St. Nathy's can negotiate colleges' classic
Patrick O’Dowd, Declan Duffy, Paudí Gilligan looking forward to St. Nathy's College's date with destiny against Cnoc Mhuire Granard. Picture: Gerard O'Loughlin
Two of the form secondary schools in the country — St. Nathy’s College Ballaghaderreen and Cnoc Mhuire Granard — will lock horns in Saturday’s mouth-watering All-Ireland Post Primary Schools’ Senior B football final.
Since their respective provincial championships commenced, both teams have soared like home heating oil prices in the last week. They are so hot and powerful that they could warm up the country in a flash, such is the energy they are producing.
Both teams’ scoring ratios have gone through the roof. They are laced with match winners ready to deliver, they have defenders who can mind the house but love to attack, there’s loads of mobility in the engine room, and we have two goalkeepers who call the shots with confidence.
Last year, Roscommon CBS powered their way to victory with a commanding second-half display against Patrician High School Carrickmacross to win the Paddy Drummond Cup. On Saturday evening, St. Nathy’s College will be hoping to keep the same silverware in the county for another 12 months.
Both sides are backboned by key players from Mayo and Roscommon who have U-17 intercounty experience. They have been stitched together into a cohesive outfit, and they duly reached for the stars with a ruthless All-Ireland semi-final win over Mount Saint Michael Rosscarbery. The West Cork outfit simply had no answers to the honours question posed by the wearers of Green and White.
Roscommon U-20 player Dean Casey is St. Nathy’s leading light. He leaves defenders reaching for a packet of Panadol after they’ve tried to keep tabs on the scoring machine from Ballinameen.
Wing-back James Cassidy is in outstanding form. He has been delivering great performances and is a reliable score-getter. Patrick Gaynor, Liam Boyle, Declan Duffy, Oran Frain and Seán Buckley will be required to bring their A game to the table if they are to get over the line.
In the opposition’s corner is Cnoc Mhuire Granard who are the first Longford school since Moyne CS in 2002 to reach the All-Ireland Colleges’ Senior B football final. From the moment they jumped the first fence in Leinster, they became the talking horse — ending up as strong as any horse trained by Willie Mullins.
In the Leinster B final, they blew Gorey Community School away, 4-16 to 2-10, outscoring them by 3-15 to 0-6 in the closing 40 minutes. They are backboned by key players from the Longford U-17 squad that won the Leinster championship in 2024, including captain Liam Greene.
They have free-scoring midfielders in Dylan Ledwith and Odhran Madden. But if St. Nathy’s are going to prevail, they will have to close out Cnoc Mhuire’s potent full-forward line who could be described as “the Beast from the East” on a football field, leaving a trail of destruction behind them.
Brendan Martin Burns, Cian O’Donnell and Ben Blessington have ripped defences apart all season. In the Leinster final, they blasted 4-8 between them — 3-8 of that total came from play.
Cnoc Mhuire repeated the trick against Aquinas Grammar School from Antrim in the All-Ireland semi-final as the deadly trio inside hit 0-11 between them.
In an enthralling North Leinster B final, they edged out St. Joseph’s Drogheda by 3-16 to 1-19. So, in a nutshell, they have scored 8-53 in their last three games.
Make no mistake about it, St. Nathy’s face a serious challenge. If both schools reach their peak performance, a classic final is in store.
I think St. Nathy’s can do it.
As fuel prices soared, I reduced the carbon tax on my motorists who came up with the correct answer.
Can you name the last All-Star football goalkeeper to manage his county at intercounty level. It was Raymond Galligan of Cavan who won his All-Star in 2020 and managed the Breffni Blues in 2025.
QPR, Frenchpark, was first to fill up at the pumps. Liam Dooley, Ballyhaunis; Michael Scally, Ballaghaderreen; Fr. John McManus, PP Castlerea; Murt Hunt, Ballyhaunis; Mary Gilfillan, Kilmore; John Croghan, Bundoran; Seán Farrell, Dublin; Pat Deane, Williamstown; John Wynne, Kilteevan; Mick Fetherston, Dublin; Jerome Kelly, Cloontuskert; Paddy Boland, Youghal; Brian Stenson, Castlerea; Pat, Sligo; Bernard Duffy, Longford/Loughglynn; Kevin Flanagan, Dartford, and Michael Kearns, Clapham, also got great mileage to the gallon.
This week’s Teaser: Can you name the last man to have refereed both the drawn and replayed All-Ireland senior football final?
Answers by email to willieefc@gmail.com or by text to 086 8356227. This week’s teaser came from Sligo.
Star pupil: Finn Russell — the Scotland out-half is the best number 10 in world rugby right now.
Crucial win for: Sligo Rovers who picked up their opening win of the Premier League season at home to Drogheda United.
Much do better: Kilkenny suffering an 18-point defeat to Galway in the National Hurling League Division 1A.
Spot of bother: Evan Ferguson will miss the Republic of Ireland’s World Cup play-off game against the Czech Republic later this month due to injury.
Weekend highlight: What a day of rugby union, with Scotland and France delivering 90 points that included 13 tries. Then along came Italy, beating England for the first time ever in the history of the Six Nations.
What a cracker: Two spicy encounters in Croke Park on Saturday evening, with Meath facing Tyrone in Division Two and Dublin and Armagh in a Division One relegation battle.
“A negative mind will never give you a positive life.”
Mayo have kicked the most two pointers in Division One of the National Football League to date with (18) — followed by Donegal (15), Kerry (13), Roscommon (12), Dublin (11), Galway (10), Armagh (9), and Monaghan (7).
Spurs and Leeds United find themselves embroiled in the Premier League relegation battle with West Ham United and Nottingham Forest. What a game on Sunday week when Spurs host Forest.
