Cork sides continue quest to bridge Harty Cup gap

The strength of Cork’s marriage with the Harty Cup has rarely, if ever, been called into question.

Even during the barren years — this latest dry spell being the longest ever endured by Cork schools — affection for the post-primary competition waned not an iota. Still, there was something about last January’s all-Cork Harty semi-final that had a feel of vows being renewed.

The clash of Midleton CBS and St Colman’s Fermoy — the two most recent Cork schools to lift the famed silverware — drew a crowd of 2,619 to Mallow. That it guaranteed a Cork finalist for just the third time in 11 years, of course, contributed to the fixture’s attractiveness within Rebel borders. Irrespective, 2,500-plus at a schools semi-final, never mind what the code is, is rather staggering.