NOBODY knows how good this game might have been had the rain held oft, but the outcome in all probability, would have been the same - St Gerald's, Castlebar, simply could not cope with the power and class of St Patrick's, Dungannon, who took their first senior A football title in Croke Park yesterday.

Both colleges were making their debut appearances in an A final but the occasion and the 10,249 crowd were subdued by a downpour that started just before the throwin and which spoiled the texture of the game. The players struggled in the conditions, slipping when they should have been speeding and spilling when the ball would normally stick.

Every slip and every spill meant that neither team could flow but, on yesterday's evidence, St Patrick's would have done more of the flowing on hard ground too.

Their physical superiority was exemplified in midfield, where Conall Martin and Jarlath Quinn stood at 6 ft 4 in and 6 ft 2 in respectively - both weighing 14 stones. They had power in defence too, where full back and captain Paul McGuirk, in particular, combined strength with elegance. Their attack was lively but wasteful, enjoying an almost uninterrupted stream of ball, but kicking 12 wides in addition to several shots that fell short.

They led by just three points after 25 minutes during which time St Gerald's had failed to score, defending sometimes with 13 men behind the ball - which meant that no sooner was it cleared to midfield but it was immediately back in on top of them.

They did lift the siege in the 24th minute however and almost shocked St Patrick's with a goal. Colm Staunton took a high ball before punching it over goalkeeper Seamus Donaghy. No one touched the ball on its way to the net and the goal was disallowed.

Encouraged by the effort, they slotted two quick points, the second a lovely kick on the turn by wing forward Kenneth Hyland. Brian McGuigan replied for St Patrick's just on halftime but, having dominated, they led just 0-4 to 0-2 at the interval.

The one way traffic continued after the break however but this time they decisively translated that superiority into scores. Two points in a minute from their dangerous corner forward Martin Early were followed by a Michael Rea goal in the 38th minute.

An Early shot hung in the air protractedly before dropping in the St Gerald's goalmouth. The ball broke off a cluster of players and Rea nipped in to nudge it home from close in.

While Early inflicted the most damage, he was not given a comfortable hour by his marker: the diminutive but spirited Kevin Scahill battled defiantly despite the almost ceaseless flow of ball coming into his corner - their tussle was a game highlight.

St Gerald's had a clear chance to cut the deficit in the 42nd minute when corner forward Niall Dunne blasted over with just the goalkeeper to beat. It was an isolated deviation from the ongoing siege however which St Patrick's sustained, despite a plethora of wides, to the final whistle.