Coláiste Eoin tops in thrilling contest

piled men forward leaving space at the back.

They scored three unanswered points between the 52nd and 54th minute to lead by two.

The score with 6 minutes remaining was 4-14 to 5-9 in favour of the Laois men. Disaster was to strike then for Colaiste Eoin as their captain Eoghan Byrne received a head injury and the game was stopped for some 10 minutes for him to receive attention.

With less than five minutes remaining David Hickey resumed proceedings. The Heywood men bore down on the Hacketstown goal.

Superb defending from Sean Tompkins, Cormac Connolly and a brave interception from substitute Sean Moran kept the O’Moore men at bay.

As the clock ticked down the Carlow outfit found it difficult to get the ball out of their own half.

What happened in the final two minutes of the game was nothing short of a miracle! Out of nowhere Sean Tompkins popped up from corner back and fielded a magnificent ball from a Heywood kickout.

He off-loaded to the classy Eoin Byrne who ran at the Heywood defence before passing to Jake Hickey who smashed the ball past Paddy Mulligan in the Heywood goal. Fenagh exploded! The Carlow school were up by one!

The resulting kickout was fetched by none other than Andy Foley as he bore down on goal searching for his fourth. He took a shot which came off the crossbar and Eoin Byrne was on hand to dispatch his second goal of the afternoon. Game over and what a game it was. The Heywood players were shell shocked as the Colaiste Eoin players jumped for joy.

Eoin Byrne was on hand to accept the trophy on behalf of the team’s captain Eoghan Byrne.

The school will compete in their second provincial final in two years when they take on the winners of the game between the North Leinster champions and the Dublin champions sometime in February or March.