St Colman’s Fermoy 1-8 Midleton CBS 0-7:.. When the most coveted piece of silverware in Munster Colleges hurling last resided at St Colman’s, it sat in a display cabinet next to the Dean Ryan Cup.

The latter trophy returned to the Fermoy College in November for the first time since 2003 and the prospect of yet another provincial double nears reality following Saturday’s all-Cork Dr Harty Cup semi-final win – St Colman’s have not been present in the decider since winning the last of their nine Harty Cup titles 14 years ago.

There they’ll meet Our Lady’s, Templemore and there is no question the gritty performance which saw them squeeze past their East Cork rivals won’t be sufficient to trouble, in the words of St Colman’s manager Flannan Cleary, the “red hot favourites”. That this semi-final didn’t live up to its billing, though, will matter little to the Fermoy students as they set about preparing for February 18. A crowd of 2,691 flocked to Mallow for the third meeting of the pair this season; an unanswered 1-6 in the closing 10 minutes of their first round Harty Cup clash back in October swung the verdict in St Colmans’ favour, with Midleton CBS exacting revenge in the Cork colleges final a week before Christmas.

Between then and here, St Colman’s put 3-12 past CBC to further signal their intent, while Midleton ended the reign of 2016 champions Ardscoil Rís after two epic quarter-final battles.

This particular contest, however, failed to come anywhere near the dizzy heights either reached in previous rounds. The first- half, in particular, was awash with errors. Scores, on the other hand, were desperately hard come by. Six white flags was all they could muster, only two of which arrived from open play.

The winners, having faced a strong breeze in the opening period, were much the happier with the 0-3 apiece interval scoreline. “To keep them to three points whilst we were playing against that breeze was terrific,” said Cleary. “We came out then and we got the start we wanted.”

By that, he means the 1-2 which they bagged within eight minutes of the restart. Diarmuid Lenihan threw over a ’65 following Adam Daly’s goal-line heroics in preventing Brian Roche’s ground stroke from crossing the white paint. David Lardner doubled their advantage and while Liam O’Shea got his and Midleton’s fourth point in response, Fermoy full- forward Roche capitalised on a defensive error in the 38th minute to register the only major.

They’d hit just three points in the remaining 22 minutes, but with Midleton’s radar, from both open play and the dead ball, out of whack – the losers hit 14 wides in total, their 1-8 tally proved more than enough to get the job done.

There were a couple of nervy moments late on as centre-back Niall O’Leary, excellent throughout, had to throw his body in front of Ger Millerick’s goal-bound effort. Liam Gosnell sent the rebound wide and their challenge ended when Liam O’Shea’s close-range free was repelled - the latter pair accounted for Midleton’s 0-7 total.

“After we got the goal, we went into a bit of a lull. When we were in that lull, Midleton didn’t capitalise. They threw the kitchen sink at us and it was really tough going there at the end, but our defence stood up to it. The leaders we have inside in our dressing-room is absolutely fantastic. It’s a fantastic win.”

An added bonus was having atoned for their one-point defeat to Ardscoil Rís at this very juncture 12 months ago.

“As I told the Midleton lads, we were in their position last year. We lost in heartbreaking circumstances. Nine of the lads playing here were there last year. That hurt drove us.”

Scorers for St Colman’s:

D Lenihan (0-3, 0-2 frees, 0-1 ’65); B Roche (1-0); B Murphy (0-2); S O’Connor, D Lardner, R Galvin (0-1 each).

Scorers for Midleton CBS:

L O’Shea (0-5, 0-2 frees); L Gosnell (0-2 frees).

ST COLMAN’S:

E Davis (St Catherine’s); E Wallace (St Catherine’s), J O’Leary (Castlelyons), K Neville (St Catherine’s); S McCarthy (Fermoy), N O’Leary (Castlelyons), E Roche (Bride Rovers); S O’Connor (Bride Rovers), D Lenihan (Ballyhooly); J Sheehan (Kilworth), B Murphy (Castlelyons), D Lardner (Fermoy); C Ryan (Bride Rovers), B Roche (Bride Rovers), A Creed (Fermoy).

Subs:

F Hickey (Ballyduff Upper) for Ryan (44 mins); R Galvin (St Catherine’s) for Sheehan (53); J Meighan (Ballyhooly) for Creed (58), G Lardner (Fermoy) for McCarthy (58)

MIDLETON CBS:

R Walsh (St Colman’s); A Daly (Midleton), S O’Leary-Hayes (Midleton), E O’Sullivan (St Colman’s); R McConville (Midleton), J McDonnell (Aghada), A Walsh Barry (Carrigtwohill); S O’Meara (Midleton), C Coughlan (Killeagh); B Twomey (Carrigtwohill), G Millerick (Fr O’Neill’s), C Terry (Aghada); L O’Shea (Lisgoold), J Stack (Kiltha Óg), L Gosnell (Carrigtwohill).

Subs:

M Kelly (Kiltha Óg) for Twomey (41); P O’Brien (Midleton) for Stack (50).

By Eoghan Cormican
Sports Reporter Irish Examiner