St Mary’s Edenderry 2-11 St Pat’s Navan 0-08
 
Eight points from the boot of Cian Farrell ensured St Mary’s Edenderry took home the spoils in the Leinster Colleges Junior A Football Final with a well deserved nine point victory over St Pat’s of Navan.
The young Edenderry full-forward scored a fabulous six points from play as his side took full control of the final quarter which saw them outscore Pat’s by 1-4 to no score, with the aid of a strong breeze on the astro pitch in St Loman’s GAA Mullingar.
Pat’s joint captains Brian Maguire and Caolan Ward opted to play with the strong breeze in the first half, and although they led at the break, their side will rue some first half chances which saw them only go in a point in front at half time.
The Meath contingent started the brighter with corner-forward Cathal Finnegan pointing over his shoulder after three minutes. Diarmuid McCabe then added a point with a fantastic sideline from just outside the 21 which beautifully sailed over to put Pat’s in control. He then added a second point moments later with a brilliant long range free from just outside the Mary’s 45 with the help of the strong breeze.
It took Mary’s fourteen minutes to register their first point, courtesy of team captain and man-of-the-match Cian Farrell before Finnegan once again raised a white flag with a nice long ranger. The Offaly side were soon back in the game when Farrell’s attempted shot dropped short and fell to corner-forward Conor McCarthy who buried the ball into the bottom corner to level up proceedings.
The final exchanges of the half were evenly poised with McCabe kicking another fantastic long range point which really ignited the Pat’s Ultras. Farrell pointed again with a lovely move straight off the training ground. Steven Davis had the final say of the first half, pointing a close in free after McCabe had been tripped on his surge towards the goal.
The concluding thirty minutes was one way traffic the majority of the way but Pat’s cannot be upset for their efforts. They began brightly once again but luck just didn’t seem to be there as Sean Conlon’s pointed effort came back off the crossbar as did the rebound from Caolan Ward which saw a counter-attacking move develop for Mary’s ending with another point from the fabulous left boot of Farrell followed by a free moments later.
Pat’s keeper Conor Fitzpatrick made a fabulous point blank save from Farrell which sparked a little bit of fight back into the Pat’s team which saw Finnegan swing over a beauty with his right to tie up proceedings a few moments later.
Sean Coffey and Ger Cunningham kicked Mary’s into a lead they never looked like losing with Farrell kicking a further four points to ensure of the silverware for the Offaly side. McCarthy added a point before he got onto the end of a lovely pass from Coffey and dispatch the ball coolly into the Pat’s net to really put the icing on the cake. McCabe had the final say of the game when pointing a short range consolation free.
This was good free flowing game of football from the perspective of both sides even though the scoreboard suggests otherwise. A great display in midfield from Pat’s Cian Swaine along with a very good display from Mark Devlin in the back line were positives for Pat’s to take from the game. Fitzpatrick had a good game between the sticks and joint captain Brian Maguire was positive at number 6.
St Mary’s brought physicality to the game that Pat’s just couldn’t match along with some fantastic points and off the training ground moves. A great display from goalkeeper Aaron O’Neill kept Pat’s at bay throughout the sixty minutes. They will now face the Munster Champions in the All Ireland semi-final.
St. Pat’s – Conor Fitzpatrick, Peter Martyn, Mark Devlin, Jonathan Murchan, Michael Gavin, Brian Maguire (Joint Captain), Diarmuid McCabe (0-4, 2 frees), Sean Conlon, Cian Swaine, Stephen Davis (0-1 free), Caolan Ward (Joint Captain), Padraig Finnerty, Cathal Finnegan (0-3), Barry O’Connell, Aaron Lynch. Subs- Frankie Cullen, Blessed Omorjor, Clayton O’Sullivan, Dylan Keating, Jack Condra
St. Mary’s – Aaron O’Neill, Adao Dafe, Dean Cummins, Cathal Farrell, Sean Bannon, Brian Milmoe, Richie Coffey, Gary Farrell, Mark Grehan, Aaron Mills, Ger Cunningham (0-1), Sean Coffey (0-1), Conor McCarthy (2-1), Cian Farrell (Captain, 0-8, 2 frees), James Carey.
Subs – Mark Cully