Our Ladys Templemore defeated De La Salle Waterford by 2-15 to 2-13 after extra time in the Dr. Harty Cup Semi-Final on Saturday January 30th at Bansha.
Our Lady's Templemore book place in Dr Harty Cup final after extra-time classic https://t.co/fsC9r6If3v pic.twitter.com/QrSaFmhHln
— The42.ie GAA (@The42GAA) January 30, 2016
Anthony Ryan to the rescue as Templemore clinch classic
By Jackie Cahill for the Irish Examiner newspaper
Dr Harty Cup – Our Lady’s Templemore (Tipperary) 2-15 De La Salle (Waterford) 2-13 (AET): As the ball dropped among a forest of flying hurleys, there was just one thought on Anthony Ryan’s mind — “pull on the thing!”
It was now or never for Our Lady’s Templemore in Saturday’s epic Harty Cup semi-final against De La Salle in Bansha. Having watched a seven-point lead become a three-point deficit down the home straight, Our Lady’s were staring defeat squarely in the face, until Kevin Hassett stood over a sideline cut in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
Hassett sent in a perfect delivery, captain Ryan’s hurley applied the crucial touch and when the De Le Salle net billowed, the tie was headed for extra-time.
Jerry Kelly kicked a crucial extra-time goal and Our Lady’s were through to a final showdown with Ardscoil Rís on February 20 — with the dream of a first Harty Cup since 1978 very much alive.
Loughmore-Castleiney starlet Ryan gasped: “I thought it was gone! When the ball came in, I was thinking — ‘pull on the thing’. Three points down, I knew we had to get this.”
His side were 0-13 to 0-6 clear in the 48th minute but with Thomas Douglas banging home brilliant solo goals in the 53rd and 60th minutes, De La Salle were in the box seat and seemingly on course for a fifth decider. Ryan, an inspirational figure, and Templemore had other ideas and ultimately, they would not be left to rue a match tally of 18 wides.
Templemore still had work to do in extra-time and after Lyndon Fairbrother forced a blinding save from Ronan Ryan, Kelly beat the De La Salle custodian, somehow getting his effort away as the defensive pack converged. It was the same net that Ryan had found minutes earlier and Kelly’s goal handed Templemore a 2-13 to 2-11 lead at the turnaround.
It was a two-point advantage they would hold to the finish and Templemore, beaten finalists in 2000, 2002, and 2013, are daring to dream again. They can thank their captain for that, while there were other notable contributions from the likes of Steven Nolan, Paul Bergin, Fairbrother, and Brian McGrath.
The early exchanges had seen the sides level four times but a run of seven unanswered points either side of half-time opened up a 0-10 to 0-4 lead for Templemore. They looked set for a comfortable win when Kelly opened up that seven-point lead with 12 minutes left but a run of 2-4 without reply had DLS in charge before Ryan’s crucial intervention.
Scorers for Our Lady’s Templemore: A Ryan 1-2, J Kelly 1-1, S Nolan & P Bergin 0-3 each, B McGrath (2f) & L Fairbrother 0-2 each, D O’Shea & J Bergin (sl) 0-1 each.
Scorers for De La Salle: H Ruddle 0-7 (6f, 1 sl), T Douglas 2-1, M Costigan 0-2 (1f), P Hennebry, M Mahony & C Quinn 0-1 each.
OUR LADY’S TEMPLEMORE: J Kennedy; C O’Meara, D Ryan, E Ryan; T Murphy, B McGrath, K Hassett; P Cadell, D O’Shea; S Nolan, A Ryan, J Bergin; P Bergin, J Kelly, L Fairbrother.
Subs: A O’Meara for Kelly (51), C Kinnane for P Bergin (58), Kelly for O’Meara (64), R McCormack for Kinnane (70).
DE LA SALLE: R Ryan; C Giles Doran, L Wall, G Cullinane; N Byrne, P Hennebry, M Kearns; D Power, G Coppinger; H Ruddle, D Coady, M Costigan; M Mahony, T Douglas, E Daly.
Subs: B O’Sullivan for Daly (inj, 13), D Walsh for Coady (32), K Hennessy for Coppinger (44), C Quinn for Ruddle (47), J Stone for O’Sullivan (52), Ruddle for Hennessy (64), Hennessy for Stone (70), O’Sullivan for Quinn (72).
Referee: J Larkin (Cork)
DR. HARTY CUP SEMI-FINALS
This Saturday will see the penultimate stages of the Munster GAA Post Primary Schools Dr. Harty Cup Under 18 ½ A Hurling competition when the semi-finals take place. Ard Scoil Ris of Limerick will take on St. Colmans of Fermoy at 12 noon in Kilmallock with both schools having won three titles since the turn of the millennium. Best wishes to John McCormack (Knockavilla Donaskeigh Kickhams) who will referee this game.
Of more interest in the Premier County will be the clash of Our Lady’s Secondary School Templemore and De La Salle Waterford at 2pm in Bansha (NOTE VENUE CHANGE) with Joe Larkin (Cork) as referee. De La Salle have 2 titles to their name from 2007 and 2008 with a number of those players now back boning the Waterford Senior Hurling team. The current De La Salle squad finished second to Ard Scoil Ris in the group stages before getting the better of Nenagh CBS in the recent Quarter-Final.
On the other hand, Our Lady’s Templemore topped their group winning all four of their games before defeating Castletroy Community College by 1-18 to 3-5 in the Quarter-Final played at Toomevara. The Harty Cup has proved elusive for the Templemore school, having reached the finals of 2000, 2002 and 2013 only to bow out at the final hurdle leaving the 1978 team (under the guise of Templemore CBS) as the only school from the town to bring back this coveted trophy.
Tipperary schools have been competitive in the Harty Cup in recent years. Since 2008, 6 of the 8 Harty Cup Finals played have featured a Tipperary school with last year’s champions Thurles CBS playing in four finals, winning two, Our Lady’s Templemore losing out in the 2013 final while Nenagh CBS lost the 2012 Harty Cup Final before going on to win All-Ireland honours and capturing the Croke Cup later that season. We wish Our Lady’s every success in next Saturday’s semi-final where a bumper crowd is expected to descend on the Bansha GAA grounds for this eagerly awaited knockout clash.
