Impressive Coláiste Mhuire find the answers in fine style

Coláiste Mhuire 4-18 Ardee CS 3-9

The final scoreline projects the image of an emphatic victory for Mullingar’s Coláiste Mhuire, but behind that is a story of a terrific comeback by Ardee Community School which made for a compelling Br Hubert Cup semi-final, at a wet Lakepoint Park venue on Wednesday.

At one stage the gap was 13 points, but a spirited Ardee side cut the leeway to just four with nine minutes of normal time to play.

Ultimately, they conceded 2-5 in the final 12 minutes, including two bizarre goals when their goalkeeper was thrown into an attacking role in a frantic bid to turn the tide in the closing minutes.

Stylish corner forward Cathal Kilmurray helped himself to a brace of goals as he took full advantage of a gaping goal in the final stages and even allowing for a terrific fight back by the Louth side, it’s fair to conclude that Coláiste Mhuire were the superior team, overall.

The skill levels were outstanding here from both sides and their kicking, passing and movement really impressed.

Coláiste Mhuire were a step ahead in each of those disciplines and they had better players at midfield and in attack when the tough questions were posed.

Cathal Kilmurray was quite brilliant at corner forward, while Oliver Keane and Michael Brennan impressed in the engine room.

Yes, they went through ropey periods but in general they were excellent and some of their scores were outstanding.

Coláiste Mhuire will meet Tullamore opposition in the final and it’s a game they can look forward to with great confidence.

At half-time here they led by 2-9 to 1-5 and things were rosy in the garden: Jamie Leech got both Mullingar goals with two terrific strikes in the 17th and 20th minutes.

But there had been signs of an Ardee resurgence in the second quarter and that duly materialised when play resumed.

Impressive centre back Max Sweeney was the inspiration behind the recovery, scoring 1-3 when unleashed to a more attacking role. Midfielder Oisín Kellett got their first major before the interval, while Nathan Donnelly got the second six minutes after the restart.

That was after Kilmurray and Josh Scahill were both denied goals by the Ardee ‘keeper and one would have been forgiven for thinking this game could turn: momentum can do amazing things.

However, Coláiste Mhuire regained composure in impressive style at crucial stages and the point by Cathal Kilmurray to make it 2-14 to 2-9 in the 52nd minute was just one example of them being able to find another gear. Kilmurray’s instinctive finish came after Michael Brennan and Josh Scahill combined before the ball was fed inside.

Luke Fitzsimons, Oliver Keane, Josh Scahill (free) and Adam Hughes followed up with four unanswered scores to eventually stymie the Ardee recovery.

That was the second time in the half the lead was cut to four points: after 40 minutes it was 2-10 to 2-6 before Kilmurray, Scahill and Jamie Leech got three unanswered Coláiste Mhuire points.

Ardee replied with a Sweeney goal on the hour mark, but as they three every player, including their goalie, into attack, Kilmurray helped himself to two majors: he firstly soled clear to find an unguarded net and then finished neatly from the wing with the Ardee ‘keeper stranded in no man's land.

Scorers: Coláiste Mhuire: C Kilmurray 2-4, J Leech 2-3 (0-1f), O Keane 0-3 (1 ‘45’), M Brennan, Luke Fitzsimons and J Scahill (1 free) 0-2 each, T Duncan and A Hughes 0-1 each.

Ardee CS: M Sweeney 1-3, O Kellett and N Donnelly 1-0 each, D Leavy and T Rogers 0-2 each, J Rooney and D Reilly 0-1 each.

Coláiste Mhuire: Tom McCaul; Adam Slevin, Shay Leavy, Sean O’Connell; Aaron Wallace, Scott Farrelly, Tom Leech; Oliver Keane, Michael Brennan; Jamie Leech, Luke Fitzsimons, Tristan Duncan; Cathal Kilmurray, Josh Scahill, Peadar Baird. Subs used: Jack Duffy, Conor Glynn, Adam Hughes, Darragh Daly.

Ardee CS: Jack Rooney; Danny Sheridan, Turlough McCabe, Joe Daly; Shane Noone Max Sweeney, Daire Reilly; Oisín Kellett, Seán Corrigan; Ben Gaughan, Nathan Donnelly, James Rooney; Aaron Lynch, Danny Leavy, Tadhg Rogers. Subs used: Jack Duffy, Shay Devlin, Kyle Conlon, Cathal Burns.

Ref: Barry Pierce (St Mary’s, Rochfortbridge).