Ardscoil Rís crowned Dr Harty Champions as accomplished performance downs Midleton CBS

Ardscoil Rís 3-18

Midleton CBS 2-10

The Dr Harty Cup is heading for the North Circular Road, Limerick for the fifth time in the last ten years as Ardscoil Rís simply had too much for Midleton CBS in Mallow this afternoon.

A healthy crowd of almost 3,000 spectators gathered in Mallow in expectation of a mouthwatering game of hurling. Considering the weather over the last week, the pitch in Mallow was in good nick and was conducive for good hurling.

Ardscoil turned exerted the early pressure and asserted their dominance throughout. Goals from Cathal O’Neill, Rian Considine and Diarmuid Ryan were simply the icing on what was a superb 60 minutes of hurling.

The Limerick side were first to every ball and laid down a physical marker from the outset while for their part, Midleton failed to fire and their forward line was having little impact on the game.

Ardscoil had a blistering start racking up 1-2 inside the opening five minutes with Midleton managing just a single solitary point.

Some excellent work from Ardscoil’s Diarmuid Ryan put forward Rian Considine through on goal and the Cratloe clubman applied a superb finish past Alan Power in the Midleton goals.

Liam Gosnell responded with a point but it did little to stem the tide of Ardscoil’s dominance. The Limerick side netted their second goal on fifteen minutes with Cathal O’Neill finding the net at the end of a powering run.

Ardscoil carried a 2-7 t0 0-6 lead at the break and Midleton were reeling. The cork side needed a big start to the second half but could not reel in their opponents. The group game between the two sides saw the Limerick side prevail by just a single point and indicated that the final would be just as close but it wasn’t however to be.

Second half  Midleton goals from Gosnell and Stack did put a sheen or respectability on the scoreline but it would have little impact on the final result as the Limerick side powered to a deserved eleven point victory.

Scores for Ardscoil Rís: P O’Brien 0-8 (0-4f, 2.65); C O’Neill, D Ryan 1-3 each; R Considine 1-1, A Moriarty, D Woulfe, B O’Connor 0-1 each.

Scores for Midleton CBS: L Gosnell 1-7 (1-4f), J Stack 1-1; C Hickey, S O’Leary Hayes 0-1 each.

ARDSCOIL RÍS

1 J Gillane (Patrickswell), 2 P Heaney (Na Piarsaigh), 3 J Considine (Patrickswell), 4 E McEvoy (Na Piarsaigh), 5 J Boylan (Na Piarsaigh), 6 R Connolly (Adare), 7 C O’Reilly (Patrickswell), 8 D Ryan (Cratloe), 9 R Duff (Mungret St Paul’s), 10 A Moriarty (Clonlara), 11 P O’Brien (Mungret St Paul’s), 12 D Woulfe (Kilmallock), 13 C O’Neill (Crecoara), 14 R Considine (Cratloe), 15 C Bourke (Clonlara)

Subs: B O’Connor for C Bourke (50), J Daly for A Moriarty (57), M Daly for D Ryan (60).

MIDLETON CBS

1 A Power (Midleton), 2 D Hogan (Killeagh), 3 S O’Sullivan (Midleton), 4 E O’Sullivan (St Colman’s), 5 S O’Leary Hayes (Midleton), 6 A Walsh Barry (Carrigtwohill), 7 J Landers (Killeagh), 8 G Millerick (Fr O’Neills), 9 K Farmer (Midleton), 10 D Moran (Kiltha Óg), 11 L O’Shea (Lisgoold), 12 L Gosnell (Carrigtwohill), 13 A Nganou (Midleton), 14 J Stack (Kiltha Óg), 15 C Hickey (Lisgoold)

Subs: O Broderick for K Farmer (40), G Carroll for D Hogan (50), M McCarthy for G Millerick (58).

Referee: F Horgan (Tipperary)