Thurles up the ante after the break
The Harty Cup champions of two seasons ago looked impressive once they found their feet, with a nice sprinkling of scores across the forward line and eye-catching defensive displays from Killian O’Dwyer, Eddie O’Gorman and Michael Purcell.
Anthony McKelvey ended up with 1-5 from play, while Darragh Woods complemented his five placed scores with a fine goal, doubling on a nice ball from McKelvey midway through the second-half
Physically powerful throughout the field, De La Salle went in 1-6 to 1-4 ahead, with influential centre-back Harry Redmond successful with three long-range placed balls while the tricky Cian Wadding fired over two from play, with Ryan Croke getting their other point.
Their goal came from a penalty, with Sean Power fouled and Thomas Doughlas blasting a low shot home.
Thurles got back in it when Conor Bowe saw a speculative effort from the right wing fly straight in. And CBS demonstrably upped their game in the second period.
A third quarter in which they notched up a tally of 1-6 to 0-2, followed by another 1-7 in the fourth quarter, were proof of their superiority on the day.
A McKelvey (1-5); D Woods (1-5, 4 frees, 1 ’65’); C Bowe (1-2); C Bourke (0-2); B O’Mara (0-1); S Ryan (0-1); O Quirke (0-1);
T Doughlas (1-1, 1 pen, 1 free); H Redmond (0-4, 3 frees, 1 ’65’); C Wadding (0-2); R Croke (0-1)
E Bourke, D Carew, E O’Gorman, K O’Dwyer, J Ryan, M Purcell, S Ryan, B O’Mara, M Nally, A McKelvey, D Woods, C Bowe, E Barry, TJ Butler, C Bourke.
J Fallon for E Barry (35m), O Quirke for TJ Butler (45m), J Ryan for J Ryan (53m), A Ryan for M Nally (55m), J Jordan for K O’Dwyer (58m).
L Power, P Boylan, D Hogan, R Duke, C Giles Doran, H Redmond, T Foley, S Kennedy, D Walsh, K Hennessy, S Flynn, C Wadding, S Power, T Doughlas, R Croke.
L Walsh for C Giles Doran (30m), D Finn for R Croke (35m), S Jones for S Flynn (41m), S Carton for R Duke (46m), M Hutchinson for S Power (51m).
Noel Cosgrove (Tipperary).
