GAA
The City side have gone one better than their 2021 campaign as they reached a tenth final.
Na Piarsaigh booked their place in the Limerick SHC 2022 final with a 1-23 to 0-9 victory over South Liberties in Kilmallock on Saturday.
The side were made to work by their opponents, who were playing in their first SHC semi-final in 37 years, with only three points between the side at the half-time interval. Na Piarsaigh began to pull away in the second with great scoring performances from Kevin Downes and Adrian Breen until Daithi Dempsey capped off a dominant half with a superb late goal.
The result puts Na Piarsaigh into their ninth SHC final since 2011, and tenth overall, with no other side appearing in more since then.
Conor Boylan, who bagged a point on the day, gave his post-match reaction and reflected on what was an extremely tough encounter despite the scoreline.
“At half-time we were in trouble. We knew, well we were three points up but we were playing against a strong wind in the second half, the intensity they brought, was nearly unparallel to what we’ve seen this year.
“We weren’t surprised, we knew that it was going to come but still, it’s a different story talking about it than when you feel it, that’s when you know.”
The side have been unstoppable since last year’s semi-final defeat against Patrickswell, with the Caherdavin outfit yet to lose since that encounter twelve months ago.
Boylan reflected on this defeat and how they’ve had the final date bookmarked since the start of the season, with it being their main objective from the start.
“I think last year was extremely tough against Patrickswell, we felt that we didn’t do ourselves justice, and we didn’t, we didn’t show up on the day but that’s no excuse.”
“I’d be lying if we didn’t have it (SHC Final) bookmarked, we wanted to go one step further this year and we want to go another step further the next day but getting into the final was our objective at the start of the year and we’re here now.”
Na Piarsaigh will face Kilmallock in the 2022 Senior Hurling Championship Final at the TUS Gaelic Grounds on the 30th of October.