Preview: Senior Hurling Championship Final Vs Doon

Limerick Senior Hurling Championship Final

Vs Doon

📍 TUS Gaelic Grounds

📅 Sunday 27th October

⌚ 16:15

The match is part of a doubleheader with the Premier Intermediate Hurling Final – Newcastle West v Garryspillane @ 2pm

Tickets purchased in advance of the match through Limerick GAA Website can be obtained at a reduced rate of Adults €20 & OAP/Student €15. Both are €5 extra if purchased on the day of the game. We advise all our supporters to purchase their tickets the day before the game to obtain the discounted rate.

All roads lead to the Gaelic Grounds on Sunday with Doon our opponents in the 2024 Senior county final. This will be our first visit back to the county grounds since our opening round win against Patrickswell back in August. Much has happened in the intervening weeks with players coming in and out of the team, lads falling foul of injury and more making a welcome return from lengthy stints on the sideline.

Alan and Paulie with the birds eye view in round 5.

Our lads recorded 4 wins from 5 in the group stage with one loss to our name. That loss came against Doon in round 3. We finished second behind our county final opponents in the standings, which pitted us against our fierce rivals Kilmallock in the county semi-final. Played in winterish conditions in Mick Neville Park, our lads showed incredible grit and determination to claw back a 5-point deficit late on and record a 1-point win. You can see the full match report here.

Daithí Dempsey and Cathall King both sat out our semi-final victory due to injury and we remain hopeful of their return on Sunday. Jerome, Adrian and Seanie Long all made come-backs from serious injury over the course of the championship and they have certainly added to Shane O’Neill’s squad. Both Jim Beary and John O’Keeffe are newbies to this year's panel with both making a positive impact throughout the course of the season. Come 2025 and beyond they’ll be in contention to feature more prominently you would have to think. James Finn suffered a serious facial injury in UL Fresher’s training prior to round 5 but is thankfully now back to full training with the squad, and available for selection on Sunday. Podge Heaney and Alan Dempsey were both hampered with injury throughout the season but both have also returned to full training at the time of writing.

Doon enter Sunday’s final on the back of a 12-point victory over Patrickswell in their semi-final. Our 3rd round tie with them back in August went down to the wire with Doon’s winning score coming with the last puck of the game. It was a night of fine margins where we found ourselves a point ahead on the hour, but with Johnny Murphy’s final whistle we were on the losing side. Sunday may be different. We shall see.

You can see Mike Casey's interview at county final media day here.

Na Piarsaigh management team 2024: Brian Hurley (physio), Eoin Grimes (logistics), Pat McCarthy (performance coach), Lukasz Kirszenstein (S&C), Peter Sheehan (selector), Barry O’Regan (logistics), John Fitzgerald (coach), Shane O’Neill (manager), Colm Callanan (selector), Ben O’Regan (logistics) and Denis Duggan (logistics).

Management and backroom team: Shane O’Neill (manager), John Fitzgerald (coach), Colm Callanan (selector), Pat McCarthy (performance coach), Lukasz Kirszenstein (S&C) & Peter Sheehan (selector).

Backroom Team: Dr Dave Boylan (Doctor), Brian Hurley (Physio), Tom Synott (First Aid)

Logistics: Dennis Duggan, Barry O’Regan, Ben O’Regan & Eoin Grimes,

Stats: Paul McNamara, Paul Downes, David Burke, Ciarán Broderick & Kieran Kennedy

Squad that lined out against Kilmallock. Back row: James Finn, Mark O’Connor, Sean Long, Mike Foley, Jerome Boylan, JJ Carey, Ronan Lynch, Vince Harrington, Emmet McEvoy, William O’Donoghue(no patience), Dylan Lynch, John Fitz, Gearoid Synnott, Tommy Grimes. Front row: Marcus Hogan, Daithí Dempsey, Kevin Daly, Shane Dowling, Wayne Kearns, Cathall King, John O’Keeffe, Conor Boylan, Mike Casey, Adrian Breen, Kevin Downes, Will Henn, Keith Dempsey, Evan Condon. All the helmets…
Squad according to Sunday's program.

Sponsors: Smithstown Light Engineering

Squad that lined out for our semi-final victory over Kilmallock:

Shane Dowling, Vince Harrington, Mike Casey, Emmet McEvoy, Mike Foley, William O’Donoghue, Jerome Boylan, Ronan Lynch, Tommy Grimes, JJ Carey, Will Henn, Conor Boylan, Kevin Downes, Keith Dempsey, Dylan Lynch, Adrian Breen, Wayne Kearns, Sean Long, John Fitz, Gearoid Synnott, Evan Condon, Cathall King,⁠ James Finn,⁠ Daithí Dempsey, John O’Keeffe, Mark O’Connor, Marcus Hogan, Peter Casey, Alan Dempsey, Jim Beary, Padraic Heaney, Pa O’Neil, Kevin Daly, Kieran Daly, James Daly, Josh Sheahan.

Every day this week we have been sending out player profiles on each of the 36 squad members. You can catch up on them here: Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday.
We'll also have a one-off interview with a member of the backroom team coming out this Friday so keep an eye on socials and ClubZap for all the updates.