Terrific display from Our Ladys comes up short as late Ardscoil Rís salvo proves decisive

TUS Dr Harty Cup Quarter Final

Our Ladys 1-17

Ardscoil Rís 1-22

An incredibly hard working effort from Our Ladys Templemore fell flat on its face in the final quarter here, as a strong finish from Limerick school Ardscoil Rís sent their Tipperary counterparts crashing out in this Dr Harty Cup quarter final played in the 4G pitch in the University of Limerick earlier this afternoon.

Delayed initial due to a mix up with the referee, both sides had to head back to the dressing room to wait for an official to arrive to take charge of the contest, waiting over 30 minutes before getting underway, but Templemore were the better team in the first half, taking a 1-10 to 0-9 lead at the break.

They started the second half in similar fashion and had opened up a five point lead by the 37th minute and looked comfortable entering the final quarter of the game, but an Ardscoil goal scored by Daire Neville in the 45th minute really galvanised the Limerick school as they went on to outscore their opponents by nine points to three to claim a semi-final berth.

Much of the energy expended throughout the game up to that point seemed to catch up with Templemore as they couldn’t deal with the power and pace of the Ardscoil forwards in the final minutes when their tails were up, but some terrific performances around the pitch from the likes of Jamie Ormond, Paddy Phelan, and Ned Delaney will give the team some solace.

Our Ladys really started the game with real intent and intensity and the men in maroon took an early 0-3 to 0-1 lead in the first ten minutes, thanks to MIchael Cahill along with a brace of terrific scores from Jamie Ormond, the second of which was incredible off the sideline to give the Tipperary lads an early buzz.

Ardscoil soon warmed to the task though, and a Fintan Fitzgerald free in the seventh minute followed by long range scores from John O’Keeffe and Michael Collins had the sides level, but they were having to work very hard for those chances as Templemore were looking ravenous for tackles.

A trading of scores either side of the 13th minute, first from a Paddy Phelan free - which was matched for Ardscoil by Fitzgerald - had the sides level at 0-4 apiece, but Our Ladys soon hit the front thanks to a brilliant goal from Ciaran O’Shea who broke onto a long Paddy Phelan delivery to flick the bouncing ball from overhead into his path and with the ball hopping in front of goal, who pulled on the volley and hot the bottom corner to give his side a real boon after 16 minutes.

Just a minute later, Our Ladys had extended their lead through a Jamie Ormond free from close range, and the Tipp school maintained that lead going down the final ten minutes of the half, with points from Ned Walsh, James Ryan, and Josh McMahon gave them a four point lead at half time; Fintan Fitzgerald of Ardscoil Rís keeping his side in touch with three points in that time as the score read 1-10 to 0-9.

Conditions were blustery and swirly and really favoured neither team in either half, but conditions did worsen as the weather couldn’t hold off as it had in the first half. Ardscoil took their time re-emerging from the half time break, and it worked to good effect early on as they hit the first point within the first 30 seconds from play through the pacey Michael Collins to reduce the gap to three.

However, Our Ladys were working incredibly hard on and off the ball, with Jamie Ormond proving to be a real problem for the Ardscoil defenders, drawing and scoring a pair of frees in the next five minutes to open a seemingly healthy five point lead at 1-12 to 0-10.

Every time Ardscoil hit the target, Our Ladys seemed to have an immediate rebuttal as Fintan Fitzgerald continued to keep his side moving with scores, but Ciaran O’Shea cancelled out his score in the 38th minute which was really knocking any momentum the Limerick school could conjure.

A very well taken Michael Cahill point in the 44th minute continued to maintain the three/four point lead for Templemore, but the game turned dramatically a minute later when a loose ball in the defence was picked up by Matthew O’Halloran and he found Daire Neville who was loitering in behind the cover, as they Cratloe man ran through and buried the ball to the net. Game on.

It really was a big turning point as Ardscoil landed the next four point in succession through points from Fintan Fitzgerald (free), Michael Collins again, Marc O’Brien, and Michael Gavin had given their side a three point lead out of nowhere and against the run of play.

Visibly, the Templemore heads dropped as they tried to get the game back going in their direction, but the confidence was now oozing through the veins of every player in black, and with the Templemore defence exposed as they chased the game in the final seven or eight minutes, they were picked off time and again, with Michael Collins bagging his fifth and sixth point from play in the 56th and 57th minute.

Paddy Phelan pointed a few frees late on in an effort to chip away at the lead to get within a goal of Ardscoil, but it didn’t look likely at any stage as Templemore came up just short despite a titanic effort in the University of Limerick.

Scorers: Our Ladys Templemore: Jamie Ormond (0-7, 0-5f), Paddy Phelan 0-4f, Ciaran O’Shea 1-1, Michael Cahill 0-2, James Ryan, Ned Walsh, Josh McMahon all 0-1 each.

Ardscoil Rís: Fintan Fitzgerald (0-9, 0-6f), Michael Collins 0-6, Daire Neville 1-1, Marc O’Brien 0-2, John O’Keeffe, Michael Gavin, Diarmuid Stritch, Shane Gleeson all 0-1 each.

Our Ladys Templemore: Archie Devaney (Borris-Ileigh); Conor Gleeson (Drom & Inch), Jamie Bergin (JK Brackens), Eoghan Kennedy (Drom & Inch); James Ryan (JK Brackens), Eoin Larkin (Roscrea), Ned Delaney (JK Brackens); Tom Corcoran (JK Brackens), Jamie Ormond (JK Brackens); Paddy Phelan (Upperchurch Drombane), Ned Walsh (JK Brackens), Michael Cahill (JK Brackens); Ciaran O’Shea (JK Brackens), Josh McMahon (Roscrea), Dan McAllister (Drom & Inch).

Subs: Cathal Guilfoyle (Moyne Templetuohy) for McAllister (41); Cormac Cahill (Drom & Inch) for Gleeson (41); Sean Walsh (JK Brackens) for Walsh).

Ardscoil Rís: Eoin Deegan (Cratloe); John O’Keeffe (Na Piarsaigh), Sean McMahon (Smith O’Briens), Sean Morrissey (Dromin Athlacca Banogue); James Moylan (Cratloe), Cian Scully (Dromin Athlacca Banogue), James Finn (Na Piarsaigh); MIchael Gavin (Ballybrown), Diarmuid Stritch (Clonlara); Shane Gleeson (Adare), Fintan Fitzgerald (Mungret St Pauls), Matthew O’Halloran (Sixmilebridge); Michael Collins (Clonlara), Daire Neville (Cratloe), Marc O’Brien (Cratloe).

Subs: Eoin Begley (Clonlara)  for Gleeson (41); Eoin Carey (Cratloe) for O’Halloran; Sam Hickey (Adare) for Neville (58); Patrick Kearney for Stritch (62).