Ardscoil Rís stand firm as unlucky Colman’s foiled

Ardscoil Rís 0-13 St Colman’s College 1-9: Ardscoil Rís made it to the Harty decider, holding off St Colman’s in a frantic finish to win by a single point in snowy Kilmallock on Saturday.

The Fermoy school felt they might have had a late free to equalise, and Ardscoil coach Niall Moran admitted later “a draw would have been a fair result,” He added: “My heart goes out to Colman’s— from one to 15, what they did today will live in the annals of that school as much as their nine Harty titles.”

Both sides struggled with a first-half wind and a shower of snow, and as the game wore on the pitch got heavier as well. A bigger Ardscoil side got on top early on and the free-taking of Paul O’Brien kept them on the front foot until Colman’s sharpshooter Stephen Condon found his range. The treacherous conditions weren’t conducive to skilful forward play but they were also punishing for both defences, which gave away a lot of scorable frees.