Tralee CBS win Corn Uí Mhuirí

TUS Corn Uí Mhuirí Final

Tralee CBS 2-19 High School Clonmel 1-13

By Stephen Barry at Mallow

Tralee CBS won their 17th TUS Corn Uí Mhuirí title with nine points to spare after a game of dramatic twists and turns against High School Clonmel at Mallow.

The Green looked home and hosed after producing a 1-12 burst from the eighth to 34th minutes, while holding their opponents scoreless. Then, the High School came with their own unanswered 1-7 streak. It was back to a one-score game with 10 minutes to play, but a goal from man-of-the-match Gearóid White proved the insurance score.

Ronan Carroll (0-6, 1 free), Máirtín McKivergan, and Nick Lacey (0-4 each) were also prominent on the scoresheet, while two-point specialist Luke Foley top-scored with 0-7 for Clonmel.

Having lost two finals since their last triumph in 2020, this was a sweet success for the Marc Ó Sé-managed school.

It also completed a unique double by adding the Munster A football title to their Munster B hurling silverware. That victory was secured eight days ago, with opening goalscorer Eoin O’Flaherty, Mikey Corridon, and the Hurley twins, Cillian and Ryan, starring in both codes. They will face the Connacht champions in the Hogan Cup semi-final.

The High School were fired up right from the off. They came forward from the throw-in for a Foley free, which McKivergan cancelled out. Clonmel then forced an overcarrying free, from which target-man Mikey McGuire created a goal chance for Aaron McAndrew. The Moyle Rovers man blasted over. When John Lyons blocked the next Tralee shot, they countered for a Conor Freaney point.

But led by their joint-captain McKivergan, who won an All-Ireland in Croke Park with his club Ballymacelligott last month, Tralee took over the midfield contest.

They reeled off five consecutive points, including a standout individual score by McKivergan from the opposition kick-out. Lacey turned a close-range goal chance wide, but compensated with two brilliant points cutting onto his right foot.

Johnny Murphy black-carded Lyons for a late tackle on O’Flaherty, and Tralee extended their scoring streak with another five unanswered points in the subsequent 10 minutes. Carroll had two of those, one of which could’ve been a goal only for a superb save by the outstretched right boot of James O’Brien. Carroll had the ball in the net moments later, but Murphy correctly deemed it a square ball.

Once restored to 15 players, O’Brien saved Clonmel again with another fine block from Lacey. The half ended with a Clonmel claim for a penalty, which wasn’t given, before McGuire had a follow-up shot saved by Olivier Lata.

Any remaining flicker of hope appeared to have been extinguished within a minute of the resumption. Centre-back O’Flaherty was involved three times between the turnover and receiving the final pass from Cian McKenna to unleash a classy bottom-corner finish.

A Carroll free and Lacey point made it 1-13 to 0-3. Luke Hannigan’s outside-of-the-ball point got Clonmel on the board after 29 scoreless minutes.

They still trailed by 13 points until mounting a remarkable comeback. Foley sparked it with a pair of two-point frees in the 43rd and 46th minutes.

Two minutes later, McGuire doubled on a long ball with the perfect uppercut to send it into the net. Jack Kealy and McGuire were denied a goal in one scramble, but the High School worked the subsequent 45 short for Foley’s third two-pointer. When McAndrew handpassed over, it was a one-score game, 1-14 to 1-11, with 10 minutes to play.

But Tralee had the insurance score in the 52nd minute as White embarked on a solo run from outside the arc to round the keeper and tap in.

Tom Quilter and Seán Hickey helped to make the game safe, while Paddy Spelman launched a stoppage-time two-pointer at the other end.

Scorers for Tralee CBS: Gearóid White 1-2; Ronan Carroll 0-6 (1f); Eoin O’Flaherty 1-1; Máirtín McKivergan, Nick Lacey 0-4 each; Tom Quilter, Seán Hickey 0-1 each.

Scorers for High School Clonmel: Luke Foley 0-7 (2tpf, 1tp, 1f); Mikey McGuire 1-0; Paddy Spelman (tp), Aaron McAndrew 0-2 each; Luke Hannigan, Conor Freaney 0-1 each.

Tralee CBS: Olivier Lata; Michael Enright, Eoin Moriarty, Stephen Turner; Fionnán Ryan, Eoin O’Flaherty, Mikey Corridon; Máirtín McKivergan, Cian McKenna; Tadhg O’Connor, Gearóid White, Tom Quilter; Ryan Hurley, Ronan Carroll, Nick Lacey.

Subs: Cillian Hurley for O’Connor (46), Darragh Murphy for R Hurley (58), Seán Hickey for Quilter (60+2), Jack Power for Enright (60+5).

High School Clonmel: James O’Brien; Harry Lawlor, Rian Galko, John Lyons; Luke Hannigan, Andrew Ryan, Paddy Spelman; Killian Smith, Luke Foley; Aaron McAndrew, Finn Napier, Briain Morrisson; Conor Freaney, Mikey McGuire, Dylan McCormack.

Subs: Jamal Yousif for McCormack (h-t), Conall Morrisson for Napier (43), Jack Kealy for Freaney (47), David Ryan for B Morrisson (55), Oisín O’Reilly for A Ryan (57, temp), Brandon Landers for Lyons (60+1).

Referee: Johnny Murphy (Limerick).