Two colleges with serious Hogan Cup heritage clash in the 2016 final at Croke Park on Saturday, but the stats surrounding St Brendan's Killarney might just surprise you.

The Sem have a massive reputation in this competition but they are seeking just a first Hogan Cup title since 1992. It's a long time since they have been on the winners podium but you can tell by their hunger that they are going all out to end the famine.

They are simply rampant this year having scored a 29-point Corn Uí Mhuirí final victory over Clonmel High School before destroying St Benildus by 18 points.

St Brendan's were runners-up most recently in 2010 and 2008 but are now well placed to take over from 2014 and 2015 winners and fellow Kerry outfit Pobalscoil Chorca Dhuibhne as competition winners. Michael Casey, Evan Cronin and David Shaw are all in goalscoring form, but their Derry opponents St Pat's Maghera are in equally prolific form so something has to give.

On Saturday, meanwhile, St Patrick's will attempt to win the Hogan Cup for the sixth time in the College's 40 years of competing at the top level of school sport. But they take on the free scoring Munster champions in a bid to get over the final hurdle.

St Pat's last won this competition in 2013 but lost out in the 2014 final - to another Kerry school we have mentioned, Corca Duibhne.

Since winning this year's MacRory Cup on St Patrick's Day the Derry lads haven't had time to rest on their laurels. They faced Connacht champions Summerhill from Sligo in the Hogan Cup semi-final the Wednesday after their provincial win but joint manager Paul Hughes said there was no question of tiredness entering the equation.

"You never get tired of winning the MacRory Cup, especially in perfect conditions like today," he said.

"I have said for years that MacRory football is a special competition simply because of the bond that there is among the players and the whole school.

"We had asked the lads to start with intensity but we couldn't have dreamed of the beginning that we got. If you tracked our games through the knockout stages we were poor starters and that was something that we had to address.

"In a couple of challenge games we developed a great intensity. We told the lads that it was all about what they can bring to the game."

St Brendan's College, meanwhile, had to wait a week to discover who their Hogan Cup final opponents were.

Ultimately, however they won't have been surprised that it was St Pat's Maghera who came through although at one stage it looked like it would be Summerhill College who would get through an epic semi-final at Brewster Park.

But in the end Shane McGuigan with a late point sealed the deal for his Maghera team.

McGuigan hit 1-8 in that semi, bringing his tally for the last three games up to a whopping 4-18. St Brendan's may yet decide to almost double mark him on Saturday such has been his influence to date. Overall, though, the Derry college has been so consistent in recent times. Today, they appear in a third Hogan Cup decider in four years. That is some going.

That 2014 final loss to Chorca Dhuibhne came just one year after they had won the competition outright. Even though they came up against a Summerhill College chasing a first final appearance since 1985 the Derry champions prevailed.

St Pat's star man Conor Glass, who is heading for an AFL career with Hawthorn, did not start that game due to illness but came on as a late substitute. If fully fit his impact on Saturday will be massive.

It just remains to be seen how they will cope with a Brendan's side that hammered St Benildus College (Dublin) 4-15 - 0-9 in their semi-final and has been free-scoring all year.

Meanwhile, the Drummond Cup final between Holy Rosary College Mountbellew and Gallen CS Ferbane will be a tight affair.

Mountbellew are only 60 minutes away from doing so following a well-earned 1-10 - 0-12 win over Patrician HS Carrickmacross in their semi-final at Carrick-on-Shannon.

After losing an All-Ireland semi-final last year, they have been steadily improving all season long this time around.

They won the NUI Galway Connacht Post Primary Schools Senior B Final in fine style, beatingRice College Westport 1-5 - 0-7 to make it into the All-Ireland series.

"In 1971, HRC captured the Senior C title for the first time," says current manager Aidan Donnellan. "Further success in this competition was achieved in 1974, 1990, and 1992 and most recently in 2011. In the interim the school seniors captured a B title in 2005 and played in the A final also in that year. The school have also won numerous titles in all grades over the years."

Donnellan's young side is in a rich vein of form right now and will hope to go further in their own careers irrespective of what happens today.

They have provided players to Galway teams at various grades over the years, with particular pride garnered in watching past pupils Fergal Gavin and Damien Mitchell win All Irelands in 1998 following in 2001 by Joe Bergin.

HRC's players are derived from eight different local clubs with a strong representation on today's team from the Mountbellew Moylough club.

Meanwhile, Gallen CS defeated St Michael's Listowel 3-10 - 3-6 in the other semi-final.

The school is on a real roll. Recently the school claimed an All-Ireland Ladies senior football decider and the boys team come here as proud Leinster champions looking for more All-Ireland glory.

Ronan Hynes, Conor Lynam, Conor Owens and Jack Quinn have been in great form all year long.

The Ferbane side come into this final in fine fettle having beaten Kerry opposition last time out and Dublin opponents in the shape of St Kevin's before that.

With an excellent defence featuring Quinn and Hynes, the midfield pairing of Ciaran Brazil and Tom Corcoran have been able to thrive.

And in attack Lynam, Nathan Poland and Owens have all kicked some excellent scores.

Starting strong is something that eluded Gallen CS in many of their matches to date but they will be hoping for a good start on Saturday at HQ.

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