St Pats lose out in Leinster final thriller Having lost their Leinster crown to the combined Dundalk schools in the previous campaign, St Patricks Classical School were determined to make amends this year and, in the end, they were somewhat unlucky not to re-emerge as Leinster champions. Their final confrontation with St Mels of Longford was arguably the best colleges final in recent years and remains a strong contender for the 'game of the year'. The campaign began in early February when Patrician College Newbridge provided the opposition in Newbridge. The Kildare students were no match for their Meath counterparts as St Pats romped to a 15 point victory, 3-13 to 0-7. Even though their half-time lead was only three points there was little doubt about the eventual outcome. Newbridge failed to score in the entire second half as St Pats gained total domination. Sean Stephens excelled at centre-field, James Finnerty finished as top scorer with 2-1 and there were eye-catching displays from Cian Ward, Henry Finnegan, Stephen O'Toole and Kevin Mulvaney. St Declans of Cabra caused a shock by eliminating the defending champions Dundalk Schools and the Dublin students were the quarter-final opponents at Pairc Tailteann. St Pats chalked up another easy win but joint coaches Colm O'Rourke and Kevin Hourihane were no wiser in relation to their team's overall potential. It was mostly one-way traffic as St Pats raced into a four point lead in the first 10 minutes. Kevin Mulvaney, Stephen O'Toole, Cian Ward and Andrew Hayes were all on target before St Declans opened their account. At half-time it was 0-7 to 0-2 and St Declans could only manage two further points after the break. The game's only goal came six minutes into the second half when the Dublin goalie failed to hold on to a Henry Finnegan effort and the ball ended up in the back of the net. The final score was St Pats 1-12 St Declans 0-4. Dr Cullen Park in Carlow was the venue for the semi-final clash with St Peters of Wexford. St Pats came out on top without impressing and their first half display gave O'Rourke and Hourihane plenty of reason for pessimism. Despite the sunny conditions there was a strong breeze blowing down the pitch and the Navan students had first benefit of it. They failed to take advantage, kicked a succession of morale-sapping wides and only led by four points at half-time. St Pats had registered three wides before James Finnerty from Castletown opened their account in the fourth minute. Cian Ward from Wolfe Tones pointed two frees and it wasn't until the 21st minute that St Peters first score arrived. St Pats upped the tempo and their degree of accuracy on the run-in to half-time and led by 0-6 to 0-2 at the break. It didn't appear to be enough against what looked like a useful St Peters team and the absence of Henry Finnegan through suspension was also proving to be quite a handicap. However, St Peters were similarly wasteful in the second half and with the Navanmen defending superbly, (Kevin Reilly and Ciaran Kenny were superb), they rarely looked like gaining parity on the scoreboard. Sean Stephens and Barry Regan were dominant at centre-field and with the score at 0-9 to 0-5 and the game entering the closing stages, the midfielders started the move that clinched victory. In a classic counter-attack, Stephens picked up a clearance and passed to Regan who delivered to his O'Mahonys club colleague Stephen O'Toole. He gave it to James Finnerty who found Kevin Galligan and his pass set up Andrew Hayes for a brilliantly constructed goal. Incredibly, there were two further goals in injury time ... Cian Ward made it 2-9 to 0-5 points before St Peters eventually breached the Navan defence on the stroke of full-time. The final score was St Pats 2-9 St Peters 1-5. Old rivals St Mels of Longford had staged a dramatic recovery in their semi-final win over St Josephs of Rochfordbridge. They were 10 points behind at one stage and down to fourteen men but still managed to qualify for yet another final. The final was somewhat unusual in terms of it's timing and venue, it was played on a Wednesday at the St Lomans grounds in Mullingar but such was the quality of the game and the excitement generated that there's an argument for staging future finals on Wednesdays in St Lomans. The setting turned out to be perfect and on a gloriously sunny march afternoon, the two teams contrived to produce a fabulous encounter. There were 33 scores in total with St Pats registering 17 to St Mels 16...but St Mels got the all-important goals from fewer opportunities. St Pats had no fewer than five such opportunities but failed to find the net and therein lay the reason for their defeat. It was a breath-taking encounter with St Pats getting away to a promising start with points from Andrew Hayes and James Finnerty. However, even at such an early stage St Pats missed a couple of opportunities thus allowing St Mels to settle. The Longford boys took control and registered 1-4 without reply as St Pats struggled. In hindsight, it can be argued that the games defining moment came just before the St Mels goal. Andy Hayes found himself in a good goal-scoring position but the opposing goalie made a tremendous save and within a minute David Jennings was picking the ball out of the St Pats net ... a probable turnaround of six points! Sean Stephens and Cian Ward brought the Meathmen back to within a goal and although St Mels added three points, Cian Ward (two), Hayes and Dunderry's Lee Mulligan reduced the defecit to two points at the interval...St Mels 1-7 St Pats 0-8. The early stages of the second half were always going to be crucial and it was St Mels who made the greater impact on the resumption. The boys in blue soon established a commanding six point lead before St Pats got to grips with the situation. With much of the inspiration coming from Rathkenny substitute John Donegan and from Walterstown's Patrick Murray the revival got under way. Cian Ward displayed great accuracy from frees ... and with James Finnerty, Sean Stephens, Stephen O'Toole and Barry Regan causing problems for the opposition, St Pats eventually drew level and with the game entering it's closing stages Barry Regan gave St Pats what looked like a match-winning lead, 0-17 to 1-13. And then ... disaster. A lapse in concentration led to St Mels fullforward Joe O'Brien scoring his second goal and they went on to add a further point to emerge as winners on a 2-14 to 0-17 scoreline. It had been a terrific encounter which, with a bit of luck, St Pats could have won. But the sobering thought for Leinster Colleges football was the subsequent trouncing that St Mels received from St Jarlaths of Tuam in the All-Ireland semi-final. The St Pats team in the Leinster final was; David Jennings (Dunderry), Cormac Reilly (O'Mahonys), Kevin Reilly (O'Mahonys), Andrew Curry (Skryne), Patrick Murray (Walterstown), Ciaran Kenny (Simonstown Gaels), Gary O'Brien (O'Mahonys), Kevin Galligan (St Ultans), Barry Regan (O'Mahonys) Stephen O'Toole (O'Mahonys), Sean Stephens (Dunsany) Captain, Andrew Hayes (Nobber), Lee Mulligan (Dunderry), Cian Ward (Wolfe Tones) and James Finnerty (Castletown). Substitutes; John Donegan (Rathkenny), Kevin Mulvaney (Skryne) and Shane Crosby (O'Mahonys). Dunshaughlin Community College win Leinster B title Dunshaughlin is currently the buzz-word for success in Meath football. The bustling village on the Navan-Dublin road has established itself as the current home of football in the county with three Keegan Cup successes and a Leinster Club title to prove the point. It has been argued that Dunshaughlin's standing was bound to improve on account of the growing population but the team that has brought so much success in recent years is almost 100% homegrown and most of the players learned the skills of the game at the local national school where the Principal, Jim Gilligan, has inspired in them a great pride in the Black and Amber jersey. The newcomers have yet to make an impact but that could be about to change as evidenced by the success of the Community College in this year's Leinster Championship. The signs were promising on the day that they beat a fancied St Olivers Drogheda team by 3-15 to 1-12. With the breeze at their backs they settled quickly and were well in control at half-time when they had established a 10 point lead, 0-13 to 0-3. They found it much more difficult in the second half and when St Olivers moved to within five points the game was up for grabs. However goals from Diarmuid Donoghue, Andrew Eiffe and Alan McLoughlin secured victory. Michael Aherne and David Devereux excelled while others to shine were Ciaran Kenny, Ciaran Farrelly and Robert Campion. Ballymahon Vocational School were next on the list in the semi-final in the semi-final at Longwood. Caoimhin King excelled when Dunshaughlin were playing against the breeze in the first half and he received substantial support from Cathal Flaherty and David McMahon. Goalie James Everard also did well. Ballymahon led by only a point at half-time but scored two goals early in the second half to leave Dunshaughlin with a mountain to climb. Points from Donal Kirwan, King and Kevin Ward brought them back into contention and a goal from Ciaran Hoey brought the sides level with five minutes remaining ... Kirwan scored the winning point. The Meath boys held out under extreme pressure to qualify to meet Bridgetown of Wexford in the final. The final was played at Dr Cullen Park in Carlow where the Dunshaughlin students faced a physically stronger Bridgetown team. Dunshaughlin counteracted with a speedy and skilful display which saw them emerge victorious on a 1-10 to 0-4 scoreline. Donal Kirwan showed the way in the first half with a selection of well-taken points while Cormac Dempsey and Kevin Ward were also on target as a 4 point lead, 0-7 to 0-3, was established at the break. The third quarter was always going to be vital and when Dunshaughlin managed to weather the Bridgetown storm they looked likely winners. Kevin Ward and Alan Hogan were in fine form, picking up abundant possession out the field, and with eight minutes remaining, Colm Kelly wrapped it up with a superb goal after running on to Donal Kirwan pass. The final score was Dunshaughlin 1-10, Bridgetown 0-4. Alan Hogan, Kevin Ward and Donal Kirwan excelled while Ciaran Kenny, Cathal Flaherty, Michael Ahern, Diarmuid Brennan and Tony McGuane also caught the eye. The team was; J Everard, D Brennan, M Aherne, C Kenny, D McMahon, C Flaherty, C Hoey, C King, T McGuane, C Dempsey, D Kirwan, K Ward, C Kelly, D Devereux and A Hogan subs ... J Minnock, R Gilsenan, K Fitzmaurice and V McEntyre. St. Peters College Dunboyne are Leinster senior champions for the first time There was a time when it was another of Meath's sleepy little rural villages ... but not any more. Dunboyne has been expanding for some time and it's proximity to Dublin has seen it's population snowball in recent years. The local gaa club has had to meet the needs of it's ever-increasing members and proof that it is well up to the task was provided with the junior, intermediate and senior championship victories within a 10 year period, 1989-1998. Those successes have had a knock-on effect and perhaps this year's Leinster Vocational Schools victory owes as much to recent traditions as it does to the burgeoning population. The Meath title was captured with an emphatic win over Ashbourne Community School, 2-15 to 1-7. Dunboyne had first use of the strong breeze and raced into a 0-12 to 1-4 interval lead. Paul Fagan, Johnny O'Connor and Gerry Gallagher were the key players as the five point lead was established and with Thomas Clarke dominating the centre-field exchanges in the second half Dunboyne eventually saw off the challenge of the spirited Ashbourne students. The goals came from Johnny O'Connor and substitute David Keogh. The Meath boys played Dublin champs Lucan in the first round of the Leinster championship. The game, which was played in Leixlip, was comfortably won by Dunboyne, 3-10 to 1-4. "We were surprised by Lucan because they are usually very strong. We started well though and got the win," recalls manager Alan Mongey. Mongey, who is a Slane native, had to prepare his team for the much-fancied Athlone Community College in the quarter-finals. The Westmeath side were tipped by many to win the provincial championship this year, but Dunboyne came out on top, 3-8 to 2-11. St Peter's were actually five points down with seven minutes remaining but stunned Athlone with 2-1 to take the victory. Johnny O'Connor hit 1-1 while the second goal came from Gerry Gallagher. "That was a great comeback against Athlone. We were really up against it in the final ten minutes and it looked like we were in trouble. But the boys didn't give up and we got the important goals," says Mongey. "The victory gave the players a lot of confidence and they were all looking forward to the semi-final against Maynooth Post Primary." Dunboyne won by ten points, 3-11 to 0-10, to earn a crack at Tullow in the final. "It was very tight at the start against Maynooth but the three goals swung the game in our favour. David Clarke scored a remarkable 30-yard volley." Six foot seven full-forward Gerry Gallagher also found the net while the third goal came from Sean McGarrell. The brilliant Johnny O'Connor scored six points. The Leinster final against the Carlow side was played in Newbridge, with Dunboyne's physical strength proving decisive as they claimed the provincial title for the first time, 3-9 to 1-12. Dunboyne senior hurler Paul Fagan, former Dublin under-16 footballer Andrew Brady and Meath minor hurler Stephen Moran registered the goals. Causeway Community School of Kerry were the All-Ireland semi-final opponents in Nenagh and there was something of a shock in store for the Dunboyne contingent when the game was played on a back pitch rather than on the main pitch at McDonagh Park. But when Johnny O'Connor registered the first point the omens looked bright for the Leinster champions. The point helped to steady the Dunboyne students and it was their Causeway counterparts who struggled to find the range even though the outfield exchanges were being evenly contested. With O'Connor again on target, as well as Stephen Moran and Gerry Gallagher, Dunboyne gradually established a two point lead by half-time, 0-5 to 0-3. The third quarter turned out to be something of a disaster for the Meathmen who fell four points in arrears. As the game entered the closing stages, Causeway led by five points but points from frees by Johnny O'Connor and another from Sean McGarrell brought Dunboyne back into contention. The late effort was not enough however and the Kerrymen held out for a two point victory, 1-9 to 0-10. Johnny O'Connor accounted for 0-7 while the remaining points came from Sean McGarrell, Stephen Moran and Gerry Gallagher. Causeway went on to record an impressive win over the Peter Canavan-trained Holy Trinity of Cookstown in the All-Ireland final. "We were all disappointed after that defeat and although they were favourites we were hopeful of causing an upset. They were every strong and had four or five Kerry minor footballers. "Overall though it was an excellent year for the school. A lot of the credit has to go to the players themselves. They hadn't won anything at under-16 and many of them had not won anything with Dunboyne either. "So they put in a lot of work this year. They were very determined to win something and we even brought them in over mid-term breaks for training. They were a super bunch of lads and hopefully the school can go on and build on this now," concluded Mongey. The Dunboyne team that won the Meath championship was; C Moore, P Roche, D Watters, J Crehan, P McGlynn, S McKenna, A Murray, S McGarrell, T Clarke, S Moran, A Brady, P Fagan, D Clarke, G Gallagher and J O'Connor. Substitutes; R Ardiff, D Keogh and D Keane. Poballscoil Chiarain Kells unlucky to lose out ln Junior B final So near and yet so far! Pobailscoil Chiarain of Kells were hoping to atone for their senior's defeat by Ashbourne when they took on St Finians of Mullingar in the north Leinster Junior football B final at Longwood in mid-February. The Kells students were first to settle with two points from Colm Cooper and another from Shane Butler helping them to an early advantage. The outlook got even better when St Finians missed a penalty but to their credit, the Mullingar students overcame that setback and soon began to dominate. On the run in to half-time, they breached the Kells defence for a goal which gave them an interval lead of 1-4 to 0-5. St Finians stretched their lead to four points early in the second half but a goal from centre-field man Stephen Sheppard brought Kells back into contention. It was nip and tuck at this stage with St Finians going two points clear again before a point from corner-forward Simon Deevey left the minimum between the teams. Sheppard equalised for Kells and it looked as if the game would go to extra-time before St Finians corner-forward Conrad Reilly grabbed a last gasp winner. It was a bitterly disappointing defeat for the Kellsmen and their coaches Matthew Coldrick and Ger O'Sullivan but the team showed great heart when battling back at the three-quarter-stage and they could be considered a little unlucky not to have forced to game to extra-time. The team was; A Carroll, B Smyth, I Maguire, D Reilly, P Carry, M Coleman, E Ryan, S Sheppard, S Butler, C Cooper, P Tormey, M Barrett, B Hanlon, B Donnelly and S Deevy. Substitute; S McManus. Meath Vocational Schools flop in title defence Having won the Leinster Vocational Schools title in 2002 for the first time in several years, hopes were high that a new era was about to dawn for Royal County teams in this competition. And the optimism appeared to be well-founded with this year's team being built around five players who won provincial medals in the previous year. The availability of Caoimhin King, David McGoldrick, Graham Dillon, Cormac McGill and Sean McGarrell was seen as a substantial boost but the team failed to live up to expectations and made an ignominious exit against Longford at the first hurdle. Subsequent events proved that Longford were a decent team ... they went on to succeed Meath as Leinster Champions ... but it is rare for any Meath team to lose to any Longford team by seventeen points! It's scarcely acceptable either! The game was played in Ballymahon in January and it was Longford who got away to the brighter start. Johnny O'Connor was picking the ball out of his net after only six minutes and Longford went on to establish a commanding lead at half-time, 1-6 to 0-1. Meath's point came from a free by David McGoldrick. Although several changes were made by the selectors things did not improve for Meath and their second half display was every bit as disappointing as the first. Longford added another goal eight minutes after the resumption and David Rowley pointed a '45 Meath were unable to respond. He also scored Meath's only other point in the closing stages but by that stage Longford were already looking forward to their next outing. David Rowley, Caoimhin King, David McMahon, David Waters, David McGoldrick and Cormac McGill came closest to matching their opponents but this was a really comprehensive defeat for the boys in green and gold. The final score was 2-14 to 0-3. The team was; J O'Connor, D McMahon, C McGill, D Watters, T Clarke, C King, N Farrell, R O'Connor, S McGarrell, D Devereux, D Rowley, M Brennan, S Moran, D McGoldrick and G Dillon. Substitutes; D Kirwan, P Traynor, R McHugh, K Ennis and A O'Brien. Ashbourne Community School win north Leinster B title It was an all Meath affair in the final of the north Leinster Schools SF B League with Ashbourne Community School coming out on top against Pobalscoil Chiarain of Kells on a 0-11 to 1-6 scoreline at Pairc Tailteann. It was an outcome that was not generally envisaged as the Kells students had come out on top when the teams had met earlier in the competition. And the game appeared to be going along expected lines when the boys in Maroon led by 1-6 to 0-4 early in the second half. But Ashbourne stuck to their task and with the breeze at their backs they scored seven unanswered points while conceding none to take the title for the first time. Four of the points came from frees by captain David McGoldrick (three of which were earned by impressive substitute Adam Fitzgerald) while Rory O'Connor was also on target from a placed ball. And with victory in sight wing forward Wayne Cantwell scored two great points from play to leave the final score, 0-11 to 1-6. Although most of the Ashbourne players will look back on the team's second half performance as the winning factor, it can be argued that the platform for the victory was laid when playing against the elements in the first half. They trailed by just one point at the break, 0-5 to 0-4 with the scores coming from David McGoldrick, James Deegan, Joe Long and Rory O'Connor. When the Kells boys scored a goal and a point in the first few minutes of the second half, Ashbourne looked to be in trouble but, to their credit, they refused to throw in the towel and were eventually rewarded for their persistence. The winning team was; Cian Kelly, Kevin Lanigan, Cormac McGill, Maurice Carberry, Niall Farrell, Simon McDermott, Colm O'Mealoid, Rory O'Connor, Joey Long, Wayne Cantwell, James Deegan, Robert Gillett, Jeff Cantwell, David McGoldrick and Gavin Tormey. Substitute; Adam Fitzgerald. The joint team managers were Joe Gibney and Finian O'Connor. Tweet

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