All-Ireland Colleges SH A final: St Kieran's 3-20 St Raphael's 1-6 From the outset yesterday it was clear the destination of the All-Ireland Colleges hurling title would be Kilkenny as St Kieran's swatted aside their opponents at Parnell Park.
Although several players stood out, Richie Power deservedly won the man of the match accolade. Quite simply, his performance was awesome. Power's contribution of 1-9 is even more commendable considering he almost didn't play due to an injured toe.
Along with Maurice Nolan, Neal Prendergast and Donnacha Cody, son of Brian, he can now add his Colleges medal to the minor All-Ireland he got with Kilkenny last year. It seems a long future in the game is assured, just like his father and namesake.
In fairness to St Raphael's, they cannot not have been expected to live with such a great side. However, they did stay in touch until Mark Aylward's two goals at the back end of the opening half left it 2-9 to 0-4 at the turn.
Then, early in the second-half, they unleashed a fury of long-range points from Richie Hogan, John Walsh and Power.
When Power added their third goal in the 38th minute they led 3-13 to 0-4 and the Croke Cup had the black and white ribbons attached to it for the 16th time.
St Raphael's Keith Haverty did get a consolation goal two minutes later after an uncharacteristic delay in clearing by the St Kieran's full back line. Prior to that they had not erred once in a solid display, particularly typified by Cody and Eamonn Walsh.
The match was an entertaining lesson on how far ahead Kilkenny's hurlers are to the rest of the country, as if we didn't already know, with Power, Richie Hogan and Maurice Nolan all registering scores. Nolan didn't start, as he is recovering from a knee operation, but his class was unmistakable when he made an appearance for the final 10 minutes.
Unperturbed by the drubbing they were taking, Raphael's continued to contest every break, and midfielder Francis Kerrigan was rewarded for his endeavours with the score of the afternoon in injury time. He picked up possession on half-way and set off on a run down the left flank, without ever really getting full control of the sliotar, before floating the ball over the bar.
As if insulted by such an excellent piece of play, St Kieran's ensured they had the final say on affairs as substitute Kevin Lanigan clipped over their 20th point of the match. It was a parting shot that left all in attendance with little doubt as to who are the greatest hurlers in all the land.
ST KIERAN'S: P Hogan; W Norton, D Cody, E Walsh; P Butler, J Walsh (0-1, f), N Prendergast; D O'Neill (0-1), D Bergin; R Power (1-9, 5f), S Prendergast (0-1), J Quane; R Hogan (0-5), N McEvoy, M Aylward (2-1). Subs: J Dermody for Prendergast (35 mins), M Nolan (0-1) for R Hogan (50 mins), P Treacy for Butler, K Lanigan (0-1) for O'Neill, P Walsh for R Hogan (all 57 mins).
ST RAPHAEL'S: F Hynes; A Whyte, S Flaherty, P Deeley; D Earls, M Ryan, T Earls; F Kerrigan (0-2), R Regan; S Kelly (0-1), B Dooley, K Hynes; I Burns, G Kilcarr (0-2, 2f), K Haverty (1-1). Subs: D McKeigue for Burns (50 mins), R Dervan for Kilcarr (55 mins), F Cooney for Kelly (59 mins), K Kennedy for Deeley (61 mins).
Referee: J McDonnell (Tipperary).
