Raphael's push them to brink but kingpins Kieran's claim 25th Croke Cup
Séan Hunt of St Kieran's College holds the cup aloft as he celebrates with team-mates after their side's victory in the Masita GAA Hurling Post Primary Schools Croke Cup final match between St Raphael's Loughrea of Galway and St Kieran's College of Kilkenny at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Piaras Ó MÃdheach/Sportsfile
St Kieran's are celebrating more All-Ireland Senior Hurling Colleges success after they overcame St Raphael's of Loughrea after extra-time in Croke Park.
It was a compelling schools decider that saw the teams level on six occasions before the extra experience and strength in depth told for the Kilkenny school as they outscored their Galway opponents 0-8 to 0-3 in the final 20 minutes.
This was Kieran's ninth final on the trot and with a number of players still available from the 2023 All-Ireland victory, they were expected to prevail once more but credit must go to St Raphael's as they kept with them before running out of gas late on.
The same two schools met in the same fixture 20 years ago where a Kieran's team that included the likes of Richie Power and Richie Hogan won convincingly. Early on, the winners threatened to do likewise after points from Aaron McEvoy and Ed McDermott.
St Raphael's hit back with two points of their own via Paddy Mac Carthaigh and Bobby Feeney but by the midway mark of the half Kieran's held a double scores advantage after further points from Rory Glynn, James Hughes and Ed Lauhoff.
Loughrea would then outscore Kieran's 1-4 to 0-1 over the following minutes with a well-taken Vince Morgan goal and points from Feeney, MacCarthaigh, Luke McInerney and Cullen Killeen edging them three clear.
That wasn't enough to give the Connacht side the lead at the break as three on the trot by Hughes, McEvoy and corner back Sean Bergin had Kieran's level at the interval (0-10 to 1-7).
The second half continued to be closely fought with both teams taking the lead on different occasions and the result was very much up for grabs going down the straight.
A 56th-minute Cullen Killeen effort raised Loughrea's hopes of causing an upset but when Kieran's hit back with successive scores from Sean Hunt, the Croke Cup looked destined to remain in the Marble City.
With only one previous title to their name, St Raphael's weren't going to give up that easily and a stoppage time free from Bobby Feeney sent the game to extra-time.
Aaron McEvoy and Vince Morgan swapped early points in the extra period before Kieran's upped it a level with the last three points of the half from Rory Glynn, Ed Lauhoff and Bill McDermott.
It was an uphill task from there for Loughrea and while they got the first and last points of the second period, it was the spell in between that killed them with Aaron McEvoy and Ciallin Brennan both scoring two points apiece as Kieran's claimed a 25th title in their history.
A McEvoy (0-8, four frees and one '65), S Hunt (0-5), R Glynn (0-4), J Hughes (0-3), E Lauhoff, C Brennan (0-2 each), E McDermott, B McDermott (0-1 each)Â
V Morgan (1-3), B Feeney (0-5, five frees), P MacCarthaigh (0-5), C Killeen (0-2), O O'Gorman, D MacCarthaigh, L McInerney (0-1 each)Â
S Manogue; S Bergin, E Murphy, T Kelly; C Hickey, J Neary, T McPhillips; R Connellan, E Lauhoff; J Hughes, S Hunt, T Roche; R Glynn, E McDermott, A McEvoy.
O Bateman for Roche (49), J O'Neill for E McDermott (50), C Brennan for Hughes (61), B McDermott for Glynn (Blood Sub, 65), R Glynn for B McDermott (Blood Sub Reversal, 70), B McDermott for McPhillips (72), S Deely for Hickey (78).
 S Murray; J Griffin, D Keane, G Maher; O O'Gorman, D MacCarthaigh, F Beirne; L McInerney, C Killeen; D Campbell, P MacCarthaigh, E Mulleady; V Morgan, T Stratford, B Feeney.
S Keane for Stratford (38), J Shaughnessy for Mulleady (55), L Keary for Griffin (65), E Mulleady for Feeney (74), E Spellman for Beirne (77).
John Keenan (Wicklow)
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