TRADITION can be an immensely powerful ally. And St Kieran's, Kilkenny, a school steeped in such a commodity, proved the point better than any sports psychologist, when capturing the Croke Cup - the All Ireland Colleges Senior Hurling Championship title - for the 13th time, with a devastating display at Croke Park yesterday.
An indication of the task facing St Colman's quest for the crown was that not a single member of the team was even born when the Fermoy school claimed its one and only All Ireland title back in 1977; and yet, when Will O'Donoghue pounced for two goals in a three minute spell to give them a 2-5 to 0-7 halftime advantage, the odds seemed to be stacked in their favour.
St Kieran's though are made of stern stuff and when the Kilkenny teenagers got the bit between their teeth, they proved to be unstoppable.
Also, as if to emphasise the sense of tradition, David Carroll - son of former Kilkenny great Ted Carroll, who died suddenly last Christmas - played an inspirational role in Kieran's fightback and also had the honour of lifting the coveted silverware: "This one is for you, Dad," he proclaimed.
However, essentially it was a team effort from St Kieran's. Many other teams would have collapsed when hit by the sort of goal blitz inflicted on them by O'Donoghue, one of three Cork All Ireland winning minors of last year in the St Colman's team. O'Donoghue grabbed his first goal in the 28th minute (which gave them the lead for the first time) and then guided the sliothar to the net again in injury time to give Fermoy a four points lead.
When Timmy McCarthy rapped over a pointed free within two minutes of the restart to increase that lead to five points, very few in the crowd of 3,940 would have imagined St Colman's would fail to raise another flag. But such proved to be the case and the Cork players simply had no answer to St Kieran's incessant attacks.
Padraig Delaney, Jimmy Coogan and Willie Maher - who pulled overhead to smash Carroll's free to the net in the 49th minute for their only goal - provided the scoring inspiration, although much of the groundwork was actually done further afield, with the likes of Tomas O'Dowd, John McEvoy and Sean Dowling making major impressions.
And yet, Colman's will probably feel this is one that slipped away. The bottom line, however, is that St Kieran's know how to win and it is a tribute to the hurling philosophy propagated in the famed academy that it was done with considerable panache, especially in the second half.
