Ris sink Saints for final say
HURLING: DUBLIN SCHOOLS JUV ‘A’ SEMI-FINAL
ARDSCOIL RIS………………………………. 3-5
ST FINTAN’S HS……………………………. 1-7
By Daire Walsh
ARDSCOIL RIS will contest the decider after the reigning champions held off a late surge by St Fintan’s, Sutton in their clash at Pairc Naomh Uinsionn on Tuesday afternoon.
Before reaching the penultimate round, both teams had to qualify from a group stage, and courtesy of their unbeaten run to the last-four, Ardscoil were afforded home advantage for a game that featured on a night-time TV3 News segment.
Indeed, their second tie of the competition came against Fintan’s on March 13, when the Griffith Avenue school secured a comprehensive 11-point victory (7-16 to 5-11) in a high-scoring affair.
Sean Lambe was their scorer-in-chief in their two previous victories before this semi encounter (with an impressive personal tally of 1-9 on both occasions), and he was a major figure in Ardscoil’s commanding first-half performance against Fintan’s.
Centre-back Darragh Kelly, Jack Fagan and Glen Atkins provided a stern resistance at times for the challengers, but Ris were on course for another final appearance when they led 2-4 to 0-2 at the break.
This left the Sutton boys with an uphill task but with inside forwards John Sammon and Sean Grenham (who features alongside some of his opponents on Dublin North’s Juvenile side) starting to find their range from placed-ball situations, they did give themselves a fighting chance.
However, Ardscoil were generally in control of their own destiny, and though Fintan’s full-forward Aidan Hall added to his earlier point with a 55th minute goal, they couldn’t halt Ris’ march to the showpiece.
The Dublin 9 men will now face Colaiste Eoin for the title after the Stillorgan Road crew emerged with a thrilling 5-6 to 4-8 win over St Aidan’s in Belfield yesterday afternoon.