The long-time kings of Connacht Colleges football easily overcame the challenge of St Colman's in the provincial final at Claremorris on Saturday.
This was a polished performance by the Tuam lads, who looked like champions from the early stages. The home team stayed with the favourites during a keenly-contested opening quarter at which stage the teams were level at 0-3 apiece.
But it was the quality of the St Jarlath's scores that hinted at things to come. Three delightful points from play by John Devane, Damien Dunleavy and Michael Meehan were reflective of a team going about their business in style. Even after Michael Meehan had a penalty saved by Derek Higgins, St Jarlath's still led by 0-9 to 0-4 at the break.
ST JARLATH'S: D Dowd; P Costello, G Sice, G Aherne; A Flaherty, D Mullahy, A Burke; N Coleman (1-0), D Dunleavy (0-1); S Moran (0-1), D Warde (0-3), C de Paor (0-1); J Devane (0-3), M Meehan (1-2), J Donoghue (0-2). Sub: A O'Hara for G. Aherne.
ST COLMAN'S: D Higgins; J Kilkenny, J Varley, B Naughton; A Vahey, A Cunningham, A Feeley, R McNamara (0-5), P Navin (0-1), S McGuinness, D Griffith (0-1), F Moran, K Varley (1-0), K Costello, C Boyle. Subs: S Burns for B Naughton, F Barrett for D Higgins, D Glynn (0-1) for A Cunningham.
Referee: G Kinneavy (Roscommon).
