Presentation College Athenry beat Coláiste Bhaile Chláir to lift Connacht Schools Senior A Hurling title

Jason Rabbitte scored two goals in quick succession. His first came from a superb touch on a Ciarán Leen pass that opened up a one-on-one opportunity against Brendan Fox, and the Fox had no chance against the Rabbitte from close range before he rose another green flag moments later.

Fans watching a match at Duggan Park in Ballinasloe, Galway. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

Mezzino.ie Connacht Post-Primary Schools Senior “A” Hurling Final

PRESENTATION COLLEGE, ATHENRY 3-15 COLÁISTE BHAILE CHLÁIR 0-9

Thirteen Connacht titles before this game yielded four All-Ireland final appearances, but as of yet, no Croke Cup for Presentation College, Athenry.

On Friday night, the side that lost out in three of the last five All-Ireland deciders picked up yet another provincial trophy, named in honour of former pupil and two-time Connacht champion John Ryan, and in doing so they sent notice to the Harty Cup finalists that whoever loses out between Thurles CBS and St. Flannan’s faces a very tough challenge in the quarter-final stages.

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.

Perhaps the lack of a meaningful challenge so far is their only concern, as there was certainly no real pressure exerted here by a Coláiste Bhaile Chláir (CBC) side that struggled to win any individual battles, and who conceded the first four points of the game before they even got a shot away at the posts.

Leen struck the first of his ten points while each of the half-forward line split the uprights from open play. But 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.

The latter proved costly as the ball was sent back down the field, Rabbitte drove at the CBC goal with intent, and despite being fouled, he still got his pass away to Eoin Hannon, who duly rattled the twine.

Seán Murphy and Keane continued to dominate their respective personal battles close to goal so it was no surprise that when CBC finally got off the mark it came from distance, with Matthew Collins hoisting over a long-range effort.

The Claregalway school played their best hurling in the second quarter when they got a bit more of a foothold at half-back and midfield, but all they could do was go score-for-score with their Athenry opponents, leaving it 1-10 to 0-5 at the interval.

Any lingering doubt about who would lift the John Ryan cup was eliminated within ten minutes of the start of the second half however, as Jason Rabbitte put his name on two goals in quick succession.

His first came from a superb touch on a Ciarán Leen pass that opened up a one-on-one opportunity against Brendan Fox, and the Fox had no chance against the Rabbitte from close range, while the second was all about power as he emerged from a ruck to sweep a low shot past the CBC keeper, ensuring the final quarter was pedestrian fare.

Both schools will now play All-Ireland quarter-finals in a fortnight, with Presentation Athenry taking on the losers of Saturday’s Harty Cup final, while Coláiste Bhaile Chláir will try to rebound against Kilkenny CBS.

Scorers for Presentation College, Athenry: C Leen (0-10, 0-7f), J Rabbitte (2-1), E Hannon (1-0), E O’Brien (0-2), D Kearney (0-1), C Hannon (0-1).

Scorers for Coláiste Bhaile Chláir: E Collins (0-4, 0-3f), G King (0-3f), M Collins (0-1), C Feeney (0-1).

PRESENTATION COLLEGE, ATHENRY: C Callanan (Clarinbridge); L Keane (Craughwell), S Murphy (Clarinbridge), A McDonagh (Athenry); O Fitzpatrick (Clarinbridge), D Counihan (Clarinbridge), M Fallon (Clarinbridge); R McGlynn (Athenry), R Murphy (Clarinbridge); D Kearney (Clarinbridge), J Rabbitte (Athenry), E O’Brien (Turloughmore); E Hannon (Athenry), C Leen (Craughwell), F Burke (Athenry).

Subs: R Burke (Kilconierin) for Kearney (41), C Hannon (Athenry) for F Burke (46), S Brady (Athenry) for Fallon (53), J Diviney (Athenry) for Rabbitte (54), N Donoghue (Clarinbridge) for E Hannon (55).

COLÁISTE BHAILE CHLÁIR: B Fox (Carnmore); C Gillespie (Carnmore), D Hughes (Turloughmore), D O’Connell (Carnmore); M Collins (Turloughmore), S Moran (Castlegar), D Casserly (Carnmore); G King (Castlegar), B Morley (Carnmore); J Kelly (Turloughmore), E Collins (Carnmore), R Duggan (Turloughmore); Fitzmaurice (Turloughmore), T Higgins (Carnmore), C Feeney (Carnmore).

Subs: É Flaherty (Carnmore) for Duggan (41), S O’Callaghan (Turloughmore) for Kelly (48), T Grealish (Carnmore) for E Collins (48), C Fahy (Carnmore) for Morley (58).

Referee: Brian Keon (Galway).