Dr Harty Cup Semi-final/ De La Salle, Waterford 5-11 West Waterford Colleges 0-6: A man-of-the-match performance from full forward Brian O'Sullivan kept De La Salle College's dream of retaining their Harty Cup crown alive after they proved too strong for West Waterford Colleges at Fraher Field, Dungarvan, yesterday.
The reigning champions were far too superior for their opponents and by the 26th minute, O'Sullivan had his third and his side's fifth goal and at that stage, it was four Cormac Curran points that had the West Waterford College outfit on the scoreboard.
Curran got the first score from a placed ball on two minutes but it went all downhill from there as O'Sullivan took control and goals on three and nine minutes had the champions in full flight before Stephen Power and Daniel Purcell added further goals as De La Salle went on a goal spree.
Before the victors registered their first point of the game De La Salle scored their fifth goal. By the time referee Brian White sounded the half-time whistle further points from Power, O'Sullivan and Purcell had effectively ended the contest.
The second half was a rather subdued affair that certainly saw De La Salle take their foot of the pedal as they had already coasted their way to a facile victory.
An excellent Padraig Mahony point from play proved a highlight, along with a superb score from Dominic Smyth.
It was all so easy for a De La Salle side that conceded their first score from play in 104 minutes of hurling when Curran landed a point in the second period of the contest. Now the focus is on whether the Waterford college can go onto win yet another Harty cup.
DE LA SALLE COLLEGE: S O'Keeffe; R Cunningham, B Coughlan, O Keevers; N Connors, Philip Mahony (0-1), S Daniels; D Purcell (1-1), E Barrett; J Dillon, N Clifford, P McCarthy; Padraig Mahony (0-1), B O'Sullivan (3-1), S Power (1-3) Subs: P Farrelly for Purcell, K Fitzgerald for Padraig Mahony, D Smith (0-1)for O'Sullivan, I Power for Dillon, G Bambrick (0-1)for Power
WEST WATERFORD COLLEGES: P Prendergast; L Byrnes, S Leahy, P Kiely; K Duggan, S O'Rourke, D Fives; S Kearney, K Geary; P Walsh, L Ryan, P O'Donavan; F Murray, C Curran (0-6), Thomas Walsh (Fourmilewater). Subs: M Cummins for L Byrnes, Colm Curran for Ryan
Referee: B White(Tipperary).
