Sport

Adare are forced to dig deep to retain title

Adare - 0-14 Ahane - 012: COUNTY FINALS: An out-of sorts Adare just managed to keep their hands on the Limerick senior hurling…

Mon Oct 14 2002 - 01:00

Adare - 0-14 Ahane - 012:COUNTY FINALS:An out-of sorts Adare just managed to keep their hands on the Limerick senior hurling championship title at the Gaelic Grounds yesterday.

In a dramatic finale they found themselves four points in arrears - 0-12 to 0-8 - against underdogs Ahane, who left their early season form behind them to produce a riveting display of attacking hurling.

However, with the winning post within their sights, Ahane completely lost the plot. It all started to go wrong for them on 50 minutes when Clement Smith became the first player to enter the referee's notebook.

Worse was to follow 40 seconds later when county player Seán O'Connor committed a reckless foul and was shown the red card.

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After that the doors closed on Ahane and opened for Adare, who kept their opponents scoreless and rattled over six unanswered points.

Ahane might have still felt some hope when they were on level terms, 0-12 each, as the game entered five minutes of injury time.

But their depleted forces had by now lost their energy and Adare, firing on all cylinders, snatched victory with points from captain Mark Foley and substitute Brendan Heffernan.

The west Limerick side were, on their own admission, mightily relieved to have escaped with their unbeaten record over two years intact. Selector Dave Keane said it was the perfect farewell to his association with Adare as he prepares to take over as manager of the Limerick senior team.

Complete outsiders entering the final, Ahane played with variety and purpose in the opening 12 minutes and left their mark with a succession of points from John Meskell, Conor Fitzgerald, Niall Moran and Sean O'Connor to lead 0-6 to 0-2, with Conor Fitzgerald and Con Murphy replying at the other end.

What Ahane were not to know was that they would not find their range again until the last seconds of the half, with James Moran getting them back on track after Brian Foley, Stephen Lavin and Conor Fitzgerald had put Adare in front, 0-7 to 0-6.

Ahane wasted no time in making their presence felt on the changeover and Sean O'Connor and James Moran showed they were in it for the long haul. Adare had lost their way and in the third quarter secured just one point, from Conor Fitzgerald, while James Moran and John Meskell had pushed Ahane in front, 0-12 to 0-8.

Then came those last crazy 15 minutes when Ahane threw away what would have been their 19th title.

ADARE: T Houlihan; J O'Brien, JP Healy, P Lavin; M Clifford, M Foley (0-1), E Fitzgerald; J Foley, A O'Rahilly; S Lavin (0-1), C Murphy (0-1), C Fitzgerald (0-5), B Sexton (0-1), B Foley (0-3), D Sheehan (0-1). Sub: B Heffernan (0-1) for Sexton.

AHANE: F McCarthy; A Collins, M Fitzgerald, D Fitzgerald; B Meskell; C O'Reilly, A Smith; O Moran (0-2), J Meskell (0-3); S O'Connor (0-2), N Moran (0-2), C Smith; J O'Grady, J Moran (0-3), P Ryan. Sub: T Herbert for O'Grady.

Referee: D O'Driscoll.

In the minor final, Andrew O'Shaughnessy hit an amazing 4-9 of Kilmallock's total of 4-11 in their championship win over Na Piarsaigh, who replied with 2-11.