Venue confirmed for Coláiste Mhuire's All-Ireland semi-final
Mullingar's Coláiste Mhuire will face St Colman’s, Claremorris, at Padraig Pearse's GAA grounds, Roscommon, on Saturday, February 22 at 1pm in the All-Ireland semi-final.
The venue is located just outside Ballinasloe, on the Roscommon side.
For the second time in their history and the first time in 42 years, Mullingar's Coláiste Mhuire are Leinster Senior Football 'A' champions after a stunning extra-time victory over Ardscoil na Tríonóide, Athy, at Glenisk O'Connor Park, Tullamore on Saturday.
History was made when Paul Keating flicked home the decisive goal to give the Mullingar side a four-point lead at the end of the first period of extra-time and they withstood strong pressure from their Kildare opponents to claim the spoils.
“We’ve been watching the underage teams, the U16s and second years, winning everything over the last few years. We’ve been kind of envious of them. But you know what? We got the big one,” beamed captain Matthew Thornton after the final whistle.
Dean McNicholas, who along with Brian Murtagh and Matthew Kearney oversaw Saturday’s historic victory, admitted the game changed when it went to extra-time and Athy had been reduced to 14 men.
"We were glad to get there, particularly when we found out that they were going into the extra-time with 14 men. It allowed us to jig a few things around, just to put a bit of a press on them. From halfway through that second half onwards, I think the lads really took the shackles off, stood up and there were leaders all over the field for us,” he remarked.
On the significance of the victory, Brian Murtagh said it can set the tone for a bright future.
"It's huge for Coláiste Mhuire. What I think it does is, I've said it probably the last few years, that we should be competing at this level.
“It's not since the '80s that we won it and I think with a school and a town the size of Mullingar, they should be definitely competing in Leinster at this stage quite regularly. Hopefully, it's just now setting the groundwork for years to come,” he opined.
“This is a place where these lads are going to be comfortable. You can see there, it's kind of inspired a new generation coming behind them in the crowd; there's a lot of good footballers there and without putting pressure on them, we hope this is where they will be competing.”
Matthew Kearney added: "You say the right things and you think the right things, but when it needed to be done, the boys really stepped up."
Their All-Ireland semi-final opponents from Mayo will provide stern opposition. Darragh Beirne bagged 1-5 and was a constant threat as St Colman's defeated Sligo's Summerhill College, 2-9 to 1-9, to regain a title last won six years' ago.
The Mayo side went into the game as underdogs after an earlier meeting between the teams ended in a clear-cut win for Summerhill. However, St Colman's regrouped impressively and showed they were in great form when the Connacht decider came around.
Darragh Beirne and Ciaran Treacy swooped for wonderful goals while Rio Mortimer, Nathan Gill and Stefan Petkovic were others to make an impression on a well-balanced side. It was St Colman’s seventh provincial title and first since 2019.
Meanwhile, the other All-Ireland semi-final will be contested by St Patrick’s, Maghera and Mercy Mounthawk, Tralee. St Patrick’s recovered from the concession of two early goals to claim their 17th MacRory Cup with a 0-12 to 2-5 victory over Abbey Vocational School at Celtic Park, while Mercy Mounthawk retained the Corn Uí Mhuirí in Munster after overcoming Kerry rivals St Brendan’s, Killarney by 2-11 to 0-10.