History for St Clare's CS as Manorhamilton school land Connacht crown

Inspired by the superb Jack Kelly, St Clare's CS became the first Leitrim school to lift a Mezzino Connacht Senior title since Ballinamore CS in 2014 when the Manorhamilton school upset hot favourites Gortnor Abbey of Crossmolina last Friday in the Senior C Championship Final in Enniscrone.

Under the leadership of former Leitrim senior team boss Shane Ward, a superbly drilled and organised St Clare's produced an epic first half performance as they left the highly rated Crossmolina school chasing shadows under the lights along the coast of west Mayo.

In the second half, in the face of a fierce fightback from 14 man Gortnor Abbey, St Clare's displayed all of their resolve and grit as they battled for every inch and never let the Mayo school get ahead - Crossmolina did draw level but crucially, despite momentum apparently being with them, they could never edge in front. And when they didn't, St Clare's had the coolness to hold them off and then strike for two killer points from Jack Kelly that eventually decided this contest.

The final ten minutes were nerve-wracking as Gortnor, even a man down, laid siege to the St Clare's half but this resilient Manor team, backboned by many of their Connacht Club Final squad, never buckled and never looked like buckling as they deservedly claimed the title.

Jack Kelly was simply the best player on the field but Ronan Fox, Bailey McBride, Karl and Zach Gethings, Evin Gilligan, Luke Farrell and James Hughes all put in huge performances. As an aside, Kobe McDonald looks like a rare one-of-a-kind prospect, it will be interesting to see if Mayo can keep hold of him!

GALLERY: ST CLARE'S CELEBRATE CONNACHT TITLE VICTORY

The benefit of six players lining out with the Leitrim schools team was in full effect here as they all played major roles for St Clare's over the course of the hour as they manned the spine of this team

The sending off of Gortnor Abbey’s Mark Sheerin in the first half had a huge bearing on this game, particularly in light of how Gortnor dominated long stretches of the second half. The Mayo school had the chances but they didn't have ice in their veins the way a well drilled and superbly organised St Clare's did and they certainly did have a Jack Kelly in their ranks

Gortnor Abbey settled first with Kobe McDonald seeing a shot hit the woodwork before Luke Maloney fired over after McDonald won an intercept. But that early Abbey momentum was shattered when Luke Farrell’s precise long delivery found Jack Kelly one-on-one in front of goal, a quick sidestep and the Glencar Manor clubman blasted home easily.

Kelly was unlucky with a long range free before his brother Senan turned sharply to point on six minutes. Jack Kelly then added two frees as St Clare’s established what turned out to be a match winning five point lead inside the first seven minutes.

McDonald hit a 40 yard free over for Gortnor but St Clare’s ability to cleverly counter-attack and find Kelly was exploited with another point on 12 minutes. Esmonde Maughan briefly threatened a goal but his shot was tipped over well by Josh Sheridan between the posts.

The St Clare's team who won the Mezzino Connacht PPS Senior C title in Enniscrone Picture: Willie Donnellan

St Clare’s then produced a sumptuous move that saw Bailey McBride find Jack Kelly. His brilliant offload put Jack Attard through and he made no mistake to leave the Leitrim school 2-4 to 0-3 ahead after 17 minutes.

Gortnor Abbey were struggling badly in the face of St Clare’s brilliant start and it got much worse when full-forward Mark Sheerin was handed a straight red card by referee John Gilmartin on the advice of the linesman for a challenge on Jack Kelly. The incident happened the far side of the field and left observers wondering what had happened but it was a huge blow for the Mayo school.

Ironically, the dismissal seemed to rile Kobe McDonald who won possession 40 yards and took off on a powerful run, barrelling through the St Clare’s defence almost by force of will and launching a howitzer of a shot to the St Clare’s net.

The Manor lads settled with a great Ronan Fox point from distance but after a yellow card for Luke Farrell, McDonald converted a free. Jack Attard added a point to his tally while Gortnor keeper Fionn Cosgrove kept out a shot from Jack Kelly when he was put through.

The Mayo lads were starting to build momentum and added time points from Maloney (free) and Josh Moyles, a goal on after a turnover, left the score at 2-6 to 1-6 in favour of St Clare’s at the halftime break.

With a man advantage, St Clare’s could afford to guard the house and when Jack Kelly fired over a great point on the run, it left the Leitrim lads four up. Then came a remarkable surge from Gortnor as McDonald, Diarmuid Barrett, Josh Moyles and Liam Maloney rattled over four unanswered points over the first ten minutes of the second half.

Crucially, despite a few good chances, Gortnor never got in front, one score being disallowed and St Clare’s made them pay - a long ball was claimed as a mark by Jack Kelly and converted on the midway point and two minutes later, Kelly converted another free to leave St Clare’s two up.

The final 12 minutes were nerve-wracking with a scoreboard malfunction giving the impression that Gortnor had closed the gap to a point when a McDonald shot went out for a fifty. It didn’t go over but as the pressure increased, Gortnor’s composure in front of the post deserted them in the face of resilient and composed St Clare’s defence.

SHANE WARD WELCOMES NEW CHALLENGES AFTER ST CLARE'S CONNACHT TRIUMPH

Dylan Flynn, McDonald and a few others hit bad wides and while St Clare’s were increasingly backs to the wall, camped in their own half, they did threaten the occasional breakout with Jack Kelly seeing a shot brilliantly smothered.

McDonald put a close range injury time free carelessly wide, a score that would have given them the chance to salvage the game but as it turns out, St Clare’s were never troubled and deservedly claimed an historic title.

ST CLARE’S MANORHAMILTON

Scorers: Jack Kelly 1-6, 1M, 2f; Jack Attard 1-1; Ronan Fox & Senan Kelly 0-1 each

Team: Josh Sheridan, Luke Farrell, James Hughes, Eoin McLoughlin, Cian McMorrow, Evin Gilligan, Sean Brady, Bailey McBride, Ronan Fox, Karl Gethins, Zach Gethins, Cathal Curneen, Senan Kelly, Jack Kelly, Jack Attard. Subs: James Harkin for Curneen (48); Conal Maguire for Attard (51)

GORTNOR ABBEY Crossmolina

Scorers: Kobe McDonald 1-3, 2f; Luke Maloney 0-3, 2f; Josh Moyles 0-2; Diarmuid Barrett & Esmonde Maughan 0-1 each

Team: Fionn Cosgrove, Eoin Dyra, Sean Flynn Heffernan, Sean Og McGuinness, Michael Sheridan, Diarmuid Barrett, Ronan Walsh, Josh Moyles, Esmonde Maughan, Dylan Flynn; Ethan Reilly, Kobe McDonald, Jack O’Brien, Mark Sheerin, Luke Maloney. Subs: Ruairi Coyne for Flynn (17); Luke Lavelle for O’Brien (53); Luke Williams for Maloney (54); Luke Lavelle for Dyra (58); O’Brien for Walsh (61)

Referee: John Gilmartin