There’s no stopping the Limerick men.
Na Piarsaigh have won four Treaty titles since 2011. They followed up a 2011 triumph with county Championship glory in 2013, 2015 and again this year.
Whatever it is about the north-side city club, every time they’ve won a county Championship, they’ve followed it up with Munster glory.
They’ve never lost a game in the province, and that statistic wasn’t about to change on Sunday.
This year was no different as they defeated Ballygunner in the Semple Stadium decider on a final scoreline of 3-15 to 2-10.
The Waterford side did put them to the pin of their collar in the opening stages, with the lightening Conor Power capitalising on a slip from Michael Casey to gift them an early goal.
Cúl ag @ballygunnerHc ! Conor Power tar éis é a fháil #MunsterFinal #Hurling. Tá muid beo ar @TG4TV agus youtube Sport TG4 !! pic.twitter.com/sr5A8h62DW
— Spórt TG4 (@SportTG4) November 19, 2017
Video credit: TG4.
Indeed, Fergal Hartley’s men had the better of the early exchanges, with David O’Sullivan and Pauric Mahony firing them to a 1-4 to 0-6 half-time lead.
The men in red and black picked up where they left off upon the resumption, and soon extended their lead to three points.
As soon as Na Piarsaigh goaled through David Breen in the 34th minute, however, the Déise challengers never lead the game again.
It was a ruthless team goal from the Limerick side. Kevin Downes raced onto a loose ball at speed, and looked to be readying himself to take on a shot at goal from the 21.
He looked to have given Stephen O’Keeffe the eyes, before skilfully transferring to ball over to David Breen who was in acres of space.
The former Limerick senior rifled it into the top corner.
Cúl ag @NapGAA !! 1-07 acu anois agius 1-07 ag @ballygunnerHc . Tá an cluiche beo ar @TG4TV chomh maith le https://t.co/Sse4X5Ten1 #Hurling pic.twitter.com/Sr9WD8rUAo
— Spórt TG4 (@SportTG4) November 19, 2017
From there, Na Piarsaigh never looked back. Ronan Lynch roared into the game, as did Downes and Adrian Breen.
Michael Casey was a sturdy block in the full back line, and Cathal King showed well ahead of him in the half back line.
Peter Casey pointed to give them a four point lead after 44 minutes, and the Ballygunner challenge looked dead and buried.
Peter Hogan responded with a goal out of nothing to cut the gap to a point and set up a frantic conclusion.
Na Piarsaigh, as they always do, regained momentum with man-of-the-match Adrian Breen netting a scrappy goal.
Laoch na hImeartha AIB /TG4 Adrian Breen as @NapGAA #Munsterfinal #Hurling #Thetoughest pic.twitter.com/94p3rEztfn
— Spórt TG4 (@SportTG4) November 19, 2017
David Breen capped it off with the insurance score.
What a team, what a record.
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