VIDEO: St Kieran’s and Ballycastle claim All-Ireland schools titles

Stars of the future put on exhibition of hurling

An incredible 20th All-Ireland  A schools title is on its way to Noreside this evening after St Kieran's College beat Thurles CBS this afternoon by 1-15 to 1-12. The Kilkenny side led almost from start to finish as the held onto the title they claimed last year against Kilkenny CBS. Led by the man-of-the-match Jason Cleere the Kilkenny side just had too much experience and guile for their Tipperary rivals. At half time St Kieran's led by 1-10 to 1-7 with the three point margin just about reflecting the difference between the sides. The Kilkenny college looked that little bit sharper and led by 0-4 to 0-1 after 14 minutes until Michael Connors pounced on a breaking ball on the edge of the square and doubled on the ball to level it up. However the Leinster side responded with  a goal of their own as Ray Lahart caught a ball dropped into the square by full-forward Billy Ryan, and he finished past the Thurles 'keeper to make it 1-5 to 1-2 after 17 minutes. Lahart scored 1-3 in the opening half as his darting runs allowed space for Billy Ryan to also shoot 0-3 as the Kilkenny nursery led by by three at the break. After the break both sides traded scores as the game became much tighter but the Kilkenny side always found it a little bit easier to trouble the scoreboard than their Munster rivals and held on to record a 20th Croke Cup triumph. In the opening final of the day in Thurles the Buggy cup was won by Cross & Passion College, Ballycastle who defeated Mountrath Community School of Laois  1-16 to 1-12. Despite a late rally from the Leinster champions with a goal approaching the full-time whistle, they could not find a way through a resolute Ballycastle defence who held on for the four point win. At half time there was just a point to separate the sides as the Antrim side led by 0-9 to 0-8 with Aaron Dunphy the star of the opening 30 minutes scoring four points for Mountrath. The second half was a very even affair,but when Sean McGrath struck for a goal after 56 minutes to make it 1-15 to 0-12 it gave the Antrim side a huge boost as they pushed towards the full-time whistle. They then grabbed the next score to open up a seven point lead  before Mountrath's late charge, thanks to a wonderful ground strike by Dylan Conroy, gave the Midlanders hope in additional time. But the clock was against them and Ballycastle secured the All-Ireland Colleges B title to make up for losing last year's decider. Elsewhere today Kerry beat Westmeath by 5-17 to 3-17 to secure retain the Division 2A league title. That means they will now play Antrim in the Relegation/Promotion play off later this month.