Na Piarsaigh boss Shane O’Neill hailed young forward Peter Casey as the Limerick champions chased down an 11-point deficit against Sixmilebridge in the Munster senior hurling championship.
Casey and Kevin Downes both raised green flags early in the second half and the Clare champions had no answer to the onslaught, which saw Na Piarsaigh hit six of the last seven points in a 3-11 to 1-15 win.
O’Neill, whose team will face Tipperary champions Thurles Sarsfields in the semi-finals in the Gaelic Grounds in two weeks, told RTÉ Sport: “Peter oozes confidence. For a minor, he’s just phenomenal.
“He’s been outstanding for us this year. We didn’t start him at the start of the year to look after him, he has a lot of hurling done but when it came to the nitty-gritty end of it he’s been outstanding for us.”
Trailing by 1-12 to 1-03 at the break, O’Neill said there was no question of pressing the panic button.
“There was no panic, these guys have been through it before, there was no roaring and shouting," he said.
"We knew what we needed to do, we knew what hadn’t gone right in the first half.
“The boys came out and, in fairness, performed.
“Kevin getting the goal, and then psychologically maybe, the ‘Bridge, sat back a small bit. They had been playing the sweeper all year and done really well.
“But we knew Peter and Kevin have been extremely dangerous if the right type of ball goes into them. I thought they were excellent again today.”
