Tuohy’s sprint finish too much for Murphy

NIALL TUOHY (Yeats College, Waterford) proved that December’s inter-county championship junior win wasn’t a flash in the pan when he outsprinted Craig Murphy (Douglas Community School) in a dramatic finish to the senior boy’s race at the KitKat Munster Schools Cross-Country Championships at Tramore Racecourse yesterday.

The pair had slipped clear of the field early in the race with Murphy, ‘fresh’ from finishing third in an international cross-country race in Belgium last Sunday week, setting the pace and Tuohy, the Irish schools 800m champion, hanging on in his slipstream.

On the last lap Murphy launched an attack that almost took him clear but the Waterford athlete fought his way back and they were still locked together when they emerged from the fog that swept in from the sea. It was then Tuohy’s turn to attack and when he got in front, there was no time for a rally and he held on to win by the narrowest of margins.