This article is from page 69 of the 2011-02-08 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 69 JPG
Árdscoil Rís 2-19 – St Flannan’s College 0-22 at Gaelic Grounds, Limerick
THERE was no silverware handed out in the Gaelic Grounds on Sunday but Árdscoil Rís are certainly overwhelming favourites to claim historic back-to-back titles after overcoming main rivals St Flannan’s at the penultimate stage.
Regardless of your allegiances, it was a truly great advertisement for college’s hurling, a throwback to the memorable jousts of the past that invariably involved St Flannan’s in some capacity. Indeed, it was no wonder that Árdscoil’s Niall Moran implored supporters to travel to the game as it was compelling end-toend action from the first minute to the final whistle.
It truth, the result could have gone either way in a dramatic finish but defending champions Árdscoil just about deserved victory in the end, thanks to their greater experience and leadership at the vital times as well as two second half goals in a seven minute period at the turn of the final quarter.
The game centred around the unerring accuracy of two inspirational protagonists: Shane Dowling at centre-forward and later midfield for Árdscoil Rís who claimed 1-10 of his side’s total and Ballyea’s Tony Kelly who at times single-handedly maintained St Flannan’s challenge with a haul of 14 points.
In between those scoring feats, there were three point cameos for impressive wing-forwards Mark Carmody (Árdscoil Ris) and Conor O’Gorman (St Flannan’s) and corner-forwards John Fitzgibbon (Árdscoil Ris) and Shane O’Donnell (St Flannan’s) that further enhanced this tie. However, it was Shane Dowling’s 38th minute 20 metre free to the net and Oisin Hickey’s opportunistic follow up seven minutes later that swung the contest decisively towards the holders.
The opening half was a seesaw affair that saw both sides take control for extended periods but all the while cancelling each other out. Limerick side Árdscoil Rís flew out of the blocks to open up a 0-5 to 0-1 advantage by the seventh minute and could have even snatched a goal in that period when Kevin O’Brien’s acute shot rebounded off the crossbar.
St Flannan’s were struggling but found their feet thanks to the determnation of Tony Kelly who hit four out of St Flannan’s first five points to level matters by the 12th minute.
Shane Dowling pushed Árdscoil ahead once more with three frees while St Flannan’s had goal opportunities through Conor O’Gorman and Kelly that both ended up as points. And as the momentum swung towards the Ennis school, they finally took the lead for the first time with further points from Martin O’Leary, Kelly and O’Gorman at 0-10 to 0-8 by the 22nd minute.
Three successive points, two from the stick of Dowling had Árdscoil in the ascendency once more approaching the break but inevitably it was Kelly and O’Gorman who gave St Flannan’s the narrowest of advantages at 0-12 to 0-11 at half-time.
Árdscoil brought out Meelick’s Damian Moloney to man-mark Conor O’Gorman for the second period but it was Kelly who maintained St Flannan’s early lead with two points in the opening three minutes.
However, an unanswered 1-3 including a bullet free to the net from Dowling in the 38th minute transformed the game dramatically. With the bit between their teeth, the holders hammered home their momentum through a Dowling free and 1-1 in the space of a minute for Meelick’s Oisin Hickey who was perfectly positioned to finish a John Fitzgibbon flick from a Declan Hannon clearance to the net in the 45th minute.
Now eight points in arrears, St Flannan’s needed to dig deeper than ever before and indeed got a spark of in- spiration from corner-forward Shane O’Donnell who tormented Árdscoil’s last line over the next ten minutes.
Along with hitting three points himself, he also earned two frees that Kelly converted to cut the deficit to three by the 54th minute and there was almost a full reprieve when an Alan O’Neill close range pull produced a great diving save from goalkeeper PJ Hall.
St Flannan’s could smell blood but while Kelly continued to chip away at the lead with placed balls, Árdscoil kept their cool at the other end through points from substitute Jack Kelliher and John Fitzgibbon.
Indeed, St Flannan’s best chance to snatch something out of the game came in the 58th minute when a teasing ball across the square by O’Donnell was flicked towards goal by Alan O’Neill only to drift agonisingly past the far post much to the relief of the Árdscoil defence.
The scenes of celebration at the final whistle highlighted just what this victory meant to Árdscoil Ris. With their main rivals out of the way, the passage is clear for a second successive title and taking into consideration the quality of the second semi-final, it appears that on this performance, anything other than an Árdscoil win would be the shock of the competition.