Our Lady's Templemore dumped out of the Harty Cup by a strong St Flannan's team

TUS Dr Harty Cup Quarter-Final

Our Lady’s Templemore 1-19

St Flannan’s College 2-20

Our Lady’s Templemore saw their Dr Harty Cup journey come to an end in Moylish on Friday afternoon, as a powerful second-half surge from St Flannan’s College denied the Tipperary side after a hugely committed display.

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Templemore laid the foundations for a famous result with an outstanding first-half performance, racing into a 1-11 to 0-8 interval lead after dictating the tempo and physicality of a full-blooded contest. Sharp shooting and relentless pressure had the Clare side on the back foot, with Templemore’s intensity reflected in their efficiency in front of goal.

St Flannan’s struck decisively early in the second half with two goals in quick succession to drag themselves back into the contest, shifting the momentum of the game. Templemore responded and remained right in the fight, but their task was made significantly harder midway through the second half when Shay Gleeson was forced off through injury, a massive loss at a crucial stage of the contest.

With the sides locked at 2-13 to 1-16 entering the final quarter, Templemore were still very much in the contest, but Flannan’s experience and depth told late on as they pulled clear with a run of scores that ultimately proved decisive, bringing a brave Templemore challenge to a close.

One of the less fancied Tipperary schools at this stage of the competition, Our Lady’s made light of the underdogs tag in the first half with their early tactical approach and dogged workrate around the pitch frustating Flannan’s from the offset.

Dropping extremely deep with just two players inside the 45, Templemore were in complete control after ten minutes of play, leading 0-7 to 0-3 with the diminutive yet pacy pairing of Padraic O’Shea and Philip O’Dwyer pulling the strings, while Jack Bevans early free-taking proficiency was notable in that early dominance.

Understandably, Flannan’s preparations for this game were extremely difficult, and it no doubt had a jading effect in the first half, but despite some poor shooting in the opening quarter, early scores from James Cullinan from range, Darragh Ball and Eoin O’Connor had them in touch.

They cut the early deficit to two points by the 19th minute with Darragh McNamara picking off a beauty, followed by a Harry Doherty free, but Templemore were making the most of their chances as Jack Marnell and an obligatory long-range score from Shay Gleeson had them 0-8 to 0-6 in front.

The Templemore workrate was insatiable, and after a turnover back the field in the 20th minute, a long delivery into the 21 from Darragh Hoare broke favourably to Padraic O’Shea whol whipped first time on the ball to the net to give the Tipp side a huge score.

Flannan’s were struggling after that major, and despite plenty of possession coming in the following minutes, the decision to shoot from range on most occasions - invariably going wide - was sucking the life out of the Clare school's challenge, with the dangerous figure of Darragh McNamara being under-utilised.

At that rate, it was Our Lady’s who finished the half strongly with three of the final four points of the half going their way from Jack Bevans (free), Padraic O’Shea, and Jack Marnell to give them a healthy 1-11 to 0-8 lead at the break.

There was no breeze to speak of present in Moylish, and despite the underperformance in the first half, changes made a big difference with the introduction of Thomas O’Connor and a more direct and constant delivery to the inside line proving fruitful early on.

After Templemore had pointed a quickfire from the throw-in, Flannan’s hit a big purple patch with Darragh McNamara hitting 1-1 inside three minutes - his goal coming from a long delivery that he flicked to the net from close range - before Thomas O’Connor showed pace and class to sprint clear on goal and bury home their second goal on 38 minutes.

That flurry completely changed the trajectory of play as Flannan’s took over, but again, it was a slow burn to translate that dominance on the scoreboard, with poor wides again killing their momentum at times, and it allowed Templemore to hang ino their with the sides level at 2-11 to 1-14 after 41 minutes.

O’Connor had another chance to goal in the 40th minute after another strong run, but lifted his effort too high and would have to settle for the point, but Flannan’s soon made a push with three points in a row around the 42nd minute, pushing them into a lead for the first time.

Graham Ball and Isaac Hassett provided two of those scores as the pair began to take over at midfield, but Templemore continued to hang in there thanks to a pair of brilliant individual points from Padraic O’Shea, levelling the game at 2-13 to 1-16 with 15 minutes remaining.

A blow came for Templemore in the 46th minute when captain Shay Gleeson was forced off through injury, and his loss was felt in the final quarter as Flannan’s began to take over the contest, looking fitter and more seasoned.

Graham Ball led by example in this period, hitting two massive points from play, while Darragh McNamara matched that effort, and despite Templemore bringing it back to a three-point game in injury time, a late Isaac Hassett point in the 63rd minute copper-fastened the win for Flannan’s after an almighty scare from Our Lady’s Templemore who left it all on the pitch in Moylish.

The win sets up St Flannan’s for an all-Clare clash in the semi-final against St Joseph’s of Tulla, with the game down for decision on Saturday, January 17.

Scorers: Our Lady’s Templemore: Jack Bevans 0-8f, Padraic O’Shea 1-5, Jack Marnell, Philip O’Dwyer 0-2 each, Sean Burke, Shay Gleeson 0-1 each.

St Flannan’s College: Darragh McNamara 1-4, Harry Doherty (0-6, 0-4f), Thomas O’Connor 1-1, Graham Ball 0-4, Isaac Hassett 0-2, Eoin O’Connor, James Cullinan, Darragh Ball all 0-1 each.

Our Lady’s Templemore: Cathal Ryan (Loughmore Castleiney); Darragh Hoare (Drom & Inch), Niall Delaney (JK Brackens), Tommy Burke (JK Brackens); Mark Conroy (Drom & Inch), Shay Gleeson (Moneygall), Billy Collier (JK Brackens); Cian Broderick (JK Brackens), Sean Walsh (JK Brackens); Sean Burke (JK Brackens), Philly O’Dwyer (Upperchurch Drombane), Jack Bevans (Borris-Ileigh); Padraic O’Shea (JK Brackens), Jack Marnell (JK Brackens), Dan Coffey (JK Brackens).

Subs used: James Ryan (Drom & Inch) for Gleeson (45, inj).

St Flannan’s College: Leon Talty (Doora-Barefield); Conor Hill (Ballyea), Darragh Murrihy (Inagh Kilnamona) Donnacha O’Donovan (Clooney Quin); Darragh Ball (Doora-Barefield), James Cullinan (Ruan), Colm Daly (Doora-Barefield); Graham Ball (Doora-Barefield), Rory Ralph (Clarecastle); Harry Doherty (Clarecastle), Patrick Finneran (Clooney Quin), Isaac Hassett (Doora-Barefield); John Barry (Inagh Kilnamona), Eoin O'Connor (Ballyea), Darragh McNamara (Clooney Quin).

Subs used: Thomas O’Connor (Doora-Barefield) for Murrihy (32); Ben Talty (Doora-Barefield) for Finneran (45); Rian O’Donnell (Crusheen) for Barry (64).

Referee: Eamonn Stapleton (Limerick)

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