Corn Uí Mhuirí: Rochestown fall to superior Mercy Mounthawk side

Mercy Mounthawk Secondary School, Tralee 5-23

St Francis College, Rochestown 5-6

St Francis College of Rochestown had their TUS Corn Uí Mhuirí campaign come to an end with quarter-final defeat to Tralee’s Mercy Mounthawk at Mallow on Wednesday.

Going into this quarter-final tie as underdogs, Rochestown found the competition’s holders in rampant form, with a goal from star forward Paddy Lane setting the tone inside the opening 19 seconds.

Lane finished with 2-12 – 1-9 from open play – but he had a strong supporting cast. Cormac Bastible was a strong foil for him in the full-forward line while Daniel Kirby and Ben Murphy provided a midfield power source as well as both finding the net. Centre-forward Tomás Kennedy was another who impressed.

In as much as they were outclassed by a side that will not be easily dethroned, Rochestown could not have been accused of throwing in the towel at any stage. Wing-forward Ronan Dooley was a stand-out for them while Pádraig McGrath provided a threat in the inside line and sub Jamie O’Brien netted twice as they finished with a flurry of goals.

Unfortunately for them, the four green flags registered in the last ten minutes only served to lessen a margin that had swelled to 28 points at one stage.

Mercy Mounthawk had hit the ground running, with Bastible setting up Lane for a goal from the off, and both Kennedy and Lane had points before Mark O’Brien opened the Rochestown account.

With the wind, the Kerry side were irrepressible in that first half, with Lane adding a second goal from the penalty spot after Kennedy was fouled. By the time Kirby struck for the third goal on 19 minutes, they led by 3-11 to 0-3 and Murphy followed with another soon after.

Rochestown did get a goal of their own as Dooley was fouled for a penalty that Ben Delaney converted but, despite going ten minutes without a score, Mounthawk found the net again before the break as Kirby got his second.

It left them 5-12 to 1-3 in front at the turnaround and, though Rochestown began the second half brightly, they couldn’t make a serious dent in the deficit – McGrath going closest to a goal, just after he had pointed.

While Delaney did land a huge point, seven unanswered points from Mounthawk showcased them at their best, Lane impossible to stop. His 12th point made it 5-22 to 2-6 but their scoring rate tailed off in the closing stages as Rochestown finished well.

Donnacha Reddington and sub Jamie O’Brien set up McGrath for a goal before Reddington’s nice pass allowed O’Brien to get one of his own. Mark O’Brien had another, created by Dooley, and it was Dooley provided the assist for Jamie O’Brien to score his second and Rochestown’s fifth at the death.

Mercy Mounthawk’s supremacy was never in doubt, though.

Scorers for Mercy Mounthawk: P Lane 2-12 (1-0 penalty, 0-3 f), D Kirby 2-1, B Murphy 1-2, T Kennedy, C Bastible 0-3 each, S Corkery, B Doyle 0-1 each.

St Francis College: Jamie O’Brien 2-0, P McGrath 1-2, B Delaney (1-0 penalty), M O’Brien 1-1 each, D O’Sullivan 0-2 (0-1 f).

MERCY MOUNTHAWK: S Sargeant; B Meehan, B Sharp, J Fisher; P O’Halloran, D Sargeant, G Casey; D Kirby, B Murphy; A Tuohy, T Kennedy, S Corkery; C Bastible, P Lane, A Hart.

Subs: K O’Donoghue for Fisher (28, injured), B Doyle for Harty (38), J Hoare for Tuohy (42) C McGibney for Casey (43), O Kerins for Lane (48), M Savage for Bastible (53).

ST FRANCIS COLLEGE: J Lyons (Nemo Rangers); L Kelleher (Douglas), D O’Kelly (St Finbarr’s), B Murphy (Carrigaline); D O’Donoghue (Douglas), N O’Shea (Nemo Rangers), J Mouret (Douglas); Jack O’Brien (Douglas), D Reddington (Douglas); R Dooley (Douglas), J Harte (Douglas), B Delaney (Carrigaline); P McGrath (Douglas), M O’Brien (Douglas), D O’Sullivan (Nemo Rangers).

Subs: Jamie O’Brien (Douglas) for Harte, E Murphy (Carrigaline) for O’Kelly (both half-time), S Denn (Nemo Rangers) for Jack O’Brien (50).

Referee: D O’Callaghan (Limerick).