Presentation Athenry's Mark Kennedy in action against St Kieran's, Kilkenny in the 2018 Masita Croke Cup final at Semple Stadium.
By Damian Lawlor
Mike Finn says he can look back on 2018 with some positivity and, after losing a Croke Cup final to St Kieran’s last spring, it is a very philosophical outlook he holds.
To date, Presentation College Athenry have lost two Croke Cup finals - last year and in 1976 - and have yet to land the famous trophy.
But Finn thinks his lads are mentally steeled ahead of this weekend’s Masita All-Ireland ‘A’ Colleges hurling final with the doyens of schools hurling, last year’s foes, St Kieran’s.
In 2017 they lost out yet again to Noreside opposition – Kilkenny CBS - and then last year there was further heartbreak after extra time in the final against the famed nursery that is St Kieran’s.
But Finn has faith in his side and his school. “The 2017 game was a thriller,” the Athenry manager says. “And the good thing about last year and losing to St Kieran’s was that it showed us a lot about ourselves.
“I would hope that we are better equipped now to handle the ceremony of the big day. We know better what it will take to beat them in the final and keep going until the very end.
“And we have a lot of the team from last year still involved. They will be hungry to win. So, I can look back on last year and take something from that final loss. We did our best, but it was not good enough and we know we have to lift the bar higher this time around.”
The year before brought its own lessons too. One stage in 2017, it looked like the Galway side were on their way to the final – they led by 0-9 to 1-3 at half-time, but Kilkenny CBS posted 2-4 in a rip-roaring 13-minute spell after the interval to put them firmly in the driving seat.
Athenry never gave up on that occasion and actually hit six of the final eight points as they pressed for a late equaliser. But it was not to be.
The lesson learned in last year’s final, meanwhile, was another stern one. They hit a very impressive 3-16 but wilted in the heat of the Kilkenny side’s 5-19 as the game went to extra time.
Along with Eddie Brady and Padraig Breheny, Finn is still strong on the scent of a first Croke Cup title, though.
“The main thing here is that we have looked after the workload of the players,” he says. "There are some of them who are involved with about five or six teams and teams who have been training since well before Christmas. I would love if we had sole access to the players during the school hurling term but it’s not the case.
“So instead we have to communicate with everyone – all the various managers. For instance, we have a lot of players on the Galway Under 17 and Under 20 side. The Celtic Challenge teams are looking at our players too and some of them have club Under 20 and senior teams to play for as well.
“We have to keep an eye on all of that, but I think we have looked after them and they have played really well so far,” said Finn.
St Kieran's, Kilkenny defeated Presentation Athenry in the 2018 All Ireland Colleges Hurling Final at Semple Stadium.
“They’ve trained well all winter and have really pushed on. They were very disappointed themselves about last year, losing. And that’s really what has driven them on.
“They’ve been a very easy bunch to train and to work with. It’s their own work really that has got them this far. “You’d have to give credit to the clubs they’re coming from too. Something I’ve noticed really that the clubs that are feeding into us are putting in a huge amount of work at that age level.”
Presentation College Athenry actually started out as in 1908 as Presentation Convent, a girls-only school ran by sisters of the Presentation Order.
It was only in 1964 that the decision was taken to admit boys and September of that year marked the commencement of what we now know as the modern day Presentation College Athenry. The arrival of boys into the school for the first time 54 years ago meant hurling became a major facet of school life.
And it is now fair to say that hurling forms an intrinsic part of school life in Presentation College Athenry. “Our first Connacht Senior Hurling title success arrived in 1970 and further successes followed in 1971 and again in 1976,” Finn recalls.
There followed a period of over 30 years where other schools in the province got the upper hand but in recent times, Presentation College Athenry have re-established themselves as the dominant force in Connacht Post-Primary Schools Hurling having won six of the last nine Connacht titles with victories in 2010, ’11, ’14, ’15, ’16, ‘18 and again this year.
To finally win a Masita All-Ireland ‘A’ crown, Pres will have to cope with an Eoin Cody inspired St Kieran’s outfit that is chasing a 23rd success.
But some wonderful hurlers have graced the corridors of the Athenry school over the past 54 years and have gone on to represent Galway with distinction at senior level. So while their trophy cabinet is not creaking their pedigree is strong.
The late, great Tony Keady was one of many past pupils of Presentation Athenry to excel at inter-county level for Galway.
Current Galway senior hurling manager Michéal Donoghue studied there, as well as the likes of the late Tony Keady, Paschal Ryan, John Ryan, Eanna Ryan, Martin Naughton, Dermot Monaghan, John Hardiman, Joe Rabbitte and Brian Feeney.
They were beaten in last year’s final and, by all accounts, they are a good team with five or six starters from last year plus panel members. “They also won the under 16 and a half All-Ireland final this year, beating Thurles in the final so, obviously, hurling right now is very strong in the college.
With 11 of the 21 players used in last year’s extra-time All-Ireland final defeat to St Kieran’s still in their ranks, the Athenry side will look to the classy Mark Kennedy, who scored 1-6 in their three-point semi-final win over Midleton CBS for inspiration.
Despite missing a first-half penalty, Kennedy was influential in a game which saw both sides finish with 14 men as tempers boiled over.
Encouragingly, Presentation produced a stirring final quarter to secure passage to a second successive All-Ireland post-primary SHC final. Trailing by 2-5 to 1-6 entering the final quarter, last year’s beaten finalists struck six points on the bounce to turn a two-point deficit into a four-point advantage three minutes from time.
Adam Clarke, Gavin Lee, Kennedy and Adam Brett are other quality players. “As I said we finished very strongly in the semi-final and to win the final we will have to do the same again,” Finn says. “But I know what the lads are capable of.”
