Ardscoil Ris claim Dean Ryan Cup honours after nail-biting clash with Thurles CBS

Two points separated the sides in a game where Ardscoil Ris lead comfortably on two occasions.

Ardscoil Ris 3-19

Thurles CBS 1-23

Ardscoil Ris were crowned Dean Ryan Cup winners after a thrilling encounter with Tipperary’s Thurles CBS in MacDonagh Park this afternoon.

In a back and forth contest, the Limerick school sealed a third ever title with a 3-19 to 1-23 victory in Nenagh.

The Limerick school went into the interval with a 2-10 to 0-10 lead after an action-packed first half.

Ardscoil surged into a four-point lead after eight minutes when an early Eoin Begley goal had them 1-4 to 0-2 to the good.

Four minutes later and the teams were level when the Tipperary school rallied and hit four over the bar with no reply midway through the first-half.

The pendulum began to swing in the North Circular road school’s favour again when a couple of points were followed by Begley’s second goal of the game to restore their six-point advantage after 22 minutes.

Both teams exchanged points leading up to the interval to end the half 2-10 to 0-10 in the Limerick school’s favour.

Last year’s finalists continued the second half in the same vein with Patrick Kearney scoring the side’s third goal of the game just seconds after the restart.

Thurles spent the early knockings of the second half chipping away at Ardscoil’s lead but the Limerick side maintained their lead throughout.

However, Thurles’ efforts were rewarded when they notched their first goal of the game fourteen minutes into the second half and added another point to close the gap to four points.

The Tipperary school continued to press and reduced the gap to just two points with 56 minutes on the clock.

A nervy couple of closing minutes followed, with Thurles getting within one point of Ardscoil on two occasions but a point at the death provided breathing space for the Limerick side as the final whistle was blown.

It’s now three Dean Ryan Cups for Ardscoil Ris who avenged their final defeats in 2019 and 2021 to claim the U16 1/2 title.