St Kieran’s College 1-14
CBS Kilkenny 0-13

Trevor Spillane reports from Nowlan Park

ST KIERAN’S COLLEGE made it a hat-trick of Leinster schools senior hurling titles, but it was sweeter that the win came against their local rivals CBS Kilkenny.

Captain Adrian Mullen played his part, notching up 0-10 (0-3 frees and one 65) as the Saints came from behind to see off the CBS in Nowlan Park.

Starting with a strong wind at their backs the CBS, who were spurred on by their captain Niall Brassil, stormed into a 0-7 to 0-4 lead late in the first half. They could have been further in front, but a series of wides let Kieran’s off the hook.

The Saints hit back late on, narrowing the gap with an Evan Shefflin point. They almost followed up with a goal, but Diarmuid Phelan’s angled shot was beaten away by CBS goalkeeper Ben Maher. Mullen converted the resulting 65, leaving just a point between the sides at the break (CBS 0-7, Kieran’s 0-6).

Kieran’s were quick off the mark after the restart, taking a slender lead with points from Daithi Barron and Mullen. They had an extra gear in the second half, but they couldn’t shake off the CBS, who fought back to level the game on three occasions.

The decisive push came in the closing stages, when Mullen battled for space to shoot a point and then converted a free to make it 0-14 to 0-12 with two minutes to play. Niall Brassil cut the gap back to a point with a free, but an injury-time goal from Sean Ryan (his shot deceived Maher, who was blinded by the sun) gave Kieran’s the cushion that led to their 55th provincial title.

Scorers for St Kieran’s College - Adrian Mullen (0-10, 0-3 frees, 0-1 65); Sean Ryan (1-0); Daithi Barron (0-2); Evan Shefflin, Ciaran Brennan (0-1 each)

Scorers for CBS Kilkenny – Niall Brassil (0-4, 0-1 free); Sean Boyd (0-3); Ben Maher (0-2, frees); Sean Bolger (0-2); Conor Heary (0-1); Conor Drennan (0-1, free).

St Kieran’s College

1 Dean Mason

2 Tommy Ronan
3 Michael Carey
4 Luke Murphy

5 Ben Lawlor
6 Martin Keoghan
7 Killian Egan

8 Ted Drea
9 Diarmuid Phelan

10 Evan Shefflin
11 Eoghan Moylan
12 Eoin O’Shea

13 Daithi Barron
18 Ciaran Brennan
15 Adrian Mullen

Subs

20 Brian Staunton for Lawlor, 54 mins
14 Jesse Roberts for Egan, 54 mins
19 Sean Ryan for Moylan, 57 mins

Kilkenny CBS

1 Ben Maher

2 Liam Stynes
3 Johnny Manogue
4 Conor Flynn

5 Mickey Butler
6 Jordan Molloy
7 Ronan Buckley

8 Des Dunne
9 Peter Collins

10 Niall Brassil
11 Treveine Wallace
12 Conor Heary

13 Sean Bolger
14 Sean Boyd
19 Conor Drennan

Sub

17 Mick Doyle for Wallace, 31 mins

Referee - James Owens (Wexford).

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