Cummins goal sees Ardfinnan reach final

Ardfinnan 2-9 Clonmel Commercials 1-10

Clonmel started brightly with points from Paul O’Mahony and Ian Barnes and were five points clear when O’Mahony bagged the opening goal on 8 minutes.

Midfielder Lorcan Bannon opened the Ardfinnan account and full-forward Peter Lambert had them trailing 1-4 to 0-4 before an error by the Clonmel goalkeeper was punished with an equalising goal by Johnny English.

Ten minutes after the restart Commercials were down to 14 men when corner forward Tommy Morrissey were sidelined for a second yellow card. Four minutes later Cummins drilled home a spot kick. Points from Lambert, Kearns and John R Murphy sealed victory for Ardfinnan.

Scorers: Ardfinnan: B Cummins 1-2 (pen, frees), P Lambert 0-4 (0-2 frees), J English 1-0, L Bannon, T Kearns, J R Murphy 0-1 each. Clonmel Commercials: P O’Mahony 1-1, P O’Keeffe 0-4 (0-3 frees), I Barnes 0-2 (frees), F O’Callaghan, K Harney, E Hanrahan 0-1 each.

ARDFINNAN: E Ryan, T Ryan, AJ Lonergan, K O’Brien, JR Murphy, H Bannon, M Phelan, T Keating, L Bannon, J English, P Kearns, A O’Gorman, C Hennessy, P Lambert, B Cummins. Subs. P Halley for C Hennessy, D Walsh for A O’Gorman, M English for D Walsh.

CLONMEL COMMERCIAL: C McMenamin, D Madigan, N O’Mahony, S O’Callaghan, B Gibbons, B Walsh, F Condon, E Hanrahan, P O’Keeffe, J Harney, F O’Callaghan, K Harney, I Barnes, P O’Mahony, T Morrissey.

Referee: Ger Riordan (Solohead).