Defending champions St Kieran's College, Kilkenny carried too much skill for the combined Dublin Colleges in the Leinster Colleges SHL A final at Dr Cullen Park, Carlow.

St Kieran's scored the opening three points but were hauled back to level in the 10th minute when Dublin Colleges left full-forward MacDara O hOgain scored a goal. However, St Kieran's went on to lead 1-6 to 1-0 at half-time.

Brian Carroll, Kieran's right full-forward, shot a brace of early second-half points and completely killed off the opposition with a 50th-minute goal.

The second half was highlighted by three superb long-range points from Dublin Colleges' Conal Rabbitte.

St Kieran's: D Brennan; D Connery, J Moran, T Walsh; T Murphy (0-2), K Coogan, J Tyrell; M Walsh, B Hogan; P Reid (0-1), P O'Neill, L Heffernan (0-1); B Carroll (1-5), S Dunne (1-0), B Dowling. Subs: S Hennessy (0-1) for Reid, N Sweeney (0-1) for Dowling, S O'Neill for Walsh.

Dublin Colleges: K Hannafin; N O'Driscoll, D O'Reilly, C Casserly; I Franzoni, T Somers, G Dunne; G Bennett, S O'Neill; C Keaney (0-1), C Rabbitte (0-3), C O'Driscoll; S McCann, D O'Callaghan, M O hOgain (1-0). Subs: C Regan for O'Reilly, T Bennett for McCann

Referee: J Quinlan (Carlow).