St. Kieran's College, Kilkenny were crowned Croke Cup champions for a 17th time after staging a late rally to deny first-time All-Ireland SHC 'A' finalists Ardscoil Ris at Semple Stadium.

St. Kieran's 2-11
Ardscoil Ris 2-8

In a thrilling encounter played in damp conditions, the sides were level at 0-5 to 1-2 at half-time with Paul Buggy netting for St. Kieran's. But the tide looked to have turned in Ardscoil Ris' favour when goals from Brendan O'Connor and John Fitzgibbon at the beginning of the fourth quarter propelled the Limerick school into a 2-8 to 1-6 lead.

However, the Kilkenny side staged a superb comeback, scoring 1-5 without reply, including a Michael Brennan goal in the 51st minute, to take the coveted Croke Cup back to Noreside.

Scorers - St Kieran's: M Brennan 1-2; P Buggy 1-1; P Walsh 0-3; W Phelan (1f, 1 '65) 0-2; T Hanrahan, J Power (1f), C Buckley 0-1 each. Ardscoil Ris: J Fitzgibbon (2f, 1 sl) 1-3; B O'Connor 1-0; M Ryan, K Downes, A Breen, D Hannon (1f), M Moroney 0-1 each.

St Kieran's: M Donnelly; C O'Neill, R Lennon, S Phelan; A O'Dowd, W Phelan, D Brennan; J Gannon, C Buckley; J Power, B O'Connor, P Walsh; P Buggy, M Brennan, T Hanrahan. Subs: R Reid for O'Connor (53); C O'Shea for Hanrahan (58).

Ardscoil Ris: D Sheppard; M Carmody, E McCarthy, A Dempsey; C McInerney, D Hannon, M Moroney; S O'Brien, N Kennedy; M Ryan, S Dowling, B O'Connor; J Fitzgibbon, K Downes, A Breen. Subs: J Shanahan for Breen (44); C Keogh for Dowling (58).

Referee: J Ryan (Tipperary). Tweet

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