St Mary’s fend off Belgrove for Croker success

ST MARY’S BNS eventually managed to shake off a dogged Belgrove BNS outfit to earn a 1-6 to 0-5 victory, and with it, the Corn Herald title at Croke Park last week.

It was the Clontarf side who enjoyed the better start and dominated the majority of the first half, to carve out a 0-4 to 0-1 lead, with Éanna Hurley and Diarmuid O’Brien inspiring their charge.

Yet the introduction of captain, Victor Adanikin, into midfield after 15 minutes saw the game immediately swing in St Mary’s favour.

Having broken his finger in the team’s semi-final victory over St Colmcille’s only two weeks previous, Adanikin was not due to play any part in the decider.

But his impact was immediate and St Mary’s chalked up the next three points to leave the sides deadlocked at half-time, Rory O’Connell accounting for 0-4 by the final whistle, with all but one of those scores coming from frees.

The St Mary’s full-back line of Shane Brennan, Colm Murphy and Johnny Donovan had been exceptional in the first half, keeping their side in the game.

And the constant threat that full-forward, Darragh Kennedy posed, forced Belgrove to employ a sweeper in front of him.

Alex McMahon intercepts the ball for Scoil Mhuire of Lucan during the Corn Herald Final

Additional St Mary’s substitutes, Jack Biggs and Alex McMahon made strong impressions early in the second half and Elliot Keane began to dominate from centre-back.

The excellent Gary Spring continued to threaten for Belgrove, but Lucan’s Harry Walsh matched his quality and led St Mary’s throughout.

Joseph Cosgrove produced a moment of magic when he cut a sideline ball over the bar from the right before Belgrove opted to take a point from a 21m free to leave the minimum between the teams with four minutes remaining.

Yet another excellent sideline cut, this time from wing-back, Dylan O’Byrne, was finished to the net by another of the St Mary’s substitutes, James Dillon to help ensure it was Adanikin who raised the Herald Cup.

Last week’s win not only marked the school’s third time to land this prize, but also served as a little revenge for their loss to an excellent Belgrove team in the 2019 decider.