BILLED as the game of the championship, the meeting of title holders Ard Scoil Rís and competition specialists St Flannan’s in the Dr Harty Cup (Munster Colleges Senior Hurling Championship) semi-final certainly lived up to its billing at the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick on Sunday.
There were some outstanding performances on both sides and at the end of a high scoring and thrilling contest, the champions were ahead by three points. The Limerick side, with six Clare players in their panel, will now play first-time finalists Charleville CBS, easy winners over Templemore CBS, in the decider at the end of the month.
Overall, Ard Scoil Rís just about deserved their narrow win but St Flannan’s will agree that they had opportunities to be ahead at the final whistle. The experience that Ard Scoil gained from winning the title last year was evident and they were physically stronger in vital areas on the field.
The decisive period in this tie came towards the end of the third quarter when the winners struck for both of their goals. The first came from a 20m free, conceded after St Flannan’s failed to clear their lines, and Shane Dowling drilled the ball low to the net. The second, just on the midpoint of the half, was scored by Meelick’s Oisin Hickey, who gave Eoin Enright in the St Flannan’s goal no chance. This score put the winners into a commanding nine-point lead and it looked to be all over for St Flannan’s. However, six unanswered points in the next 10 minutes by the Ennis college meant the result was in doubt right to the final whistle.
Ard Scoil Rís, winners of the title for the first time in their history last year, went into the game as slight favourites and they started impressively going four points clear, 0-5 to 0-1, after seven minutes. With Tony Kelly sparkling at midfield, St Flannan’s fought back and when they levelled at 0-5 each in the twelfth minute, all five of their points having come from their midfielders, it was clear this was going to be a lively affair.
They were level again, at 0-8 each, in the 20th minute before St Flannan’s took the lead for the first time two minutes later. It was fitting that Kelly should put them ahead, as he was their outstanding player, finishing the tie with 0-14 to his credit. He was the game’s leading scorer, finishing a point ahead of the equally impressive Shane Dowling, who had a tally of 1-10.
Dowling, it must be said, was hugely instrumental in his team’s victory. Apart from his contribution to their tally, he won lots of possession and regularly dropped out to midfield and back to the half-back line to help out.
At half-time, St Flannan’s led by a point, 0-12 to 0-11, with the winners’ first wide of the afternoon having come in the final minute of the half when John Fitzgibbon was wide of the target.
They swapped points twice in the early minutes of the second half before Fitzgibbon, son of former Limerick forward Shane, levelled the game for the sixth and final time. Dowling, with his third score from play, had Ard Scoil back in front in the sixth minute and two minutes later, he struck a mighty blow for the champions.
St Flannan’s should have cleared the danger but goalkeeper Eoin Enright handpassed to Conor O’Loughlin, who failed to control the ball. A 20m free in front of goal resulted and Dowling blasted to the net. He quickly followed with a point and suddenly the gap was five in favour of the title-holders.
A Kelly effort from a 60m free kept St Flannan’s in touch but then, in the space of a minute, Meelick’s Hickey scored 1-1 and the margin was eight points with a quarter of the game remaining.
St Flannan’s introduced Noel Purcell to their full-back line and, further afield, they made some positional switches. Kelly converted a 20m free after Shane O’Donnell was fouled and then the Éire Óg teenager sprang to life and fired over three great points in two minutes to cut the deficit to four.
Another Kelly free narrowed the margin to three and then PJ Hall was called on to make a reflex save from Alan O’Neill at the expense of a 65’, which Kelly converted to close the gap to two with four minutes of normal time to play.
Substitute Jack Kelleher pointed for the winners before St Flannan’s looked to have scored the equalising goal. An Alan O’Neill flick from a Shane O’Donnell delivery beat the Ard Scoil defence but the ball bounced inches wide of the post.
St Flannan’s moved Kelly to full-forward and he quickly cut the deficit to two again but with Dowling back helping out the defence, Ard Scoil held firm and they had the final say when Fitzgibbon pointed in the second minute of injury time to seal a very impressive win.
Shane Dowling was the winners’ stand-out player on a day when Barry O’Connell, Alan Dempsey, Mark Carmody and Oisin Hickey made valuable contributions. Midfielders Martin Moroney and Jamie Shanahan got through some good work but St Flannan’s Tony Kelly was the star player in this department.
Gearóid O’Connell, Enda Boyce and Seadna Morey worked hard in the St Flannan’s defence, while up front Shane O’Donnell and Conor O’Gorman were their best performers.

Ard Scoil Rís: PJ Hall (Adare); Kelvin Lynch (Patrickswell), Barry O’Connell (Kildimo), Damian Moloney (Meelick); Alan Dempsey (Na Piarsaigh), Declan Hannon (Adare, capt), Ciaran Keogh (Na Piarsaigh); Jamie Shanahan (Sixmilebridge), Martin Moroney (Parteen); Mark Carmody (Patrickswell), Shane Dowling (Na Piarsaigh), Brendan O’Connor (Croagh-Kilfinny); Kevin O’Brien (Patrickswell), John Fitzgibbon (Adare), Oisin Hickey (Meelick).
Subs: Cian Lynch (Patrickswell) for O’Connor (51 minutes) and Jack Kelleher (Patrickswell) for Keogh (54 minutes).
Scorers: Shane Dowling (1-10, 1-6f, 1 65’), Oisin Hickey (1-1), John Fitzgibbon and Mark Carmody (0-3) each, Brendan O’Connor and Jack Kelleher (0-1) each.
Frees for: 13; wides: 4; 65s: 1
Bookings: Ciaran Keogh (46 minutes).

St Flannan’s: Eoin Enright (Kilmaley); Conor O’Loughlin (Crusheen), Gearóid O’Connell (Ballyea), Seadna Morey (Sixmilebrige); Enda Boyce (Cratloe), Stephen O’Halloran (Clarecastle, capt), Cathal Doohan (Lissycasey); Tony Kelly (Ballyea), Jarlath Colleran (Doora-Barefield); Peter Duggan (Clooney-Quin), Martin O’Leary (Kilmihil), Conor O’Gorman (Clarecastle); Shane O’Donnell (Éire Óg), Alan O’Neill (Doora-Barefield), Jack Browne (Ballyea).
Subs: Noel Purcell (Sixmilebrige) for O’Loughlin (48 minutes), Robbie O’Loughlin (Ruan) for Browne (56 minutes) and David Barry (Clooney-Quin) for O’Neill (58 minutes).
Scorers: Tony Kelly (0-14, 9f, 1 65’), Conor O’Gorman and Shane O’Donnell (0-3) each, Martin O’Leary and Jarlath Colleran (0-1) each.
Frees for: 18; wides: 8; 65s: 1
Bookings: Cathal Doohan (34 minutes).
Referee: Noel Cosgrave, Tipperary.

Devastated at the loss

THE difference between victory and defeat was highlighted at about 3.20pm on Sunday. As Tipperary referee Noel Cosgrave’s outstretched arms signalled the end of an enthralling Harty Cup semi-final, Ard Scoil Rís players and mentors jumped for joy, while their opponents dropped to the ground in tears.
“That’s it. We set out to win it and we didn’t and it’s year over for us now,” said a clearly disappointed St Flannan’s mentor, Alan Dunne.
“We felt that we had two goal opportunities in the first half and we didn’t take them. You have to take those opportunities against a team like that.”
Dunne, who together with his fellow mentor John Minogue steered Clare to Munster and All-Ireland U-21 honours in 2009, felt St Flannan’s made a few bad decisions.
“You cannot foul and give away frees against a free-taker like Shane Dowling. He didn’t miss one and neither did Tony Kelly for us. We fouled too much on the day and they were a little more disciplined than us and that was crucial.”
Dunne said, “There are some future Clare stars there and they are going to take some knocks along the way. They lost at U-15 level, they lost the Dean Ryan and they have lost this but eventually their luck will turn. Unfortunately it wasn’t today.”
Asked if this experience would stand to his charges for next year, Dunne responded by asking, “How can we even think about next year now? We are just devastated,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, Ard Scoil Rís mentor Derek Larkin noted it was “a pity for any side to lose in what was a great advertisement for colleges hurling”.
“We are, of course, thrilled with the result. It was a huge test for us. Flannan’s were favourites in our eyes and we knew it was going to be a huge test. Even when we went eight points in front, we knew they were going to come at us and they did. They were unlucky not to get a goal,” he said.
However, he paid tribute to his charges who, he said, showed great credit in battling back again at the end.
“They showed great composure. However, we have nothing won yet and we are now focussing on the final and we are not looking past that. That’s all that is in our mind. Charleville had a big win on Sunday and they will provide another big test. We played them earlier in the year and were lucky to scrape through. They will have no fear of us. We have only won this title once and we don’t have any right to be favourites,” Larkin added.
“The high standard evident on Sunday augurs well for the upcoming minor hurling championship. We had four Clare minors and six from Limerick in our side and Clare had a number of county minors, so it will be interesting to see how they perform later on when that championship gets underway,” the Ard Scoil Rís mentor said.
He also had praise for the condition of the pitch. “It was immaculate give the amount of rain that had fallen in the previous 24 hours. There were very few wides in the game, which was incredible,” he concluded.