Extra-time agony for brave Athenry boys in epic battle
St Kieran’s, Kilkenny 1-19
Pres Athenry 1-18
(After extra-time)
IF this was to be the last ever All-Ireland PPS Junior ‘A’ final — as the powers-that-be have indicated it to be — then the competition got one hell of a send-off. However, if the hurling schools around the country are to fight for the championship to remain in place, then, equally, this decider has provided the strongest argument for its retention.
That they played in one of the best deciders in recent years will be of little consolation to the boys of Pres. Athenry, who, having appeared to have lost this game in normal time, then seemed to have won it in the first period of extra-time, before they lost it again when conceding the last two scores of this epic late on.
Yet, had this absorbing contest been measured on heart and courage alone, the Galway college would surely have edged it. Instead, what ultimately decided the outcome was the concession of a free in injury-time in the second period of extra-time, a margin of defeat commonly known as a hair’s breadth.
Arguably the best point of entry into this reflection on the 2019 All-Ireland PPS Junior ‘A’ final is the 47th minute, when the lively Padraig Lennon fired over a neat point to put St. Kieran’s College six points up, 1-14 to 1-8. It appeared as if the Connacht champions’ race was run.
However, in a remarkable final quarter, in which the intensity levels raised substantially, Pres. Athenry hit six points without reply in an eight-minute spell to gain parity with their illustrious rivals.
Shaun Gillian hit the first of these; the excellent Gavin Lee added three more, two from frees and another from play, after emerging triumphantly out of a ruck; while wing-back Matthew Tierney and the impish Nigel Kelly, following a run that typified Pres. Athenry’s persistence, supplied the remainder.
Pres. Athenry were in a rhythm now, and they could have — and possibly should have — taken the lead when further opportunities presented themselves to Gilligan and Ryan O’Donnell in the closing stages. That said, St. Kieran’s, too, had their chances, with Harry Shine putting a free wide in the first minute of injury-time before Dara Mason left a long range free short over two minutes later.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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