St Mary's make Hogan Cup history in some style

Three years after becoming the first Offaly school to reach a Hogan Cup final, St Mary's of Edenderry went one step further and became the first Offaly school to lift the famous trophy last Saturday in Croke Park when they comfortably defeated St Michael's of Enniskillen. The Edenderry students almost got off to the worst possible start when Enniskillen wing-back Che Cullen found himself with a goalscoring opportunity after only twenty seconds of play, but Cullen pulled his shot wide and left, allowing St Mary's a reprieve and a chance to settle into the game. Man of the match Daniel Flynn won the subsequent kick-out and that was the start of an incredible 20 minutes of play, during which time the Edenderry students cut through their opponents with ease and made their dominance count on the scoreboard. Ballyna pairing Flynn and Daniel Grehan at midfield asserted themselves in the early stages, but it was the incisive running of club-mates Mark Nolan and Cian McMonagle from the half forward line that really discomforted the Fermanagh school. Nolan and McMonagle both took up great positions between the 45m and 65m lines and a string of scores came from them taking the ball on and driving at the opposition. A couple of slightly delayed handpasses cost Edenderry two potential goal chances in the first quarter but they finally made the breakthrough on 18 minutes and it was Kildare minor panellist McMonagle who was responsible, again running in from the half-forward line straight at goals. Full-back Niall Shannon hesitated at the edge of the square, expecting the handpass across to Seán Doyle, so McMonagle took it on himself and delivered a perfect finish low and inside the near post with his right foot. This was the catalyst for St Michael's to finally rouse themselves from their torpor. Perhaps inspired by the brass band in their section of support who were somewhat appropriately playing "Escape to Victory", they strung together three points in succession, two from midfielder Brian McAleer. But they lapsed again on the run-up to half-time and conceded another string of scores, undoing the good work they had done to get back into the game. The second half was a joyful half hour for the St Mary's supporters in the crowd as their heroes never looked like relinquishing their lead. The men in red and black continued to chip over points, mostly from the boot of Coralstown/Kinnegad freetaker Ger Leech. With Phillip Foy once again doing a great man marking job, this time on Eddie Courtney who was very much the focal point of the St Michael's attack, the northerners never looked like producing the goals that they needed to get back into the game. St Mary's position inside the Offaly border makes this a special day for the Faithful County who badly needed a good news story on the field of play, but with five starters from Kildare (all from the Ballyna club) two from Westmeath and two from Meath, this was very much a victory that will please a lot of counties in the north midlands. More than anything, this was a magnificent triumph for a group of students who worked very hard at their game throughout this year and who overcame more than a few tough battles along the way. In particular their Leinster final victory over Coláiste Eoin highlighted the battling qualities that exist in this squad and illustrated the strength of character that was required. St Michael's might not have tested that character in the final, but this Hogan Cup victory was earned over the course of seven matches and it was fitting that at the end of it all, the winners were going from strength to strength and looking better with every minute that passed. St Mary's Edenderry: Cormac Hurley; Luke Flynn, Philip Foy, Michael Kearney; Jason Dowdall, Conor McNamee, Seán Moriarty; Daniel Grehan (0-2), Daniel Flynn; Ryan Caffrey, Mark Nolan (0-2), Cian McMonagle (1-1); Ger Leech (0-8, 8f), Seán Doyle (0-2), Ruaidhrí McNamee. Subs: Ian McKeown for Caffrey; Aaron O'Connell for McMonagle; Peter O'Neill for Doyle; Seán Haslim (0-1) for R McNamee; Kelvin McNally for Dowdall. St Michael's Enniskillen: Paddy Sweeney; Eoin Hamill, Niall Shannon, Lee Cullen; Kevin McDonnell, Rory Brennan, Che Cullen; Brian McAleer (0-2), Ryan Hyde; Conor Murphy, Niall Beggan, Niall Maguire; Daniel Teague, Liam Martin, Eddie Courtney (0-1). Subs: Lee Brennan (0-1) for C Cullen (temp.); Brennan for Murphy, Tommy McCaffrey (0-2, 1f) for Teague; Leigh Jones for C Cullen; James Allen for McAleer, Daire Gallagher for Jones. Referee: Martin Duffy (Sligo).