Midleton CBS carry Cork hopes into Harty Cup quarter-final with Nenagh CBS

Midleton CBS will get back underway in the Dr Harty Cup as they meet Nenagh CBS in tomorrow’s quarter-final at 1.30pm in Bansha.

As the last standing Cork school, Midleton come up against the 2023/24 champions on Wednesday, with the winner of that clash set to meet the victors of the quarter-final between De La Salle Waterford and Thurles CBS in the semis.

Winners of the Harty Cup in 2019, the east Cork school will feel they failed to make the most of their Harty Cup campaign last year, in a year where the squad on paper was so stacked with talent.

They emerged at the top of a three-team Group 4, but fell short by a point against beaten finalists St Flannan’s College Ennis in the quarter-final, finishing the year with one win in three games.

Current Cork senior panellist Barry Walsh stood out in that quarter-final defeat as their top scorer with 1-9 – 1-2 of which came from play – but alongside him, they’ve also lost Peter Barrett, Adam Lee and Ben Walsh, all players who got on the scoresheet in that contest last season.

This yar, Midleton have been backboned by last season’s Dean Ryan Cup winning team, who defeated northsiders Gaelcholáiste Mhuire AG in the final. Carrigtwohill starlet Sam Ring top scored with 1-5 (0-5 f) in the decider, and was excellent for Carrigtwohill’s Premier 2 minors this year, the highlight being his remarkable tally of 1-23 in an extra-time win over Blackrock in the quarter-final.

He’s contributed in each of Midleton’s Harty games this year too, scoring 1-3 from play across the group stages. This Midleton side may be youthful, but they’ve been sharing the workload extremely well in the opening games, having managed 14 different scorers across their three group fixtures.

Nenagh and Midleton also met in last year’s group phase, playing out a draw in the first round that would come to haunt the Tipp school, particularly given they had let a four-point lead slip in the final quarter that allowed Midleton to take a share of the spoils.

The drawn game would mean Nenagh CBS would miss out on topping the group as a result of Midleton’s better scoring difference – both beat St Francis College Rochestown convincingly – as Nenagh then faced into a preliminary quarter-final against De La Salle, in which they were beaten by three points.

On that opening round meeting of Midleton and Nenagh last year, it was Eoghan Doughan who starred from placed balls, with the Tipperary All-Ireland minor winning captain also taking on the duties for Nenagh CBS this year. He’s carried his form over once again and will be a real threat for Midleton’s defence to deal with, as Doughan has already totalled 3-25 (0-15 f, 0-3 65) so far.

Of Nenagh’s 2024 winning team, they still have plenty of those players to call upon; Doughan, centre-back Dara O’Dwyer, midfielder Austin Duff and full-back Daniel McKelvey. They’re a strong outfit on paper with plenty of inter-county winning experience too.

Alongside Doughan’s All-Ireland with Tipp at minor, he was part of the panel that also beat Kilkenny in the 2025 U20 final, while the aforementioned Duff and Billy O’Brien were Doughan’s teammates in the minor win of ‘24.

It will be Midleton CBS’s toughest test yet of the campaign.

They did what was necessary to overcome De La Salle in the final group game and secure qualification, but the Waterford side had already secured knockout passage prior to that meeting.

Midleton will need their very best here against Nenagh to overcome the Tipp school, who will be looking to win their second title, and stretch the run of Premier County Harty wins to four in a row.