Frewen Cup – St Francis Rochestown v St Brendan’s Killarney

St Francis Rochestown 3-12 St Brendan’s Killarney 2-14

St. Francis College Rochestown defeated St. Brendan’s College Killarney by 3-12 to 2-14 in an exciting Munster GAA Post Primary Schools Frewen Cup (Under 16 1/2 A Football) Final played at Mallow on Wednesday afternoon.

St. Francis played against the breeze in the first half but got off to a great start with two early goals to help them to a 2-4 to 0-2 lead after the first quarter of play. St. Brendan’s came more in to the game in the second quarter, outscoring their Cork opponents by 1-5 to 0-2 to cut the deficit to just two points at the interval – St Francis Rochestown 2-6 St Brendan’s Killarney 1-7.

St. Brendan’s dominance continued after the break and they added another goal to take a 2-10 to 2-8 lead heading in to the final quarter. St. Francis College Rochestown were not to be denied and their third goal put them back in front and in the closing stages of normal time, they led by 3-12 to 2-11. St. Brendan’s did not give up without a fight however and scored 3 late points but it wasn’t enough to deny St. Francis College Rochestown their first title in this grade since 1950, winning out on a final scoreline of 3-12 to 2-14.

In addition to bridging a 64 year gap in winning this competition, St. Francis College Rochestown are the first Cork school to win the Frewen Cup since 2002, breaking an 11 year stretch where the trophy for the Munster Under 16 1/2 A Football champions went to schools from the Kingdom.

Afterwards, the St. Francis College Rochestown captain Donnacha Murphy from the Douglas Club accepted the Frewen Cup on behalf of his jubilant team-mates and supporters. Corner-forward Shane Kingston was man of the match scoring 1-9.  St. Francis College Rochestown will now go on to play Connacht champions Rice College Westport (Mayo) in the Masita GAA All-Ireland Post Primary Schools Junior A Football Paul McGirr Cup Semi-Final on Saturday March 22nd at 2:00pm in Gurteen.

Kingston ends Rochestown’s wait

St Francis Rochestown 3-12 St Brendan’s 2-14

Report from the Irish Independent newspaper

Rochestown made an explosive start against St Brendan’s, Killarney with a goal from Ciaran Cormack after 20 seconds. Man of the match Shane Kingston added three quick points and then struck for a well-worked goal as Rochestown led 2-3 to 0-0 after 10 minutes.

St Brendan’s refused to panic and fired over a succession of points, before Adam O’Shea goaled from the penalty spot to leave Rochestown 2-6 to 1-7 ahead at half-time. David Clifford’s goal then pushed the Kerry side ahead for the first time, 2-8 to 2-7.

Points from Billy Courtney and Michael Casey had them three clear with 10 minutes left, but Sam Collins’ 53rd-minute goal put Rochestown in control, and they just held on.

Scorers – Rochestown: S Kingston 1-9 (3fs), C Cormack 1-1, S Collins 1-0, K O Donovan, S Powter 0-1 each. St Brendan’s: A O’Shea 1-2 (1-0 pen, 1f), D Clifford 1-1, B Courtney (3fs), M Casey 0-4 each, E Cronin 0-2, D Moynihan 0-1

St Francis, Rochestown – D O’Mahony; D Murphy, J Cashman, N Ward; K O’Donovan, S Powter, N Quirke; E O Brien, E Ryle; D Stack, C Denn, B Flahive; S Kingston, C McCormack, S Collins Subs: J McCarthy for C Denn (50)

St Brendan’s – D Carroll; C O’Donoghue, D O’Brien, C Courtney; D Naughton, R Buckley, W Courtney; B Courtney, D Shaw; D Moynihan, L O’Donoghue, P McCarthy; D Clifford, M Casey, A O’Shea Subs: C O’Shea for R Buckley (3), E Cronin for D Shaw (11), M Moynihan for L O’Donoghue (BC, 54)

Ref – D O’Mahony (Tipperary)

Frewen Cup Winners @Munstergaa @Rocogaa pic.twitter.com/5mkE4rYnO2

— Jane (@RebelsAbuAbuAbu) March 19, 2014