A determined Rory Purcell (Thurles CBS) in action. Picture Courtesy John O’Loughlin.
Thurles CBS (Tipperary) 1-9 – Castletroy CC (Limerick) 0-11
Disappointment this afternoon (Saturday31/1/2015) for Annacotty’s Castletroy College, when they were beaten 1-9 (12pts) to 0-11 (11pts) by Tipperary’s Thurles CBS, in the Harty Cup semi-final in Toomevara.
Full forward Ian Coates (Castletroy) was issued with a straight red card for an off the ball strike on Jack Derby (Thurles), thus leaving Castletroy to play 50 minutes with just 14 men.
Castletroy clung on against the breeze in the opening half, but were dealt another blow just before the break when Robbie Long (Thurles) deflected a Niall Heffernan (Thurles) free, neatly into the back of their net.
In today’s bitterly cold conditions Thurles did however struggle to take advantage of both the wind and the numerical difference in the first half, but were leading 1-6 (9pts) to 0-3 at the break, with all of Castletroy’s scores coming from Barry Nash frees.
Castletroy had the breeze with them after the break and they made it count with accurate free-taking from Brian Nash (South Liberties) and two excellent scores from half back Andrew La Touche Cosgrave (Monaleen).
Some 13 wides from Thurles ensured Castletroy would continue to remain in tight chase right up until full time, but mainly due to the super attacking ability of Niall Heffernan, Thurles managed to survived and book their final appearance.
Thurles CBS endured a ferocious second half fightback from this 14-man Castletroy Community College to progress to their first Harty Cup final since 2011.
Thurles CBS: W Tierney; C McCullagh; E Heffernan; J Derby; T Hayes; J Skehan; D Quirke; B McCarthy; C Moloney; M Connors; K Duggan; N Heffernan; J Butler; R Teehan and R Long.
Subs: R Purcell for J Butler; P Kennedy for C Moloney and B Kelly for M Connors.
Scorers Thurles CBS: Niall Heffernan 0-7 (5 frees); Robbie Long 1-0 (3pts) with Kevin Duggan and Michael Connors 0-1 each.
Leave a Reply