Ardscoil Rís capture yet another Harty Cup

Ardscoil Rís (Limerick) 0-11 Our Lady’s Templemore (Tipperary) 0-8

Niall Moran's Ardscoil Rís made it four Harty Cup titles in seven seasons on Saturday afternoon.

The Limerick outfit dashed hopes of a first Harty crown for Our Lady’s Templemore since 1978 with a hard-fought victory in front of 2,028 spectators at a windy MacDonagh Park in Nenagh.

With the elements at their backs in the first half, Templemore needed a bigger lead than a 0-7 to 0-5 interval advantage.

Ardscoil reeled off six unanswered points after the break to assume complete control as Jamie Bergin’s free with 12 minutes left was Templemore’s only point of the second half.

A driving wind blowing towards the Nenagh end of MacDonagh Park, and heavy underfoot conditions, made life difficult for both sides but Ardscoil coped best as they added to their previous Harty wins in 2010, 2011 and 2014.

With the elements in their favour after the break, Ardscoil got down to business as Paul O’Brien, Darragh Carroll, Peter Casey and David Fitzgerald grabbed the vital scores.

Templemore should have been further ahead at the break but Ardscoil, playing with a massed defence, kept it tight at the back.

Templemore adopted similar defensive tactics to ensure that this one would not develop into a high-scoring shootout.

Indeed, Templemore managed just two points from play in the entire game - the first of those supplied by Kevin Hassett before half-time.

When Ardscoil Rís got on a run, they found scores easier to come by and Peter Casey kickstarted what could be a memorable few weeks.

The Na Piarsaigh man won an All-Ireland Under-21 medal with Limerick last year and after adding a Harty win, he’ll be aiming for further glory with Na Piarsaigh in the AIB All-Ireland senior club hurling final on March 17th.

Templemore did hold that two-point advantage but Ardscoil upped the ante to reign supreme.

ARDSCOIL RÍS: S Mullane; R Connolly, S Phelan, S Hogan; C Houlihan, N Fox, J Boylan; J Flynn, B Ryan (0-2); D Carroll (0-1), P O'Brien (0-4, 3f), P O'Loughlin; C Boylan, D Fitzgerald (0-2), P Casey (0-2).

Subs: C Moriarty for O’Loughlin (56), D Cunningham for Carroll (58)

J McInerney for Fitzgerald (60+3), J Delahunty for Hogan (60+5)

OUR LADY'S TEMPLEMORE: J Kennedy; C O'Meara, D Ryan, E Ryan; T Murphy, B McGrath (0-3f), K Hassett (0-1); D O'Shea, P Cadell; J Bergin, A Ryan, S Nolan; P Bergin (0-3f), J Kelly, L Fairbrother (0-1).

Subs: R McCormack for P Bergin (40), C Thorpe for Kelly (53)

Referee: N Wall (Cork).