Athenry boys cruise home to regain Connacht crown

COLÁISTE BHAILE CHLÁIR 0-9               

By Kevin Egan at Duggan Park

SINCE St. Flannan’s beat St. Kieran’s College in the first ever Croke Cup final in 1944, the All-Ireland Colleges hurling title has been something of an exclusive club.

Those two schools, both of which remain very much in the running for this year’s title, have shared 39 of the 70 titles between them, while four more schools account for 18 of the other 31.

It’s an exclusive club, and no-one has knocked on the door without gaining access more often than Presentation College, who have now won 14 Connacht titles and reached four All-Ireland deciders.

To frame last Friday night’s provincial decider win through the prism of the All-Ireland race as opposed to viewing it as a Connacht crown in its own right might seem a little harsh, but that is where the Athenry school have set the bar now, and even the most ardent Coláiste Bhaile Chláir (CBC) supporters would have to acknowledge that this game in Duggan Park was something closer to a coronation than a contest.

Those who travelled east along the M6 to take in this final would have either hoped for, or feared, that type of outcome, depending on their perspective. Presentation may have stumbled through their two group games in October, but they were a completely different proposition when they took on CBC in Raheen at the end of November, and since then they have looked head and shoulders above their rivals in the west.

How their form holds up against St. Flannan’s next time out will be another matter entirely, but it would be very difficult to pick holes in their progress so far.

Even with Galway senior panellist Aaron Niland unavailable, Paul Hoban’s side were in complete control of this fixture from start to finish, and they didn’t miss his scoring power either with Ciarán Leen and Jason Rabbitte imperious along the spine of the attack.

CBC were never less than wholehearted in their resistance but while there were a handful of individual battles that were both fascinating and closely-fought, there were plenty more where they were overpowered, and that trend was established straight away.

Presentation had four points on the board before CBC even got a shot away at the Town End goalposts, and the closer we got to Chris Callanan’s goal, the harder CBC were finding it to simply get their hands on the sliotar.

Leen struck the first of his ten points while fellow members of the half-forward line, Daragh Kearney and Eathan O’Brien, split the uprights from open play in that quartet of points. Meanwhile CBC’s first attempt, struck by the lively Cormac Feeney, was met with a brilliant block by Lucas Keane, and their second was a long-range free that dropped short.

Pictured: Shay Brady of Presentation College, Athenry tries to fend off the challenge of Coláiste Bhaile Chláir's Eanna Flaherty during the Connacht PPS Senior A Hurling Final at Duggan Park. Photo: Joe Keane.