GAELIC GAMES: DUBLIN SCHOOLS JHC ‘A’ SEMI-FINAL
ARDSCOIL TRIUMPH
Griffith Avenue side produce strong final quarter to prevail
ARDSCOIL RIS 5-19
COLAISTE EANNA 3-8
Daire Walsh
ARDSCOIL Ris produced a scintillating final quarter rally at Alfie Byrne Park on Tuesday afternoon to book their place in the Dublin Schools Junior ‘A’ Hurling Championship decider.
Their opponents – Colaiste Eanna – were on level terms thanks to a 43rd minute Hugh O’Sullivan point, only for the Griffith Avenue School to book a final date with reigning champions Colaiste Eoin in confident style.
Eanna were defeated by Ardscoil at the same stage of last year’s competition, but broke the deadlock courtesy of a Rhys McDonnell free.
Ardscoil soon settled through unanswered points from Andrew Keegan, Daniel Peel and Charlie McHugh, before Sam Carty rattled the Eanna net in the 11th minute. Their momentum was immediately halted, however, as O’Sullivan’s rebounded effort raised a green flag for their Ballyroan counterparts.
Yet, this only proved to be a temporary speed bump for Ardscoil. In the space of nine minutes, Peel clipped four points in succession to give Ris a firm stranglehold on the play.
While O’Sullivan responded for Eanna with a superb score at a tight-angle, Conor Kenny’s flicked finish on the stroke of half-time offered Ardscoil a commanding 2-7 to 1-2 cushion. Either side of McHugh’s second point on the restart, O’Sullivan and McDonnell (free) found the target for Eanna.
They received a boost four minutes into the half when McDonnell drilled a penalty to the bottom-corner and Davy Keogh offered them further hope with another superbly-taken goal. He subsequently pointed in advanced of McDonnell’s equaliser as the tempo of the game increased ten-fold.
Peel and O’Sullivan traded points within the space of 60 seconds, leaving the final outcome up for discussion.
However, Ardscoil staked their claim with quick-fire efforts via the sticks of Peel, Paddy Gilroy and Kenny – who also capitalised on hesitant defending to kick home on 51 minutes.
This latest goal opened the floodgates for the 2017 finalists – Peel (two) and Carty picking off fine points to bolster their respective tallies. McHugh was a threat all through, and his two-goal salvo was supplemented by Conor Baldwin, Keegan and Aaron Nolan singles in a strong finish for the triumphant Ardscoil Ris.
Scorers – Ardscoil Ris: D Peel 0-10 (0-5f, 0-2 ’65’), C McHugh 2-2, C Kenny 2-1, S Carty 1-1, A Keegan 0-2, A Nolan, P Gilroy, C Baldwin 0-1 each. Colaiste Eanna: R McDonnell 1-4 (1-0 pen, 0-3f), H O’Sullivan 1-3, D Kehoe 1-1.
ARDSCOIL RIS: E Maguire; S Spring, L Fox, C Walsh; A Nolan, D Clerkin, C Dolan; S Carty, M Howard; P Gilroy, A Keegan, C Kenny; C Dunne, D Peel, C McHugh. Subs: C Baldwin for Gilroy (56), B Moorehouse Carroll for Walsh (58), A McAweney for Dunne (59), S Ryan for McHugh (60).
COLAISTE EANNA: B Creegan; O Dunne, B McGuire, T Culleton; D Keane, R Power, D Monaghan; K Mullarkey, R McDonnell; J Corcoran, D Kehoe, A Dalton; L Kennedy, H O’Sullivan, J Farrington. Subs: S Doyle for Farrington (43), R Mullarkey for Kennedy (55).
Referee: A Keating (Setanta).