Write a commentSt Colman’s College collected their 7th All Ireland Colleges’ Senior Football title with a stylish and convincing win over Munster rivals St Brendan’s Killarney at a sunny Croke Park.
Led by Niall McParland from midfield and by TG4 Man-of-the-match Chris Clarke from centre forward, the Newry team put on an exhibition of inter-passing, movement and accuracy to completely outgun their tenacious rivals.
Despite some early range-finding shots and the resultant 6 wides in the first quarter, the forward line soon found the target and by the 20th minute the combination of Chris Clarke and Caolan Mooney had registered five points to Gary O’Leary’s solitary point for Killarney. Passage after passage of free-flowing football saw Colin Stevenson and then Jerome Johnston contribute neat points, the latter a fine movement from defence via Chris Clarke ending with a fisted score. St Brendan’s remained threatening however and when corner forward Jeff O’Donoghue’s progress was halted in the small rectangle, David O’Sullivan coolly netted the resultant penalty. St Colman’s were not deterred and two further points from Chris Clarke, one after he had himself fielded spectacularly , left the Ulster Champions ahead 0-09 to 1-01 at half time.
Despite Jeff O’Donoghue’s fisted point in the opening minute, the second half followed a similar pattern to the first with Jerome Johnston adding two well-struck points in the first 4 minutes. Mooney, Stevenson, McParland, McGarry (direct from a 45) and Jerome Johnston all added points as Colman’s cruised to a 13 point lead. A goalmouth scramble led to a second penalty for St Brendan’s which again David O’Sullivan dispatched expertly but the pace of Shay McCartan, just introduced from the bench, almost immediately undid the St Brendan’s defence at the expense of a penalty. Ross McGarry’s shot was well saved by David Gleeson in the Killarney goal but the defence lost possession as they attempted to clear the ball and Burnley-bound McCartan shot to the net to effectively end the game as a contest. Despite the introduction of a full quota of substitutes, St Colman’s did manage further points from Ryan Johnston and finally, fittingly, from team captain Niall McParland. Tom Morairty’s late goal and 2 Jeff O’Donoghue points did add respectability to the final scoreline but St Colman’s were comprehensive and deserving winners and All Ireland Champions for the first time since 1998 and for the seventh time in all.
Final Score: St Colman’s Newry 1-18; St Brendan’s Killarney 3-05
Scorers: St Colman’s: Chris Clarke0-05;Jerome Johnston 0-04; Caolan Mooney 0-03; Shay McCartan 1-00; Colin Stevenson 1-02; Niall McParland 0-02; Ryan Johnston 0-01; and Ross McGarry 0-01 St Brendan’s : David O’Sullivan 2-00; Tom Moriarty1-00; Jeff O’Donoghue 0-03 and Gary O’Leary 0-02.
