Boyne Community School 2-19

Coláiste Éinde 2-18

(after extra time)

By Ivan Smyth At Duggan Park

COLÁISTE Éinde were denied a second appearance in an All Ireland senior hurling final in the space of 12 months as they came up just short in a thriller on Saturday.

After reaching last year’s All Ireland Senior D final, Coláiste Éinde were aiming to take a giant leap closer towards lifting the Michael Cusack Cup. However, they were denied despite coming back from 2-13 to 0-10 down after 52 minutes to force an additional 20 minutes of action.

Once more, the Salthill side appeared in deep trouble when conceding five points in that first period of extra time and not registering any scores themselves.

Yet, they almost pulled off another sensational comeback as captain Cian Corcoran took over free taking duties and slotted four frees to leave the minimum between the sides. Coláiste Éinde had a chance to equalise but Corcoran saw a difficult free from 70m out travel wide of the mark. In fairness, Boyne Community School had a chance of their own straight afterwards but Alex Cole fired wide.

The whistle came immediately after that Cole wide with less than a minute of injury time played. However, Boyne Community School deserved their victory with the Meath outfit possessing the sharper first touch and greater spread of scoring threats. Coláiste Éinde will rue their inconsistency from placed balls as they sent seven frees and a pair of 65s wide during the contest, chances they could not afford to squander.

Midfielder Leon Harris was superb with four points for the winners while Kosei Kirwan bagged 1-4 from wing forward as he, much like his team, looked highly impressive in spurts of this game. Shane Jordan, Joey Christie and Darragh McLaughlin also showed well for Boyne CS.

For Coláiste Éinde, full back Ethan Hynes hurled a mountain of ball while Sean Walsh grew in stature when pushed further up the field. Cian Corcoran and Cian Cloherty grabbed crucial scores when needed while Dean O’Brien also showed well.

Boyne Community School never trailed in this contest and that was mainly due to their explosive start. The Meath side, who won their Leinster final by 12 points, picked up where they left off from that game as they powered 0-7 to 0-2 in front. Kosei Kirwan bagged two classy points from play, they second coming after a tremendous block on Hynes as the full back sought to clear his lines.

Pictured: Kane Campbell and Cian Corcoran of Coláiste Éinde give chase to Boyne Community Schools’ Kosie Kiwan during Saturday’s All-Ireland PPS Senior C hurling semi-fimal at Duggan Park. Photo: Joe Keane.