Senior Hurling D1 Champions

A rollercoaster of a game in Kinnegad GAA last Tuesday finished in the most dramatic of circumstances, as the Marist sealed their second senior hurling title in three seasons with a winning goal from William Geraghty. Geraghty's goal, the last action of the game, finally settled an unpredictable previous 30 minutes which had seen the Athlone school let a 14-point lead slip in normal time and required a rescuing point from Geraghty to force extra time.

Both teams had tight wins in their semi final and the form line had suggested a tight affair would ensue. Playing with the wind, Patrician were quicker off the mark, with Robert Cooke's long range shot deceiving Cillian Geary to go straight to the net and Alex Bell quicky following with a point from play. The Marist management of Damien Egan and Ronan Farrell had added Sean O'Neill as a late change and this paid off when he expertly fielded on the edge of the square before goaling.

Ruairi O Duibhir followed with a good point from the left and Geraghty soon opened his account with two quickfire points before Newbridge responded with points from play from Niall Barry and Daithi Dowling. Kyle Mahon and Cooke exchanged frees to leave the sides level at 1-4 apiece on the 15-minute mark before Marist hit a purple patch.

Dara Geary's opening point from play was soon followed with a Mahon point from the right. O'Neill added a second major with a smart finish along the ground. Cian Potts' point from play offered Newbridge some respite, but Marist struck back with a free from Mahon. A loose ball in the Newbridge goal was then seized upon by Geraghty who finished emphatically to the roof of the net to put the Marist into a 3-7 to 1-5 lead after 25 minutes.

Perhaps a signal of what would come later in the game, Patrician rattled off 4 points in a row before half time, with a pair of frees from Cooke, along with efforts from play from Bell and Sam Gaine, leaving the team from Athlone leading by 3-7 to 1-9 at the interval.

Two quick Cooke frees from the left wing opened the scoring after the interval but preceded an onslaught from the Marist lads that looked to have put the game to bed. A scoring burst of 3-2 was started by an impressive goal from Mahon with the same player pointing immediately after. Geary soon netted to the top corner after a 30-metre run followed by a Mahon free, before Geraghty's point effort deceived Murphy to go straight to the net.

Cooke responded with a brace of frees but points a pair of points from Sean O'Donoghue, one from Donal Dawson and one from Geary left the Marist in a 6-12 to 1-13 lead on the three-quarter mark and looking set to coast to victory.

Things were about to turn though, as Newbridge embarked on a comeback. A poor clearance attempt handed Bell a goal opportunity that he converted despite the best efforts of Geary. A minute later, a foul on Barry on the 20-metre line was followed by Cooke rifling the free directly to the net, causing a huge shift in momentum.

Patrician now had their tails up and Bell added another goal in the 54^th minute following a long ball in before good build up play a minute later placed De Lasa for Newbridge's fourth goal in 10 minutes. Amazingly, the gap was now back at 2 points and it was game on.

Dara Geary steadied the ship with a point after cutting in from the right but Newbridge's growing momentum was boosted when Anthony Mannion was harshly red carded in the 58^th minute. The resulting free dropped short and the Marist defenders shepherding Barry over the endline; however, referee Jimmy Greville adjudicated that Barry had been pushed and awarded a penalty.

Adding to the sense of drama, Cooke expertly converted the penalty to the top corner, albeit through a hole in the net....much to the confusion of the spectators at the ground. Dara Geary was off target with a point effort and the resulting puckout saw De Lasa placed for the lead point in the 61st minute. The Marist, to their credit, did not panic, and Geary's puckout found Geraghty who cooly pointed and sent the game to extra time on a scarcely believable 6-14 apiece scoreline.

Facing into extra time with 14 men, Marist now brought goalkeeper Geary outfield to provide fresh legs with Sean McDonnell drafted in between the sticks. McDonnell made a crucial early save at the expense of a 65, which Cooke converted and the Geary change paid dividends when Cillian got on the end of a dropping ball to bat to the net for a Marist goal. Sam Gaine pointed for Patrician before Geary pointed a difficult free into the wind with the Marist leading by 7-15 to 6-16 at half time in extra time.

The change of ends saw Mahon and Cooke exchange frees, as tired legs started to show on both sides. Dowling cut the deficit to one again before Dara Geary pointed from play. Cooke and Cillian Geary exchanged frees on the 77^th minute mark and with Marist shoring up their defence, the Athlone men were looking good to see the game out.

Alas, there were a few twists left and De Lasa netted in the 78^th minute after a strong run from Dowling to put Patrician back in front. Cillian Geary was off target with a levelling attempt and Marist looked out on their feet at this stage with Newbridge squandering two further point efforts. The second of these landed in the hand of Sean McDonnell with the clock on 79 minutes and 40 seconds.

McDonnell found Mahon inside the Marist half and Mahon embarked on run up the right wing. With almost everyone expecting a point attempt to send the game to penalties, Mahon spotted Geraghty in behind the Patrician cover and popped an audacious 40-metre pass to him. Showing nerves of steel, Geraghty took the pass on the turn and fired to the top corner from 14 metres out. Referee Jimmy Greville then signalled the end of the game and a topsy-turvy affair was finally settled.

The finale was a fitting end to a dramatic game and afterwards, Michael McHugh, on behalf of Leinster GAA, presented Marist captain Sean O'Donoghue with the winner's plaque.

Marist College: Cillian Geary (1-2, 0-2f), Rory Hatton, Oisin O'Donoghue, DJ Connaughton, Jack Kinahan, Donal Dawson (0-1), Aaron Hardiman, Sean O'Donoghue (0-2), Anthony Mannion, Ruairi O Duibhir (0-1), William Geraghty (3-3), Luke Duffy, Dara Geary (1-4), Kyle Mahon (1-5,0-4f)), Sean O'Neill (2-0)

Substitutes: Matthew Turner, Luke Glennon, Sean McDonnell, Owen Egan, Conor Flynn, Brian Gill, Odhran Mitchell, Cian Duffy, Billy Glennon, Evan McMickan, Niall Daly, Adam Smyth

Patrician College: Dylan Murphy, Cathal Cooney, Oisin Kelly, Aidan Cooke, Mark Tobin, Sean Farrell, Jack Hogan, Daithi Dowling (0-2), Conor Lawless, Robert Cooke (3-10, 2-10f), Alex Bell (2-2), Cian Potts (0-1), Sam Gaine (0-2), Niall Barry (0-1), Jack Byrne

Substitutes: Daithi De Lasa (2-1), Sean Coleman, Myles Darcy, Dara Fogarty

Referee: Jimmy Greville (Castlepollard)