The Leinster Colleges SF 'A' championship crown continues to elude the four competing Westmeath schools, despite some encouraging performances from St. Joseph's, Marist and St. Mary's CBS in particular. Just as eventual Hogan Cup winners St. Pat's of Navan had done in 2004, this year's All-Ireland champions Knockbeg College, Carlow put a huge dent in the ambitions of Westmeath teams in this season's Leinster SF 'A' championship. Three of the four competing Westmeath schools - Moate CS, Marist College and St. Joseph's - were forced to give second best to the Carlow/Laois border outfit. And while Knockbeg didn't end the interests of Moate CS or Marist College, they dealt a fatal blow to St. Joseph's hopes of reaching their first provincial final. Despite having made great strides in recent years, the Rochfortbridge school are in danger of becoming the 'nearly men' of the Leinster colleges scene after they lost their third semi-final in as many years. This year was perhaps their best chance to progress to the Leinster final, but a two-point defeat to a Knockbeg team that had Laois starlet Donie Brennan sent off in the early stages of the game saw their season end on a disappointing note. There was a new format to this year's championship which guaranteed every team at least two games. Moate Community School, who were jointly managed by Liam Claffey and Dessie Dolan, were the first Westmeath team to exit the championship. The aforementioned Donie Brennan ran riot as they succumbed to Knockbeg by 1-9 to 1-17 in the first round proper at Hogan Park. In the qualifiers, Moate paid the price for a sluggish start when losing to Carlow Colleges by 0-9 to 1-12. Knockbeg's win over Moate earned them a meeting with John Parker's Marist team who had defeated both St. Peter's, Wexford and Patrician College, Newbridge in their previous two outings, and had also reached the North Leinster League final which they lost to St. Pat's of Navan. Marist looked set for victory when goals from Eoin McCormack and Paul Mulvihill had them in front with time almost up. But a Ciaran Hennessy point forced extra-time, during which David Conway scored a goal for Knockbeg who eventually ran out winners by 1-14 to 3-3. Marist bounced back to beat Gormanston College and Carlow Colleges in the qualifiers to earn a quarter-final date with old rivals St. Mel's of Longford. A close game was anticipated, but Mel's gained the upper hand early on and went on to record a comfortable victory. Like Moate, St. Mary's CBS, Mullingar made a first round exit at the hands of Good Counsel, New Ross. It was a hugely frustrating defeat for Frank Dillon's charges who led by 1-5 to 1-1 early in the second half but still ended up losing 1-6 to 2-6. All was not lost, however, for St. Mary's who embrac-ed the qualifying series. They defeated Patrician College by 0-10 to 1-4 before recording an emphatic 4-12 to 0-6 victory over St. Peter's of Wexford. A third win over Moyne Community School saw them qualify for a quarter-final showdown with local rivals St. Joseph's. More on that later. St. Joseph's were once again the pick of the Westmeath colleges, qualifying for the semi-final on the back of four straight wins. Under the guidance of former Kildare defender Cormac Davey - who took over the managerial reins from Luke Dempsey - the Roch-fortbridge school opened their campaign with a 2-5 to 0-5 victory over Franciscan College. Goals from Andy Devine, AJ Murray and Danny Mooney propelled them to a 3-11 to 1-4 victory over St. Peter's in the second round and that set the scene for an all-Westmeath quarter-final against St. Mary's at St. Loman's. In a game that was all about local pride, St. Joseph's emerged as 0-7 to 0-5 winners following a tremendous battle. Heavy rain and strong wind was the dominating factor in this match and was instrumental in the fact that St. Joseph's failed to score in the second half, even though it did not affect the outcome. A flurry of early points from Ken Casey and Niall Kilcoyne helped the Rochfortbridge men to a 0-5 to no score lead after 15 minutes of play. In fact, it took St. Mary's 17 minutes to open their account when Sean Whelan found the target, but when Casey and Alan Hannon replied with further St. Joseph's scores, the eventual winners led comfortably at the break, 0-7 to 0-1. The 'Bridge decided to shut up shop in the second half as they bolstered their defence with numbers and although St. Mary's got early scores through Whelan and Robbie Lynch, they never looked like getting the goal they so badly required. Late scores from Gary Lynam and Trevor John Gonoud narrowed the gap, and although referee Peter Daly played five minutes of injury-time, St. Joseph's held on for a narrow win. As the only Westmeath school to reach the provincial semi-final, St. Joseph's carried the hopes of the county when they faced Chris Conway's Knockbeg College - who had knocked out St. Pat's in the previous round - at O'Moore Park, Portlaoise in late February. But in a stormy encounter, St. Joseph's found themselves chasing the game after early goals from Sean O'Shea on two minutes and Donie Brennan from a penalty in the fifth minute put Knockbeg firmly in the driving seat. The contest reached boiling point in the eighth minute when Laois prodigy Brennan was dismissed along with St. Joseph's wing back Darren Price by Meath referee David Coldrick. Brennan's dismissal was a body blow to Knockbeg, while providing St. Joseph's with a major lift at the same time. After Niall Kilcoyne had opened their account, the Westmeath school were brought right back into contention when full forward Ken Casey landed four points in quick succession. Paddy Byrne and Alan Giles traded points before David Conway and Colin Doran pointed to leave Knockbeg 2-3 to 0-6 ahead at the interval. Two more scores from Casey made it a one point game shortly after the restart before Simon Shortall pointed to put Knockbeg two clear again. With Casey unerring from placed balls, the 'Bridge narrowed the gap to the minimum on a couple of occasions as the half wore on but, crucially, they were unable to gain parity and a late score from substitute James Brennan sealed a 2-7 to 0-11 victory for Knockbeg and ended St. Joseph's hopes for another year. The St. Joseph's, Rochfortbridge team which lost to Knockbeg College was: Phil O'Connell; Glen O'Connell, Jack Hogan, Ronan Doyle; Darren Price, Ronan Foley, Kevin Reid; Stephen Cole, Brian Cassidy; Alan Hannon, AJ Murray, Niall Kilcoyne (0-1); Andy Devine, Ken Casey (0-9), Alan Giles (0-1). Subs used: Fintan O'Reilly, John McNamara and Danny Mooney. Tweet

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