Blackwater Community School, Lismore 2-16 St. Joseph’s Tulla 0-20

St Joseph’s Secondary School, Tulla suffered an agonising two-point reverse in their Harty Cup Group 3 campaign on Wednesday afternoon. The defat, at the hands of a pacy Blackwater Community School from Lismore, leaves them under pressure to advance to the knockout stages.

For all that Tulla did well in this contest, a sloppy start proved detrimental to their chances in Kilmallock, falling eight points behind inside the opening quarter. It was a position that the students, coached by Terence Fahy, Aidan Harte and Tomás Kelly couldn’t recover from fully.

Even when they were on top and looked like taking the lead, they were hit with a sucker punch of a goal that filled the Lismore confidence heading into the second half. Indeed, a stunning save from Billy Murphy in the Lismore goal denied them a potential game changing goal, with Darragh White having to settle for a point instead.

The sluggish opening saw Lismore profit with an opening minute goal. The early score from Cathal Culloo quickly forgotten when Jack Twomey benefited from some hesitant defending to pull to the net.

There was a 1-8 to 0-3 gap by the 15th minute. With Jerry O’Connor and Matthew Corbett on target at one end, there was an accurate avalanche from the Waterford side. Ben Cummins, Joseph McDonnell and James Hickey were all on target – the Waterford men didn’t miss a shot until 18 minutes into this frantic contest.

The winners played with an extra defender, something which cut the supply to Aodhan O’Driscoll and Liam Murphy. However, the avenue of frees, from Corbett, cut the gap. There was a run of six Tulla scores on the trot, including four frees from the Clooney-Quin man, while Murphy (O’Callaghan’s Mills) and O’Driscoll (Broadford) delivering from play.

However, a goal late in the half from Stephen Murphy stifled the momentum built up by Tulla. He pounced on a ricochet, snapped the ball and powered to the net. There was a gap of 2-10 to 0-12 at half-time, though there was initial disagreement on the score. With both sides wearing all white jerseys, it is highly possible that there was an error along the way.

Upon the resumption, there was a shortage of scores from play in the second half from Tulla. The reliance on frees from Corbett and later O’Connor meant they never got closer than two points. At the other end, Ben Cummins nailed his frees, with only a single point for Lismore coming from play during the second half.

The turning point was the aforementioned save of Darragh White’s shot. He volleyed on a ball from close range which Billy Murphy somehow deflected over the crossbar.

Tulla cut the gap back to two entering stoppage time, but couldn’t forge their way through a packed Waterford defence to try to snatch the win.

Subsequent clashes with Cashel CS and Scoil Na mBraithre, Charleville will determine if St. Joseph’s can recover and progress to the knockout phase.

Scorers for Blackwater Community School, Lismore: Ben Cummins 0-9 (8f); Stephen Murphy 1-3; Jack Twomey 1-0; James Hickey 0-2; Joesph McDonnell, Charlie Lineen 0-1 each.

Scorers for St. Joseph’s Tulla: Matthew Corbett 0-13 (11f, 1 ‘65); Jerry O’Connor 0-3 (2f); Cathal Culloo, Liam Murphy, Aodhán O’Driscoll, Darragh White 0-1 each.

Blackwater Community School, Lismore: Billy Murphy (Cois Bhride); Shane Barry (Lismore), Dara O’Brien (Ballysaggart), Conor Lynch (St. Oliver’s); Brian Bourke (Ballyduff Upper), Joseph McDonnell (Cois Bhríde), Ross Kavanagh (St. Oliver’s); Hugo Quann (Lismore), James Hickey (Modeli; Charlie Lineen (Lismore), Jack Twomey (Cappoquin/Affane), Aidan Murphy (Tallow); Ben Cummins (Lismore), Stephen Murphy (Tallow), Adam Cummins (Lismore) Sub: Charlie Nicholson (Cappoquin/Affane) for Murphy (46).

St. Joseph’s Tulla: Jack Lovett (Broadford); PJ McCarthy (Clooney-Quin), Fionn O’Gara (Clooney-Quin), Elijah Cooney (Tulla); Noah Corbett (Broadford), Ryan Hayes (Tulla), Dylan Browne (Clooney-Quin); Matthew Corbett (Clooney-Quin), Michael Vaughaun (Broadford); Cathal Leamy (Clooney-Quin); Darragh White (Clooney-Quin), Cathal Culloo (Tulla); Aodhán O’Driscoll (Broadford), Jerry O’Connor (Clooney-Quin), Liam Murphy (O’Clallaghan’s Mills). Subs: John Moran (Broadford) for Culloo (48); Matthew Nolan for O’Driscoll (58).

Player of the Match: Matthew Corbett (St. Joseph’s Tulla)

Referee: Sean Carey (Ahane, Limerick).