Ardscoil Rìs looking to end six year wait for Harty Cup title
FINAL BOUND: Eoin Begley, Ardscoil Ris, clearing the sliotar againts Darragh Kelly, Thurles CBS in the Harty Cup Semi Finals. Picture: Brendan Gleeson
By their own very high standards, a gap of six years without a Dr. Harty Cup title will feel like a famine for Limerick’s Ardscoil Rís. They can remedy this in next months final, after reaching the decider in a dramatic finale against CBS Thurles.
Marc O’Brien’s stoppage time free meant his three scores on the bounce to made fantastic Thurles revival worthless. It was an efficient and high-quality start from the winners, landing the opening eight points but Thurles hung in and recovered to lead late on when Cormac Fitzpatrick found the only goal of the game.
While that lightning start had Ardscoil in the driving seat for fifty-plus minutes, they didn’t have it their own way and manager Liam Cronin and his backroom team had to dig deep into their reserves. He wasn’t afraid to call ashore some of the star names of this contest as Thurles inched closer. One substitute, Patrick Kearney, engineered the winning free, when extra-time looked extremely likely.
Danny Chaplin and Diarmuid Stritch are already well-known in the hurling world. Their scores, as well as a brace of Daniel Scully efforts from half-way, meant the North Circular Road side would lead by five at the interval.
They had to withstand a quality Thurles onslaught but broke their hearts with the very last puck. O’Brien had assumed the free-taking duties and he held his nerve when the need was greatest.
“Relief”, was the first word from Cronin speaking just minutes after the win. “We had an unbelievable start. That first 15, 20 minutes we were awesome. To be fair to Thurles we were never going to dominate for 60 minutes, and they got a run of scores just before half-time and equally in the third quarter”.
The momentum was gradually lost by the Limerick and Clare men, who saw their advantage whittled back to just two entering the final quarter. Euan Murray and Fitzpatrick led the revival for Thurles, who will feel they deserved at least extra-time.
“When they got the goal, I suppose most people thought it was gone from us. There is huge character and resilience in the group. We didn’t talk about it too much in the build-up but maybe the hurt of losing in the semi-final to a late Cashel score last year meant luck was on our side today”, explained the teacher.
So, what of the value of a quality panel at this level? Some talented Limerick and Clare minors from 2023 were chomping to get in, something which can only help in these tight games. “(It’s) huge. It is very difficult for us, because we have a panel of 45, it could be bigger than that. Trying to pick a match day 26, a starting 15 is difficult. It is a credit to our feeder primary schools and feeder clubs that the talent is there.”
“We know we have a very strong 15, but equally we have a very strong bench, fellas that have played big profile games with their county were there to come in when needed”, added the Cappamore native.
This competition has trudged through the perils of winter, and with the sometimes overused Fitzgerald Park in Kilmallock worsening throughout the afternoon, Cronin admired the fight from his players. This was not an afternoon for champagne hurling.
“That is what Harty Cup is all about, you could have played that on an all-weather pitch and had a really high scoring, really open game of hurling but you learn so much about the character of guys and their desire to win on days like this” “Yes, the pitch is heavy and wet, to be fair to Kilmallock they gave the pitch, and many other clubs wouldn’t. For me, that is what Harty Cup is all about, really honesty of effort when it is not terribly slick or pleasing to the eye. We’ll take the one-point win.”
“The pleasing thing for us is that we are in a Harty final when maybe if we are critical of ourselves we haven’t reached the heights that we expect of ourselves so we’ve a huge two weeks to prep for that.
“2018 is a long-time for us since we won the last one. Those young lads in sixth-year only came into the school in September 2018, so they’ve never seen the school win a Harty Cup, so they are trying to create their own history”.
Another Tipperary side stand in their way from the school claiming a sixth Munster crown, with Nenagh CBS seeking a first Dr. Harty Cup success.
: D Chaplin 0-6 (0-3 frees, 0-1 ’65); M O’Brien 0-4 (0-3 frees, 0-1 ’65); D Strich 0-3; D Scully, M Collins 0-2 each; F Fitzgerald 0-1.
: C Fitzpatrick 1-7 (0-5 frees); E Murray 0-3; R Ryan 0-2 (0-1 s/l); J Doyle, J Hayes 0-1 each.
F O’Brien (Bruree); E Carey (Cratloe), S McMahon (Smith O’Briens), S Morrissey (Dromin-Athlacca); J Finn (Na Piarsaigh), J Moylan (Cratloe), D Scully (Dromin-Athlacca); R McNamara (Cratloe), M O’Halloran (Sixmilebridge); D Stritch (Clonlara), F Fitzgerald (Mungret St Paul’s), M Collins (Clonlara); D Chaplin (Sixmilebridge), M O’Brien (Cratloe), E Begley (Clonlara).
: D Neville (Cratloe) for Begley (h-t); J Cosgrove (Ahane) for Chaplin (38); D Gleeson (Adare) for Scully (46); J O’Keeffe (Na Piarsaigh) for Carey (50); P Kearney for Collins (60).
: H Loughnane (Roscrea); P Noonan (Thurles Sarsfields), E Morris (Holycross Ballycahill), J Lahart (Holycross-Ballycahill); K Loughnane (Durlas Óg), P O'Dwyer (Killenaule), E O'Dwyer (Boherlahan Dulla); E Murray (Durlas Óg), J Doyle (Holycross Ballycahill); D Costigan (Moycarkey Borris), D Kelly (Eire Óg Annacarty), B Flanagan (Moycarkey Borris); C Fitzpatrick (Drom & Inch), R Ryan (Holycross Ballycahill), J Hayes (Moycarkey Borris).
R Bargary (Boherlahan Dualla) for Costigan (43); T Corbett (Upperchurch Drombane) for O’Dwyer (59).
: N Barry (Waterford).
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