Newcastle West dethrone Adare with late surge in tense Limerick SFC Final

Newcastle West claimed a second Limerick SFC title in three years by virtue of the six point win.

Newcastle West’s superiority off the bench played it part as a powerful final quarter saw them outscore their opponents 1-4 to 0-1 down the stretch with AJ O’Connor providing the telling contribution.

It was enough to secure a fifth ever title for Newcastle West and a third since 2015 as they avenged the defeat to Adare at the same stage four years ago.

Both sides played within themselves in a below par first half that saw them exchange just six scores with Robbie Bourke, one of Adare’s key scoring threats, deployed to mark Mike McMahon in the Adare full back line.

The TUS Gaelic Grounds contingent had to wait 10 minutes for the first attempt of the evening as Roy Gleeson kicked wide for Adare. A minute later, Cian Sheehan got NCW off the mark.

Hugh Bourke levelled from a free after 13 and those were the only scores before the first water break.

Both sides perked up a bit after the restart with Bourke kicking Adare ahead from a placed ball. But Mike McMahon was quick with a response to level proceedings after 22 minutes.

Shane Stack pulled Newcastle ahead a couple of minutes later but Bourke had the final say of the half with his third free, a brilliant effort from near the sideline.

That left it evenly poised at 0-3 to 0-3 at the short whistle.

Eoin Hurley pushed Newcastle into the lead after 34 minutes with a mark before Eoghan Costelloe levelled a minute later with a great score.

The next score wouldn’t come for fifteen minutes but in the meantime the intensity certainly ratcheted up a number of notches with huge turnovers and tackles from both sides.

Newcastle West substitute Diarmuid Kelly ended the lengthy wait for a score and from here Newcastle West didn’t look back.

Eoin Hurley gave the Magpies their first two point lead of the day before Davy Lyons replied immediately for the defending champions.

However, Newcastle West struck the killer blow from their next attack as AJ O’Connor and Eoin Murphy combined brilliantly before O’Connor unleashed an unstoppable shot into the corner with Adare’s goalie Brendan Carmody having no chance.

That goal had Newcastle four clear after 55 with O’Connor adding a point to his tally a minute later.

A minute into injury time, McMahon kicked over the final score of the night as Newcastle sealed a deserved six point victory.

Attention will turn to the Munster championship for Newcastle West as they host the Waterford champions on the weekend of December 4/5. The Waterford championship is at the quarter-final stage with eight possible opponents.

Newcastle have lost to the eventual champions in their previous two trips into Munster in ’15 and ’19.