Deele College were denied a first ever All-Ireland title as St Brendan’s from Killarney defeated the Raphoe students in the Bank of Ireland FAI Schools Minor Boys National Cup final at Home Farm.
Deele College, Raphoe 1 St Brendan’s College, Killarney 2
Pictures by North West Newspix
CJ Clarke headed Deele in front in the 15th minute as he powered home from a corner – but the Killarney men hit back.
St Brendan’s drew level on 28 minutes when Ryan O’Grady wonderfully turned in the box before firing home.
The Kerry scholars were in front 20 minutes from time when set-piece specialist Emmet O’Shea stepped up to curl a delightful free-kick to the Deele net.
Cj Clarke heads Deele into the lead.
O’Shea’s free-kick proved to be the winner as Deele, in spite of a gallant effort, couldn’t force an equaliser.
Andrew McFadden’s Deele had produced magic twice in a 24-hour period when winning the Ulster final and All-Ireland semi-final a couple of weeks ago.
After a thrilling 5-4 win over PCC, Falcarragh in the Ulster final, Deele followed it up with a 5-3 triumph against St. Gerald’s College, Castlebar.
That put the Raphoe school into their first-ever All-Ireland final, having had a couple of close shaves in recent times.
They began brightly here when Irish underage international Ronan McKinley broke through, but a goal-line clearance by Neil O’Shea thwarted the Newtown man.
Earlier, David Arthur, the Deele goalkeeper, saved from a Cian O’Leary header before Clarke’s opener gave Deele reason to dream.
But those dreams were dashed as St Brendan’s scores a comeback win.
Deele College, Raphoe: David Arthur, Corey Brolly, Aaron O’Donnell, CJ Clarke, Gavin Mc Gee, Anton Murtagh, Corey McBride-Gillen, Robert Donnell, Zack Tinney, Ronan McKinley, Oisin Bonner.
St Brendan’s College, Killarney: Eoin Moynihan, Tom Doyle, Ryan O’Grady, Neil O’Shea, Emmett Finnan, Evan Looney (Niall McGillicuddy 61), Cian O’Leary (Ruairi Doyle 20, Cian O’Leary 65), Niall McGillicuddy (Eoghan O’Sullivan 55), Eoghan O’Sullivan (Eoin Benson 46, Ruairi Doyle 68), Emmett O’Shea (Conor Henderson 64), Dylan Callaghan
Referee: David Buckley (Dublin)
