Árdscoil Rís book Dean Ryan Cup Munster post-primary schools hurling final spot with victory over Coachford

ÁRDSCOIL Rís booked their place in the Dean Ryan Cup, Munster colleges' U17 'A' hurling final, after recording a deserved 1-23 to 2-15 semi-final victory over Coachford College, of Cork, in difficult weather conditions on the Páirc Uí Chaoimh 4G pitch on Friday afternoon.

Ardscoil Rís' reward for their semi-final victory is a final showdown with another Cork side, Christian Brothers College (CBC).

CBC booked their place in the provincial decider after overcoming Thurles CBS 2-15 to 2-9 in their semi-final at the start of the week.

Árdscoil Rís, who had defeated Nenagh CBS 4-20 to 2-17 in their previous outing in this year's Dean Ryan Cup, got off to the perfect start in Friday's semi-final on Leeside. 

The fixture was only in the second minute when the Limerick side struck for the game's openig goal. Impressive workrate from the inside forwards forced a turnover in possession with Newport's Colm Ryan gathering the sliotar before producing a composed finish to the back of the Coachford net. 

Árdscoil had raced into a 1-3 to 0-0 lead before the Cork students registered their opening score. 

The Limerick side continued to hold the upperhand as the opening half wore on, with Árdscoil leading 1-6 to 0-5 mid-way through the half.

The Niall Moran-managed Árdscoil side tightened their grip on the game in the second quater racking up eight points during that spell to build a commanding 1-14 to 0-7 advantage at the change of ends with Shane Waters in good form from the placed ball. 

Coachford rallied in the third quarter and cut the deficit to seven points shortly before the 40 minute mark.

However, it was then that this impressive Árdscoil side showed their mettle as they racked up four points on the bounce to build a substantial 11 point lead.

To their credit, Coachford showed admirable resilience, battling back with two goals, to eat into the Árdscoil Rís advantage. However, the Limerick side had done enough to then to seal their final place.

SCORERS: Árdscoil Rís: Shane Waters 0-6 (0-5 frees), Colm Ryan 1-1, David Moran, Gavin O’Brien 0-3 each, Eamon O’Sullivan, Xavier Neligan (0-1 free), John Ross O’Reilly, Ollie Sherlock 0-2 each, Aaron Kelly, Rian Horgan, 0-1 each. 

ARDSCOIL RÍS: Sam Collins (Crecora-Manister); William Ryan (Murroe-Boher), Rowan Collins (Adare), Cian Hickey (Crecora-Manister); Donagh Horgan (Murroe-Boher), Eoin Hennessy (Patrickswell), Shane Waters (Na Piarsaigh); David Moran (Ahane), Aaron Kelly (Cratloe); Colm Ryan (Newport), Billy Gavin (Ballybrown), Gavin O’Brien (Kilmallock); Rian Horgan (Murroe-Boher), Xavier Neligan (Kilmallock), Eamon O’Sullivan (Adare). SUBS: Ollie Sherlock (Cratloe) for Kelly (injured, 10 mins), Callum Butler (Patrickswell) for Horgan (half-time), John Ross O’Reilly (Ballybrown) for O’Sullivan (39 mins), Killian O’Neill (Murroe-Boher) for Rowan Collins (43mins), Sean O’Brien (Na Piarsaigh) for Hickey (51 mins).