Connacht Winners v Munster Runners Up 

St Colman’s Fermoy v St Brigid's Loughrea

Galway senior hurling captain and St Brigid's Loughrea mentor David Burke was thrilled when his school broke the stranglehold of Pres Athenry in the recent Connacht final.

But he knows that his side will face a different challenge when they face St Colman's Fermoy in the Masita GAA Post Primary Schools Croke Cup quarter-final.

In the provincial decider Athenry were going for their fourth title in a row, and when new Galway senior debutant Evan Niland scored his 11th free of the hour, they looked to be on their way to victory. 

However, St Brigid's showed huge determination to stay in touch and late points from Conor Molloy, his eighth, and corner-forward Damian McGlynn earned them victory and sealed their passage to play the Munster runners-up.

"Keeping lads hungry for position is standing to us, lads have to fight for that all year and there is a lot of character in that group," said Burke.

"Fair play to the lads, they kept going until the final minute and they got what they deserved."

The East Galway secondary school has always had a strong tradition in the game, and the students who play there live in an area where hurling is the dominant sport. 

Along with Burke, his brother Darragh, Johnny Coen Joseph Cooney, Davy Glennon, Paul Huban, Niall Healy and James Skehill are all former students.

Fergal Healy, Richie Murray, Derek Hardiman, David Tierney and Kenneth Burke are other past pupils. 

Hurling is the main sport in south-east Galway with the Loughrea club itself, Kilnadeema-Leitrim, Sarsfields, Craughwell, St Thomas, Tynagh-Abbey-Duniry and Mullagh who are all strong hurling units. 

Another school backboned by a serious hurling heritage is Loughrea's opponents this weekend, St Colman’s Fermoy.

The Cork school was well beaten by Our Lady's Templemore in the Dr. Harty Cup final as Our Lady's ended a 39-year wait for just their second Harty Cup title. 

Unfortunately for Colman's, the Tipp side did it in style, routing nine-time winners St Colman's by 19 points in front of 4,924 spectators at Limerick's Gaelic Grounds.

It was Templemore's third final in five years and after losing two, Colman's were on the receiving end of a lot of hurt. They were caught by inexperience on the day, understandably as they were appearing in their first Harty decider in 14 years.

Indeed the six St Colman's starting forwards contributed just one point from play and they will need to greatly improve their performance this weekend to make any progress against the Connacht champions.

Presentation Athenry v Kilkenny CBS

In the other Croke Cup quarter-final Presentation Athenry tackle Kilkenny CBS who lost the Leinster Colleges final last Sunday to their great rivals, St Kieran's College. 

But CBS made a brave stab at winning that final, only losing by three points in the end. 

They started with a strong wind at their backs and were driven on by their captain Niall Brassil, who helped them 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.

Now they face a short turnaround and another tough task against Athenry.

Athenry manager Colm Larkin says it was no big disadvantage not knowing who their opponents would be for so long, until the provincial final had been played.

"No, we would have known both the St Kierans and Kilkenny CBS teams pretty well this year, last year and over the past few seasons," he said. 

"We would have played a few challenge games against each other and at this level there isn't much that we wouldn't know about each other," Larkin, a prolific scorer for Tynagh-Abbey-Duniry, adds. 

However, Athenry will have to sweat it out while they learn of the availability of Connacht and Ireland Under 18 winger, Hugh Lane, who could be tied up with rugby commitments. Lane was one of four Connacht players who earned representative honours last November and is also a star hurler, having played at wing back last year. 

Indeed Lane excelled against Árdscoil Ris in last year's absorbing All Ireland Post Primary Schools semi-final one-point defeat. 

"We'll just have to wait and see," Larkin says. "Hugh is very talented in both codes but I don't know if we will have him this weekend.

"If we don't other lads will have to step up. In the Connacht final I don't think we played anywhere near what we were capable of. But we still have some fine players with a fair bit of experience and club and county level and hopefully we can get back on track this weekend."

Also being held at the weekend are the Post Primary Schools Br.Edmund Ignatius Rice Cup (SF 'D') semi finals and the Michael Cusack Cup {SH “C”} Semi-finals.