St Kieran’s College expertly defended their Leinster Colleges senior hurling title on Wednesday, with a win over rivals Castlecomer Community School at Nowlan Park.
John Power, brother of Richie, had a prolific afternoon in front of goal, scoring an outstanding 2-6 overall.
Kieran’s midfield dominated for much of the game, keeping their opponents in the corner while the forwards kept the scoreboard ticking over.
The two sides went into the halftime interval with the score at 1-5 to 0-3, (of this, Power had contributed 1-4 ).
To their credit, ‘Comer came out fighting after the break and made a game of it, with Charlie Dwyer leading the charge. With just 12 minutes to go until the end, there was only two points in it, at 1-6 to 0-7.
But any hopes that ‘Comer had entertained of upsetting the odds and overtaking their county rivals were snuffed out in two quick moments of sublime interplay between John Power and Diarmuid Cody.
The duo combined twice in quick succession to score two goals, delivering a lethal blow to their opponents, and effectively killing off the game.
With the scoreboard at 0-7 to 3-7, ‘Comer had a chance to lessen the deficit when they were awarded a penalty, but it was not to be their afternoon – the penalty was saved and the sliothar cleared.
The teams had met earlier in the year in the Leinster League final, with Kieran’s emerging on top that time also. Kieran’s will now go on to the All-Ireland semi-finals, while Castlecomer now have a place in the quarter-finals.
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Scorers: St Kieran's College: J Power 2-6 (6f ), D Cody 1-0, C Buckley 0-1. Castlecomer CS: C Dwyer 0-6 (5f ), B Brophy 0-1.
St Kieran's College -- S Johnson; L Hickey, W Phelan, R O'Hanrahan; C O'Neill, P O'Carroll, E Morrissey; P Butler, C O'Shea; J Power, A Cleere, C Buckley; J Nolan, M Brennan, D Cody. Subs: R Reid for Nolan (23 ), P Kennelly for A Cleere (48 ), T O'Hanrahan for Buckley (56 ), M Donnelly for Reid (57 ).
Castlecomer CS: D Breen; K Delaney, R Healy, N Callinan; R Kinsella, B Cahill, D Dunne; P Keating, D Moran; E Brennan, R Moran, C Dwyer; S Daly, B Brophy, L Maher Subs: A Carron for R Moran (inj ) 40, E Bergin for B Brophy 45
REF -- P O'Dwyer (Carlow )
