Doon 1-25: 0-21 Mungret St. Pauls
Doon booked their place in the Limerick Senior Hurling Championship semi-final on Sunday, October 1, thanks to an impressive second-half display against Mungret St. Pauls at the Gaelic Grounds.
It’s a seventh consecutive last-four spot for the 2020 runners-up who were put to the test by a side playing in their first SHC quarter-final berth in over forty years.
Mungret didn’t look a touch out of place in the opening proceedings however, with three points in as many minutes to Doon’s one creating an electric start to the game.
The favourites were level just a minute later, and the sides exchanged blows for the duration of the first half, with Niall Mulcahy and Liam Lynch coming up with the goods for Mungret.
There was nothing to split the two sides at the interval, as they headed for the dressing rooms at 0-13 apiece with a last-four spot hanging in the balance.
The second half picked up where it left off with a couple of early exchanges, but a spell of Doon dominance resulted in a goal and three points, with Adam English hitting the back of the net to give the east Limerick outfit a healthy advantage.
A four-point flurry without reply closed the gap for Mungret but their experienced opposition proved too strong in the final ten minutes with an array of points ensuring a semi-final date with Na Piarsaigh in a fortnight’s time.
Doon – Tomas Lynch, Cormac Ryan, Eoin Fitzgibbon, Jack Cummins (Tommy Hayes 28’), Diarmuid Cummins (Tadhg Whelan HT’), Eddie Stokes, Cian O’Donovan, Darragh O’Donovan, Adam English (Shane O’Connell 58’), Barry Murphy, Darragh Stapleton (Gareth Thomas 55’), Jack Ryan, Pat Ryan, Kevin Maher, Donal Coughlan
Mungret – Conor O’Brien, Liam Harrington (Odhran O’Dwyer 58’), Matt O’Sullivan, Cillian Archer (Conor O’Halloran 51’), Brian Barry, Pa Begley (Jack McCarthy 39’), Eoin O’Doherty, Barry Duff, Rory Duff, Brian O’Meara, Fintan Fitzgerald, Shane Barry (Brendan Giltenane 45’), Paul O’Brien (Kieran O’Dowd 56’), Liam Lynch, Niall Mulcahy
Patrickswell 4-17: 1-17 Ballybrown
Patrickswell left it late in their quarter-final clash against Ballybrown, with three goals in the final ten minutes earning them the fourth and final semi-final spot.
The first half began in similar fashion to the previous game with neither team being able to grab the game by the scruff of the neck.
After Ballybrown erased a three-point deficit, the Well’s Tom O’Brien fired past Josh O’Reilly for their first goal of the game five minutes from half-time. The twenty-time champions saw out the rest of the half and held 1-11: 0-9 lead at half-time.
And they continued the second half in similar fashion with three points to no reply from their opposition, increasing their lead to eight points.
However, Ballybrown completed an epic comeback with Luke O’Connor’s goal inspiring a late revival and the sides were 1-17 apiece heading into the final ten minutes.
A late goal-scoring rally from Cian Lynch, Aaron Gillane and John Kirby stunned Ballybrown as Patrickswell avoided a second consecutive quarter-final exit.
They will now face Kilmallock in the semi-final on October 15.
Patrickswell – Jason Gillane, James Carrig, Mark Carmody, John Flynn, Evan Fitzgerald, Diarmuid Byrnes, Nigel Foley (Patrick Kirby 42’), Cian Lynch, Jack Kelleher (John Considine 49’), Jordan Higgins, Kevin O’Brien (Calvin Carroll 59’), Cian Fitzgerald, John Kirby, Aaron Gillane, Tom O’Brien
Ballybrown – Josh O’Reilly, Mikey Kiely, Stevie O’Reilly, Mark Sheehan, Kenny Power, Josh Adams, Ned Quinn, Mikey Gavin (Kevin Foster 51’), Leigh Doolan, Ross Griffin, Luke O’Connor, Colin Coughlan, Aidan O’Connor, Ross Kenny (Barry Adams 43’), David Hartnett (Luke Doran 58’)