and fought like dogs for every ball as corner back Cian O’Donovan landed a fine individual effort before Adam English went on a savage run of three scores on the bounce to leave Doon firmly in control.
Eddie Stokes and Darragh O’Donovan tacked on two more points to leave the reigning Munster champions needing a massive response in the second half.
Ballygunner began to find their feet in the second half following O’Keeffe’s first save on 34 minutes from Jack Ryan with the next three scores through Mahony and Sheahan, as momentum was now fully on their side.
Mikey Mahony’s well worked score put the Waterford side back in front with 20 minutes left on the clock, before another placed ball from Mahony gave Ballygunner some much needed breathing space.
Doon kept plugging away and once again were level through Pat Ryan and a free from Adam English, setting things up for an exciting conclusion.
A real end to end clash saw Dessie Hutchinson dominate the game by himself over the next few minutes before Doon struck back thanks to some inspiring scores from Pat Ryan, Chris Thomas and Jack Ryan, leaving just a point between them heading into the final 10.
However, the Deise side went up a few gears and looked to have all but seal victory with three more scores on the bounce through Mikey Mahony, Patrick Fitzgerald and Pauric Mahony to leave four between them coming into the final stretch.
Despite Adam English sending over two frees to bring it back to two, Patrick Fitzgerald was having the game of his life and his fourth point of the game along with Pauric Mahony’s 60th minute free killed the game as a contest and assured their sides place in the semi finals where they will face Tipperary champions Loughmore-Castleiney.
Scorers: Doon: Adam English (0-8 f, 0-1 65) 0-10, Darragh Stapleton, Chris Thomas 0-4, Pat Ryan 0-2, Cian O’Donovan, Eddie Stokes, Darragh O’Donovan, Jack Ryan 0-1 each.
Ballygunner: Pauric Mahony (0-9 f) 0-11, Dessie Hutchinson 0-6, Patrick Fitzgerald 0-4, Conor Sheahan, Mikey Mahony 0-2 each,
Teams: Doon: Tomas Lynch; Eoin Fitzgibbon, Tommy Hayes, Cian O’Donovan; Chris Thomas, Barry Murphy, Richie English; Darragh O’Donovan (C), Pat Ryan; Cormac Ryan, Adam English, Eddie Stokes; Jack Ryan, Kevin Maher, Darragh Stapleton.
Subs: Mikey O’Brien for Murphy (4, Blood sub), Gareth Thomas for Stapleton (43), Mikey O’Brien for Maher (43), Patrick Cummins for English (52).
Ballygunner: Stephen O’Keeffe; Ian Kenny, Barry Coughlan, Tadhg Foley; Harry Ruddle, Philip Mahony, Ronan Power; Conor Sheahan, Paddy Leavey; Dessie Hutchinson, Pauric Mahony, Peter Hogan; Patrick Fitzgerald, Kevin Mahony, Mikey Mahony.
Subs: Cormac Power for K Mahony (55), Shane O’Sullivan for M Mahony (62) .
Referee: Michael Kennedy (Tipperary)