Peter’s win league

Success over second-string Kieran’s

ST. PETER’S 4-16

ST. KIERAN’S 1-16

ST. PETER’S College got some silverware in the cupboard on Friday, defeating All-Ireland champions St. Kieran’s (Kilkenny) to take the Leinster Schools Senior ‘A’ hurling league crown in Halo Tiles Ferns Centre of Excellence.

The Summerhill lads came into the game on the back of a resounding victory over Kilkenny CBS in the last four and completed the Cat double here, sending the kingpins of hurling back over the border licking their wounds.

Having played with the breeze in the opening half, St. Peter’s appeared to be in some trouble heading into the second period level at 2-6 to 1-9. However, the introduction of blue chip players Eoghan Cassin, Simon Roche and Seán Rowley turned the tie on its head.

Now it was St. Peter’s bringing the heat, running with pace and agility through the Kilkenny boys’ rearguard. The three half-time substitutes combined for 1-6 and they were involved in everything, with Rowley also assisting Conor Blake’s goal.

Then Jason Rossiter entered the fray with ten minutes left and chipped in with two points. In the end St. Peter’s won going away, which is how one would expect them to perform against what was a St. Kieran’s second string.

None of the 15 players that started their All-Ireland final against Loughrea were togged out here. They had four substitutes that were used in the Croke Park decider but were otherwise fielding back-ups.

However, no win against St. Kieran’s can be taken for granted, and St. Peter’s know that only too well after coming away from the corresponding fixture last year with a crushing 34-point loss against a side that contained only four of the 2023 All-Ireland winners.

As it turned out, that team included the backbone for this year’s All-Ireland champions so maybe, just maybe, this next St. Kieran’s team isn’t as talented – only time will tell on that front.

They still gave St. Peter’s a fantastic game and in the firsthalf they appeared to have the edge, with some tidy inter-play and clinically-taken points. The Wexford boys got off to a quick start, scoring three of the first four points through Patrick Berry and Blake (two).

However, St. Kieran’s responded with four in a row, including a brace from the talented James O’Neill.

The game really came to life in the middle of the period, as St. Peter’s got the game’s first goal in the eleventh minute, with a quick David McCarthy line ball starting a move that ended with Berry netting.

Normality appeared to resume when St. Kieran’s went back in front to start the second quarter. Ruairí Murphy had levelled the game before O’Neill was fouled by John Sunderland for a penalty.

The impeded Kieran’s lad smashed the sliotar off the crossbar, but his side regained possession and Seán Carrigan found the net.

But back came Peter’s with an excellent Liam Cooney finish past Cian Kelly. The schools traded six points in the remainder of the half, with Kian O’Connor, Rian Ormonde and Blake on target for the Summerhill boys to leave it level at the interval (2-6 to 1-9).

The game remained pretty tight through the third quarter, despite the newly-introduced injection of Peter’s pace.

The visitors missed an early penalty before the Wexford boys built a 2-10 to 1-12 lead after 42 minutes, and they soon nabbed the critical goal to break open the game.

It came through perseverance from Rowley, who kept possession while heading across the St. Kieran’s defence. He then dropped a lovely pass onto the edge of the square where Blake added the finesse, guiding his shot past Kelly.

Another Ruairí Murphy free got St. Kieran’s within three heading into the final quarter (3-10 to 1-13), but St. Peter’s were in no mood to relinquish their advantage.

Four points in a row from Rowley, Roche, Cassin and Cooney were initially countered by three at the other end, but the lead stood at four.

Yet, St. Peter’s had another moment of magic up their sleeves, with Rowley racing towards goal before dispatching a rocket to the net in the 57th minute.

That proved to be the clincher, with Rossiter embellishing the margin of victory with a couple of late points.

St. Peter’s: John Sunderland (Shelmaliers); Matthew Bishop (Crossabeg-Ballymurn), Kevin Byrne (St. Anne’s), Joshua Roche (Shelmaliers); Jack Hennessy (Oylegate-Glenbrien, capt.), Bobby Reville (St. Anne’s), Adam O’Connor (Blackwater); Rian Ormonde (Shelmaliers, 0-1), David McCarthy (Crossabeg-Ballymurn); Kian O’Connor (Oulart-The Ballagh, 0-1), Patrick Berry (Glynn-Barntown, 1-1), Eoin Sinnott (St. Martin’s); Ronan Furlong (Shelmaliers), Conor Blake (Oulart-The Ballagh, 1-5, 0-5 frees), Liam Cooney (Glynn-Barntown, 1-1). Subs. - Eoghan Cassin (Faythe Harriers, 0-2) for Furlong (31), Seán Rowley (Oylegate-Glenbrien, 1-2) for K. O’Connor (31), Simon Roche (Oulart-The Ballagh, 0-1) for Sinnott (31), Jason Rossiter (Oulart-The Ballagh, 0-2) for Cooney (50).

St. Kieran’s: Cian Kelly; Harry Boyle, Oisín O’Reilly, Conor Brophy; Jake Byrne, Seán Deely, Oisín Bateman; Cian Phelan (0-1), Nicky Ryan; Diarmuid Langton (0-1), Christian Connick (0-1), Cian Farrell; James O’Neill (0-4, 1 free), Seán Carrigan (1-1), Ruairí Murphy (0-8, 5 frees, 1 ’65). Subs. - Conor Hoyne for Langton (31), Michael Lynch for Bateman (31), Daniel Ring for Carrigan (45), Ciallan Brennan for Connick (45).

Referee: Eamonn Furlong (Rapparees).