St Kieran's too strong for Pres in Croke Cup final

CHAMPIONS AGAIN: St Kierans win 24th title as they defeat Presentation College Athenry. Pic: by Stephen Marken/Sportsfile

St Kierans College 3-13 Presentation College, Athenry 0-12 

Beaten in last year's Croke Cup decider, and more recently in last month's Leinster final, St Kieran's College have bounced back to win yet another All-Ireland colleges title, their 24th.

Goals from Anthony Ireland Wall, Donagh Murphy and Ted Dunne, in what was the Kilkenny school's eighth consecutive national decider, proved decisive at Croke Park.

Despite last year's final loss to Ardscoil Ris, it is still a third success at this level for St Kieran's in four seasons and, remarkably, a sixth in eight seasons.

To add to the sense of deja vu, and Athenry's agony, they defeated the westerners in the 2018 and 2019 finals too.

Pres did take an early 0-4 to 0-2 lead but manager Cathal Moore could have little complaints overall about the result with St Kieran's the more powerful and experienced of the two teams.

Mind you, it was one of the slightest players on the St Kieran's team, Rory Glynn, who put them on their way to the 24th national title with a strong first-half showing and he was named Man of the Match.

There were strong performances too from joint captain Killian Doyle and Jeff Neary.

Athenry set up again with Cian Donoghue as their sweeper, fortifying their defence and leaving Neary as Kilkenny's spare defender.

Tiarnan Leen, the Athenry captain, struck two early points but it was St Kieran's that hit the interval with the two-point, 1-7 to 0-8 lead thanks largely to Wall's 24th minute goal.

It was a cracking goal at the end of a surging solo run and his sidewinder to the top left corner sent the St Kieran's support wild.

A game that was neck and neck at that stage tilted the way of the Kilkenny side after the break and Murphy's 38th minute goal put significant daylight between the teams for the first time, 2-8 to 0-9.

It was another memorable solo goal as Murphy showed all his craft to play the ball into the loose ahead of him, to avoid being dispossessed or penalised for overcarrying, before cleverly doubling on it to the net.

Athenry needed a goal but could only muster four points in total in the second-half, and just 0-2 from play.

St Kieran's got better as the game wore on and sealed another All-Ireland win with a third goal, this time from Dunne, in stoppage time when he latched onto a long delivery and fired from close range to the net.

Scorers St Kieran's College: A Ireland Wall 1-2, T Dunne 1-1, R Glynn 0-4, D Murphy 1-0, H Shine 0-2(1 f), B Whitty 0-1 (65), B Murphy, P Naddy, K Doyle 0-1.

Scorers Presentation College, Athenry: A Niland 0-6, (5 f, 1 65), T Leen 0-2, G Fahy, M Tarpey, J Rabbitte, S Monaghan 0-1.

St Kieran's College: S Manogue; B Hughes, K Corcoran, J Neary; T Kelly, T McPhilips, P Naddy; A McEvoy, D Murphy; B Whitty, T Dunne, K Doyle; R Glynn, A Ireland Wall, H Shine.

Subs: N Shortall for McEvoy, B Murphy for Kelly (39); S Hunt for Wall (58); S Keenan for Whitty (63).

Presentation College, Athenry: D Walsh, S Murphy, C Lawless, A Shannon; C Donoghue; M Tarpey, M Fallon, A McDonagh; D Counihan, T Leen; G Fahy, D McCartin, O Burke; A Niland, E Byrne.

Subs: C Counihan for D Counihan (h/t); S Monaghan for Byrne (39); J Rabbitte for McCartin (49); N Kelly for Burke (57); O Quirke for Fahy (58).

Referee: J Murphy (Limerick).