Two goals in the last five minutes of extra-time handed Mercy Secondary School Kilbeggan a dramatic 4-11 to 2-15 victory over St. Kevin's CBS of Finglas in the Leinster Colleges SFC 'C' final on March 15 last at the Simonstown Gaels grounds in Navan.

The Westmeath school looked down and out when trailing by 2-10 to 2-15, but snatched victory from the jaws of defeat thanks to late goals from Jack Glennon and Niall Kelly. It was Kilbeggan's first time to lift the title and they couldn't have done so in more dramatic circumstances.
"It was a huge achievement for the school to win a Leinster title and hopefully we'll be able to go on and add the All-Ireland as well," said a delighted Mercy Secondary School principal Garrett Farrell, who was co-manager of the team along with Mark Corrigan.
St. Kevin's were the better team in the first half, but they kicked seven wides and Kilbeggan were relieved to go into the break on level terms, 0-3 apiece. Within five minutes of the restart, the midlanders had sprinted into a 1-4 to 0-3 lead thanks to a goal from David Gaye, but St. Kevin's hit back with a similar score from their outstanding midfielder Eoin Archbold and soon opened up a 1-10 to 1-4 lead.
But after a David Fennell goal had made it 2-7 to 1-11, Kilbeggan corner forward Aaron O'Brien equalised to force extra-time.
St. Kevin's lead by 2-12 to 2-9 at the midway stage of extra-time and had stretched their advantage to five points before Kilbeggan hit them with two goals at the death to claim a famous win.
Earlier, Kilbeggan had retained their North Leinster Colleges crown following a 4-11 to 3-6 victory over Ardee Community School in Dunganny, Co. Meath. Having accounted for local rivals St. Finian's College, Mullingar by a similar eight-point margin in the semi-final, Kilbeggan looked to be in a spot of bother when trailing their Louth opponents by 2-4 to 2-5 at half-time. But inspired by the Fennell twins, David and Paul, and corner forward Aaron O'Brien, they produced a dominant second half display to run out comfortable winners.
After beating Ardee, Mercy overcame Gaelcholaiste Ceatharlach in the provincial semi-final to set up their date with destiny against St. Kevin's. 

Mercy Secondary School's Leinster winning panel was: Liam Hanevy, Mike Dever, Shane Clavin, Michael Heeney, Conal Ennis, Liam Varley, Stephen Nally, Pietro Scarnicchio, Kieran Glennon, Paul Fennell, Eoin Quinn, Aaron O'Brien, David Gaye, David Fennell, Niall Kelly, Paul Daly, David Keegan, Christopher Gorry, Jamie Egerton, Niall O'Connor, Glen Parnell, Nigel Scally, Jack Glennon, Anthony Brady, James Fox, Liam Cassidy and Andy Scally. Tweet

Most Read Stories