Bigger goals loom as Harty heroes Ardscoil celebrate

They’ll not put a full stop on the season after this latest Harty Cup triumph. Ardscoil Rís are too familiar with this point on the road to be content with their journey so far. The destination has not yet been reached.

Saturday’s 11-point thumping of Midleton CBS delivered Ardscoil Rís a fifth Harty Cup in nine years. Not since St Flannan’s and St Colman’s passed the silverware back and forth between 1996 and 2005 — both were victorious on five occasions during this period — has a school enjoyed such dominance.

That’s where comparisons end between the three, however. Ardscoil Rís, unlike St Flannan’s and Colman’s, have yet to get over the line on the national stage. Current selector Derek Larkin, writing in Saturday’s match programme, provided a fine history of the school’s Harty Cup involvement and such is the number of household names who’ve passed through their doors in recent times, it is a wonder they haven’t already succeeded in annexing the Croke Cup. They’ve been beaten finalists on three occasions.