St Francis College Rochestown beat Nenagh CBS in Harty Cup action

St Francis College Rochestown 3-9 Nenagh CBS 2-8: Tour-de-force performances from Ciarán Cormack and Shane Kingston returned St Francis College, Rochestown to the semi-final juncture of the Harty Cup for a second successive year.

A swirling gale, sporadic rain showers and soft underfoot conditions at Charleville made for a testing afternoon for the students of Nenagh and Rochestown, and it was the Cork school who adapted with far greater ease over the hour. Eleven first-half wides paints the picture of Nenagh’s shooting troubles and Rochestown’s greater economy to this regard, thanks to snipers Cormack and Kingston, ultimately told.

The pair contributed 1-7 of their team’s 3-9, and, indeed, it was Cormack’s goal strike on 41 minutes that would prove most crucial in the outcome, establishing as it did a five-point cushion for the winners. Supported by the elements in the second period, the Cork school were never in danger of being reeled in thereafter. Nenagh’s Ciarán Kelly blasted an injury-time free to the net, but it was a case of too little, too late.