St Brendan's Killarney are celebrating after they defeated St Peter's College, Wexford in the 2017 Masita GAA All-Ireland Post Primary Schools (Senior A Football) Hogan Cup Final. After the game, GAA.ie caught up with St Brendan's captain Dara Moynihan who reflected on the historic two in a row, his third All-Ireland title in the last 12 months after the youngster also won an Electric All-Ireland minor title with the Kingdom last September.
Hogan Cup Final
ST BRENDAN'S COLLEGE, KILLARNEY 0-18 ST PETER'S COLLEGE, WEXFORD 0-10
St Brendan's of Killarney wrapped up a second straight Hogan Cup title and their fourth overall with a eight-point victory over St Peter's in Croke Park.
The future is certainly bright in the Kingdom. This was a fourth consecutive Hogan Cup success for a Kerry school after Pobalscoil Chorca Dhuibhne's wins in 2014 and 2015, not to mention the All-Ireland minor three-in-a-row completed by the county last September.
Garry McGrath's men were fully deserving of their victory and looked comfortable throughout. They led by 0-10 to 0-3 at half-time and while their Wexford opponents showed signs of life in the second period, the result was never in doubt.
St Peter's fought back to within four points with 10 minutes remaining, but St Brendan's clicked through the gears and eased to victory.
St Brendan's have found scores easy to come by throughout their run to glory this season and today was no different.
Although it took him 26 minutes to get off the mark, star forward David Shaw posted 0-4, as did the exceptional Donnachadh O'Sullivan.
Midfielder Billy Courtney, who won an All-Ireland minor medal between the posts for Kerry last September, was clinical while converting four placed balls.
St Brendan's surged into a five point lead after the opening quarter, as Dara Moynihan, Donnchadh O'Sullivan, Mark O'Shea and Ciaran Flynn curled over efforts.
Barry O'Connor curled over the Wexford side's only two scores from play in the opening half, as they trailed by 0-9 to 0-3 at the interval.
St Peter's showed real fight after the break and three points between cousins Rory and Barry O'Connor brought them back into contention.
St Brendan's rattled off three quick-fire scores through Shaw, Courtney (free) and O'Sullivan to extend their lead to eight once again.
The Leinster champions posted the next four points, with Cathal Devereux on target twice, but late efforts from Courtney, Micheal Devlin and Shaw rounded off the St Brendan's victory.
Scorers for St Brendan’s: David Shaw 0-4, Billy Courtney 0-4 (3fs, 145), Donnchadh O'Sullivan 0-4, Dara Moynihan 0-2, Mark O'Shea, Ciaran Flynn, Jack Griffin and Micheal Devlin 0-1 each.
**Scorers for St Peter's: **Barry O'Connor 0-5 (1f), Cathal Devereux 0-4 (3fsf), Rory O'Connor 0-1.
ST BRENDAN'S: Robert Osborne; Lorcan McMonagle, Chris O'Donoghue, Sean O'Leary; Jack Griffin, Michael Potts, Niall Donohue; Billy Courtney, Cian Gammelll; Dara Moynihan, Donnchadh O'Sullivan, Barry Keane; David Shaw, Mark O'Shea, Ciaran Flynn.
Subs: Micheal Devlin for Ciaran Flynn (44), Barry Slattery for Chris O'Donoghue (blood sub, 52 - 59), Mark Harnett for Barry Keane (55), Evan Cosgrove for Jack Griffin (61), Niall McCarthy for Mark O'Shea (62), Diarmuid Brosnan for Lorcan McMonagle (63).
ST PETER'S COLLEGE: Richard Ryan; Eoin O'Leary, Ben Maddock, David O'Keeffe; Quinn Saunders, Conor Firman, Finn O'Driscoll; Brian Deeney, Rory O'Connor; Dylan Furlong, Ben Moore, Peter Barry; David Gouldson, Barry O'Connor, Cathal Deverux.
Subs: Michael Codd for Ben Maddock (blood sub, 17 - 22), 18. Dylan Lyne for David Gouldson (ht), Jack Devereux for Peter Barry (57), Michael Codd for Finn O'Driscoll (58), Aaron Breen for Dylan Furlong (62).
REFEREE: Sean Hurson (Tyrone).
