Castletroy College bow out of Dr Harty Cup after group stage loss to Templemore

CASTLETROY College bowed out of the Dr Harty Cup Munster post-primary schools senior 'A' hurling competition after suffering a 0-16 to 1-10 defeat to Our Lady's Templemore in their crucial Group 2 fixture played at Toomevara on Wednesday afternoon.

Castletroy trailed their Tipperary opponents from the second minute and while they battled resiliently to remain right in the contest right until the final whistle, Our Lady's Templemore ran out deserving winners to book their place in the knock-out stages of the competition.

The result saw Our Lady's finish in second place in group 2 behind table toppers Ardscoil Ris, while Castletroy are placed third.

In bitingly cold, but calm conditions, it was Our Lady's who made the better start with topscorer Padraic O'Shea pointing two early frees.

Monaleen senior player Matthew Fitzgerald opened the Castletroy College account from a free in the fifth minute. Templemore were 0-4 to 0-1 ahead when Barry Griffin landed the Limerick side's second point after Conor Gavin created the opening.

Despite Our Lady's enjoying a greater share of possession for much of the half, resilient Castetroy drew within a single point of their opponents in the 24th minute when topscorer Fitzgerald pointed his third free of the half for 0-4 to 0-5.

Our Lady's, who racked up 14 wides over the course of the game, enjoyed a three point advantage by half-time, 0-8 to 0-5, as sharpshooter O'Shea continued to keep the scoreboard ticking over.

Castletroy did manage to prize open the Templemore defence on a couple of occasions, threatening a goal with well-executed moves, but the Newtown side failed to convert those openings.

At the other end, Castletroy goalkeeper Eoin Murrihy produced a smart save to prevent Philip O'Dwyer from scoring the game's opening goal from a ground shot.

In the sticky underfoot conditions, Castletroy were hoping for a fast start to the second half, but it was their opponents who managed it with two quick-fire points from Mark Conroy and Jack Marnell to lead by double scores 0-10 to 0-5.

While the Limerick side relied heavily on Fitzgerald frees for scores, Our Lady's enjoyed a greater spread of scorers as Marnell, Joey Quinn and Philip O'Dwyer chipped in with points as the Templemore side drew clear at 0-14 to 0-6.

Sensing that their Dr Harty Cup run was in real danger of coming to an end, battling Castletroy College hit back as Robert O'Farrell, of Kildimo-Pallaskenry, landed a 47th minute pointed free, before Barry Griffin struck for a terrific solo goal in the 48th minute.

Suddenly the Templemore lead was down to just four points, 1-7 to 0-14, with 12 minutes of normal time remaining. O'Shea, free, and O'Farrell, from play, traded points as the gap remained at four points by the 51st minute.

Topscorer O'Shea slotted a 55th minute free to put five points between the sides. While Fitzgerald added two pointed frees for Castletroy College, the goal the Limerick side badly needed never arrived as time ran out on their Dr Harty Cup campaign for 2024.

SCORERS: Castletroy College: Matthew Fitzgerald 0-7 (frees), Barry Griffin 1-1, Robert O'Farrell 0-2 (0-1 free). Our Lady's Templemore: Padraic O'Shea 0-10 (0-8 frees, 0-1 '65), Jack Marnell 0-3, Mark Conroy, Joey Quinn, Philip O'Dwyer 0-1 each

CASTLETROY COLLEGE: Eoin Murrihy (Ahane); Louis Ferland (Monaleen), Denis Blackwell (Ahane), Marcus Southern (Monaleen); Conor Gavin (Monaleen), Cian Scully (Capt) (Monaleen), Harry McDermott; Peter Scully (Monaleen), James Rennison (Ahane); Conor Ryan (Monaleen), Robert O'Farrell (Kildimo-Pallaskenry), Barry Griffin (Monaleen); John John O'Halloran (Monaleen), Matthew Fitzgerald (Monaleen), Cillian Clifford (Monaleen). SUBS: Dara Moloughney (Ahane) for O'Halloran (40 mins), Cian McCarthy (Monaleen) for Clifford, Anton Donohoe (Ahane) for Ryan (both 52 mins).

OUR LADY'S TEMPLEMORE: Cormac Bourke; Tommy Burke, Niall Delaney, Darragh Hoare; Mark Conroy, Cormac Cahill, Shay Gleeson; Billy Collier, Cian Broderick; Jack Marnell, Joey Quinn, Sean Stapleton; Philip O'Dwyer, Padraic O'Shea, Chris Dunne. SUBS: Richie Morris for Stapleton (49 mins), Kieran Martin for Broderick (60 + 1 min).