Holy Rosary senior squad aim to book spot in final

Amazingly, the last Galway team to win this competition was Coláiste Einde way back in 1981, defeating Portlaoise 1-11 to 1-4, while St. Paul’s of Oughterard was the last to contest a decider when losing to St. Pius X of Magherfelt in 2009.

Managed by Corofin’s Aidan Donnellan, who is assisted by Jonathan Ryan (Kilkerrin/Clonberne), Holy Rosary Mountbellew have contested this stage of the ‘B’ and ‘C’ competitions in the past but have yet to qualify for an All-Ireland final.

However, Donnellan is optimistic, noting HRC has plenty of quality in its side. Centre-half back Noel McDonagh was a Galway minor in 2013 while captain and midfielder Michael Daly, also a county minor last year, and forwards Eoin Finnerty andColm Mannion are all part of the current Galway set-up.

“We have a solid defence; we haven’t conceded all that much in any of our games,” continued Donnellan. “We conceded 1-5 against Headford (1-10 v 1-5), the same against St. Nathy’s (1-9 v 1-5), eight points against St. Aloysius (0-12 v 0-8) and seven points [against St. Louis Kiltimagh] in the Connacht final (0-9 v 0-7). So, our defence has been the foundation for our success.”

For their part, Coláiste Choilm claimed the Munster title with a 2-10 to 0-11 victory over Hamilton HS Bandon after the original fixture finished with the sides tied at 1-10 apiece.

In the semi-final, they defeated Pobail Scoil Inbhear Sceine of Kenmare 2-14 to 2-12, having already accounted for St. Colman’s, Abbey CBS and Rathmore by scoring an average of 5-12 in those early round games on route to the penultimate stages of their provincial campaign.

In addition, Coláiste Choilm won the Cork Post Primary Schools ‘A’ final with a 4-13 to 1-18 victory over De La Salle, Macroom, which certainly underlines they have the ability to net goals at will.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.