Jamie Magner hat-trick sees impressive Colman's past St Joseph's

St Joseph’s, Tulla 0-14 

Goals were the order of the day for St Colman’s College, Fermoy as they built on their opening week draw with Midleton CBS by beating reigning Harty Cup champs St Joseph’s, Tulla at Knocklong.

Jamie Magner, who formed part of a very physically able forward line, was again the man for St Colman’s as he hit an impressive tally of 3-5 to help seal his side's qualification for the quarter-finals.

Having notched 11 points last time out, the Killavullen native put the game out of the Clare men’s reach with a clinical first-half hat-trick.

Lorcan O’Connor and Magner swapped frees early on in what was a very entertaining first 20 minutes. By the end of that opening stanza, there was a different story to be told, with goals key to St Colman’s assertion of their dominance.

Magner’s opener came after a mix-up between the St Joseph’s full-back and goalkeeper led to an opportunity for the in-form corner forward. He made no mistake.

His second came shortly after, but this time he had his pal Cillian Tobin to thank. Tobin burst through the backline and saw his shot well-saved by ‘keeper Evan Creaven, but Magner was on-hand to tap home the rebound. That goal opened up a five-point gap between the sides.

It was to get better for the Fermoy outfit, however, with Magner again showing his strength in the tackle and finishing skills to give his side a three-goal lead at the short whistle.

The soft conditions underfoot played into the hands of the bigger outfit, who adapted better to the rough and tumble at Knocklong.

St Joseph’s, to their credit, kept battling against the odds. The impressive free taking of young substitute Jerry O’Connor after the break was key to that.

Any fears of a comeback for St Joseph’s were extinguished by a 38th-minute goal from St Colman’s corner-forward Sean O’Donoghue.

The sides swapped scores right to the end, but the Tulla school were never able to seriously trouble the St Colman’s rearguard.

Scorers for St Joseph’s: J O’Connor (0-6, all frees), L O’Connor (0-3, all frees), S Boyce (0-2), D Fox (0-1), D Moroney (0-1), D Fitzgerald (0-1, free).

Scorers for St Colman’s: J Magner (3-5, 5 frees), S O’Donoghue (1-2), L Óg Hegarty (0-2), L Foley (0-1), M O’Driscoll (0-1), R O’Connor (0-1), G O’Brien (0-1), C O’Leary (0-1).

St Joseph’s: E Creaven (Doora-Barefield); C McNamara (O’ Callaghan Mills), F Ryan (Tulla), C O’Gara (Clooney-Quin); C Hogan (Tulla), E Maxted (Clooney-Quin), P Daly (Feakle); D Moroney (O’Callaghan Mills), E Culloo (Tulla); D Fitzgerald (Sixmilebridge), O O’Connor (Feakle), L O’Connor (Clooney-Quinn); E Mulcahy (Tulla), D Fox (Clooney-Quin), S Boyce (O’Callaghan-Mills).

Subs: J O’Connor (Clooney-Quin) for L O’Connor (ht), J Slattery (Broadford) for E Mulcahy (48).

St Colman’s: S Coughlan (Fermoy); G O’Brien (St Catherine’s), D Cashman (Bride Rovers), F O’Connell (St Catherine); O Fitzgerald (do), J O’Brien (Fermoy), C Hazelwood (Bride Rovers); D Barry (do), R O’Connell (do); M O’Driscoll (Watergrasshill), L Óg Hegarty (Kilara Óg), L Foley (Watergrasshill); S O’Donoghue (St Catherine’s), C Tobin (Bride Rovers), J Magner (Killavullen).

Subs: J Ahern (Bride Rovers) for D Barry (ht), C O’Leary (Watergrasshill) for J Ahern (48), L Roche (Bride Rovers) for C Tobin (52), B Daly (Fermoy) for S O’Donoghue (56), C Twomey for L Foley (59).

Referee: S Carey (Limerick)