Colleges Hurling- Colaiste Mhuire Johnstown march into last four of the Leinster Championship

Colaiste Mhuire, Johnstown booked their place in the semi-finals of the Leinster Schools Senior Hurling B Championship after they overcame 14-man St Mary’s CBS of Enniscorthy in Thomastown last Saturday.

The Wexford school had been in control of proceedings, leading by 0-13 to 1-7, when a flashpoint saw Tommy McVeigh given a straight red card by referee Jonathan Murphy.

From there Johnstown outscored their opponents by 0-10 to 0-1 to win pulling away.

There’s a good chance that the Kilkenny school would have found a purple patch at some point had it stayed 15-on-15.

They may well have won the game in the end either way, but they made the extra man count with an impressive ease.
St Mary’s looked the better team in the first-half, but they only had a 0-10 to 1-5 lead at the break with Evan Landers striking a crucial goal for Johnstown after only four minutes.

Oisín Pepper – who made his Wexford senior hurling debut a fortnight earlier against Laois – provided the initial spark for Enniscorthy as they went two points up before that Landers goal.

Evan Quigley got on the scoresheet to level the game again in the fifth minute, and it was still tied (1-1 to 0-4) after Liam Lynch and Alex Burke exchanged points.

The Enniscorthy lads did start to motor into an advantage as the first quarter moved towards a conclusion, as Lynch and another Pepper brace made it 0-7 to 1-2.

The second quarter would see the schools split six points evenly, with Quigley and Lynch (twice) on target for St.Mary’s.
It could have been so, so different, had Lynch’s pulled effort crept inside the post rather than drifted off a defender and wide just before the break.

Still, Enniscorthy would have been content with their position at the half-time whistle.

Lynch, Corey Byrne-Dunbar and Pepper were all on target before McVeigh was dismissed as Enniscorthy moved 0-13 to 1-7 in front.

Byrne-Dunbar added a dead-ball minor in the 46th minute, but it proved to be his side’s only score in the last 20-plus minutes.

Coláiste Mhuire immediately turned the screw and it was mightily impressive.

With the pressure ratcheted up, Damien Corbett scored three frees, Liam Hayes added a long-ranger, and Micheál Ahern knocked over another score.

Now leading at the water break (1-12 to 0-14), Johnstown pushed on.

Corbett notched three more times and Calum Lonergan also picked off a brace as the advantage swelled to six.

Enniscorthy put on some pressure in added-time, as Byrne-Dunbar clattered the crossbar and the ball bounced down on the line, but it proved to be the last act of their season as Coláiste Mhuire advanced to the final four.

There they will meet either St. Fintan’s of Sutton or Coláiste Mhuire from Mullingar.

Teams and Scorers

Coláiste Mhuire Johnstown: Billy Garnett; Stephen Murphy, Darragh McCormack, Conor Donnelly; Podge Lacey, Cody Comerford (capt., 0-1 ‘65), Gearóid Phelan; Kieran Cleere, Darragh Queally (0-1); Liam Hayes (0-1 free), Calum Lonergan (0-3), Charlie Brennan; Damien Corbett (0-9, 8 frees), Evan Landers (1-0), Alex Burke (0-1).

Subs. - Tomás Sharkey for McCormack (26), Micheál Ahern (0-1) for Brennan (35), Justin Duggan for Landers (60+2), Conor Gleeson for Hayes (60+4), Ciarán Flynn for Cleere (60+7).

St Mary’s CBS Enniscorthy: Euan Pender; Eugene Clarke, Ronan Kervick , Tommy McVeigh, David Hennebry , Darragh Kehoe, Rúairí Lacey; Jack Byrne , Ben Asple; James Murray, Liam Lynch (0-5 frees), Fionn Walsh; Corey Byrne-Dunbar ( 0-2 frees), Evan Quigley (0-2), Oisín Pepper (0-5).

Sub. - Andrew Fitzhenry for Byrne (57).

Referee: Jonathan Murphy (Carlow)