Dean Ryan Cup: Coachford College's late goals not enough to reel in Ardscoil Rís
Coachford’s Tadhg Murphy stretches to reach the ball ahead of Ardscoil Rís's Eoin Hennessy in their Dean Ryan Cup semi-final at Páirc Uí Chaoimh's 4G pitch. Picture: Chani Anderson.
By the finish, the margin read five, but it never once felt like a five-point game. Ardscoil Rís were in command from the second minute all the way to the end, Coachford hanging on gamely yet rarely threatening to flip the script until a late, frantic flurry.
And so, it’s Ardscoil who march on to the Dean Ryan Cup final against CBC, having seen off Coachford by five on Páirc Uí Chaoimh’s all-weather pitch on Friday afternoon.
They were dealt a scare in the final three minutes, by which stage Gavin O’Brien’s third point had put Ardscoil 11 points ahead. Jack Casey clipped one back, then Tadhg Murphy’s goalbound effort was saved by Sam Collins, only for Ciarán Lyons to react quickest and pull the rebound to the net on 60 minutes.
Two minutes of added time later and Coachford were through again, Sean Hogan and Fionn Buckley combining for the latter’s rasping effort to shave the margin to four. But Ardscoil had scoring threats dotted everywhere, and sub John Ross O’Reilly fired the final point to restore a five-point cushion.
It’s worth noting that all of this came without Clare minor Ian O’Brien, ruled out through injury, yet Ardscoil wasted no time settling with the breeze.
Colm Ryan recovered Billy Gavin’s short point attempt to lash into the net and put Ardscoil in front after 80 seconds. By the time Coachford registered, Ardscoil had 1-3 on the board, though the Cork school were unlucky not to add a goal. Hogan’s brilliant touch, take, and driving run was denied only by Collins’ save in the fourth minute.
A neat Cillian Honohan effort left it 1-4 to 0-2 after 11 minutes, and when Murphy’s free was tipped over, the margin stood at 1-6 to 0-4 after 15 minutes.
But the second quarter belonged entirely to Ardscoil. They struck eight of the next 11 points to build a commanding 1-14 to 0-7 interval lead, with Limerick minor Shane Waters steady from frees and corner-back Cian Hickey superb throughout.
Coachford needed a flying restart with the wind, and four of the first five scores – three frees from Murphy – cut the gap to seven by the 37th minute.
But Ardscoil, assured once more, restored the advantage seamlessly. Four points from four different scorers pushed them 1-19 to 0-11 clear with 19 left to play.
The pace eased in the final quarter, each Coachford point answered swiftly in kind. The 11-point lead remained intact late on, and although Coachford trimmed it dramatically in stoppage time, the result was never in doubt.
S Waters 0-6 (0-5 f), C Ryan 1-1, D Moran, G O’Brien 0-3 each, E O’Sullivan, X Neligan (0-1 f), O Sherlock, J Ross O’Reilly 0-2 each, R Horgan, A Kelly 0-1 each.
T Murphy 0-9 (0-8 f), F Buckley 1-1, C Lyons 1-0, C Honohan 0-2, S Hogan, J Casey, J Barry 0-1 each.
S Collins; W Ryan, R Collins, C Hickey; D Horgan, E Hennessy, S Waters; D Moran, A Kelly; C Ryan, B Gavin, G O’Brien; R Horgan, X Neligan, E O’Sullivan.
O Sherlock for Kelly (9 inj), C Butler for Horgan (HT), J Ross O’Reilly for O’Sullivan (40), K O’Neill for R Collins (42), S O’Brien for Hickey (50).
F O’Leary (Cloughduv); C Healy (Cloughduv), M Twomey (Aghabullogue), S Collins (Cloughduv); C O’Riordan (Blarney), L Buckley (Cloughduv), G O’Callaghan (Dripsey); D Buckley (Aghabullogue), J Casey (Éire Óg); J Barry (Cloughduv), T Murphy (Cloughduv), C Lyons (Inniscarra); C Honohan (Donoughmore), F Buckley (Donoughmore), S Hogan (Éire Óg).
C Twomey (Aghabullogue) for Healy (HT-38 temp), Twomey for Barry (51), T Buckley (Aghabullogue) for Collins (57), C O’Connell (Donoughmore) for L Buckley (59).
B Coniry (Crosshaven)
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