All-Ireland Colleges Senior A Football Final – St. Colmans Newry 1-18 St. Brendans Killarney 3-5

St. Colmans Newry defeated St. Brendans Killarney by 1-18 to 3-5 in the All-Ireland Colleges Senior A Football Final on Saturday at Croke Park.

St Colmans Bask In Hogan Cup Glory

From the Down GAA web site

Crowds will gather on the Armagh Road this evening as Niall Mc Parland carries the coveted Hogan Cup to the gates of St Colmans after a supreme performance by the Violet Hill College. Whilst St Colmans had the lionshare of possession through the first half, leading 0-9 to 1-1, they did go into the interval wondering if they would live to rue the chances they missed in the first period. A mixture of nerves and a wind in their faces meant that the College were finding it difficult to register on the scoreboard at GAA headquarters. As the game wore on though, St Colmans grew in confidence and began to make their dominance count. Sub Shay McCartan scored St Colmans goal on 54 minutes with a rebounded shot following fellow subsititute Ross McGarrys missed penalty. Bryansfords Chris Clarke was awarded Man Of The Match and the accolade was thoroughly deserved. Chris was majestic at centre half forward and scored five sublime points from dead ball and open play alike. Clarke, along with Colin Stevenson (0-2), Caolan Mooney (0-3) and Kilcoo man Jerome Johnston (0-4) led what was a formidible forward line.

Ruairi Lively at corner back was another who stood out. The Clonduff man has another year at this level but looked every bit the assured player and made sure Kilarneys inside forward line didnt dominate the way they had against St Pats Navan. Niall Mc Parland becomes the 7th captain to return Hogan Cup to Violet Hill, Noel Moore having been the first to captain the Newry school to success at this level, in 1967.

Unfortunately today was not a double celebration for Down schools as St Malachys were beaten by Clonakilty on a scoreline 11-8. This defeat brings to an end an unbeaten run of 26 games for the Castlewellan side who have flown the flag for Down in All Ireland Finals for the last three years-a truly remarkable feat. No doubt St Malachys will return next year with renewed vigour. PJ Magees teams are always well coached and todays performance was another disciplined and hard working display which possibly deserved a favourable result. For now the people of Down must content themselves with celebrating the outstanding achievements of St Colmans College Newry.