Throwback Thursday: Luke Connolly masterclass helped Críost Rí land Corn Uí Mhuirí 

IT'S 12 years ago this week, Coláiste Chríost Rí defeated Pobalscoil Chorca Dhuibhne 1-12 to 1-7 in the Corn Uí Mhuirí final at Dr Crokes in Killarney, and that stands as the last victory by a Cork school in the prestigious competition.

The team had to overcome a spirited Kerry college that was playing with 14 men from the first few seconds as Padraig Ó Sé, the son of Kerry legend Páidí, received a straight red card over a challenge on Eoghan Finn.

If Críost Rí’s afternoon wasn’t complicated enough, a massive favourites tag was suddenly applied to them as they tried to find their feet when the game restarted. 

Not only were they facing the weight of expectation from hundreds of people in Killarney, but they were also up against their own name.

This was enhanced by their recent victory over St Fachtna’s, Skibbereen in the Simcox Final, a night when the school clawed back a seven-point deficit and won with a Luke Connolly point in the final second at Páirc Uí Rinn. 

The feeling of goodwill from their January treasure fed into their springtime campaign to lift the title most heavily craved on Capwell Road, the Corn Uí Mhuirí.

The scale of their ambition wasn’t just because of the school’s history, they also possessed a talented squad that was used to big games.  Connolly and Kevin Fulignati were on the Cork team that contested the 2010 All-Ireland Minor Football final after defeating Kerry by one point in the Munster final. 

They played alongside a host of players from the St Finbarr’s team that had just won back-to-back minor titles.

EXPERIENCE

Críost Rí’s senior footballers possessed a unique level of experience and it all came together one Sunday afternoon at the beginning of March in Killarney.

The school knocked out Tralee CBS and Coláiste na Sceilge on their way to the final, so they travelled down to Killarney well used to playing teams from the Kingdom. 

When Finn got injured, the game stopped for almost 17 minutes and all the tension just stopped in Killarney. 

The situation had an immediate impact on the game as ‘long spells of football remained a distant second behind the concerns of all involved about Finn’s state of health’ Mark Woods wrote in The Echo.

It was something that manager Aidan Moynihan made sure to mention in his post-match interview.

“It’s hard enough for adults to try and focus on a match after something like that, but you can imagine what it is was like for the young lads,” he said. “You could see they were very upset because they’re a very tight bunch and Eoghan would be one of the jokers in the pack.” 

Críost Rí put all of this behind them and they went into half-time leading 1-4 to 0-2, and it seemed like it was almost a guarantee that the Corn Uí Mhuirí’s destination was Capwell Road. 

Chorca Dhuibhne emerged from the break as a team transformed and 15 seconds into the second half, Tom Kavanagh ran onto a pass from Dara Ó Sé and beat John Kerins to raise a green flag.

This was the start of a 10-minute spell that ended with Chorca Dhuibhne outscoring Críost Rí 1-4 to 0-1 and this gave them a narrow one-point lead.

Connolly kicked over a 47-metre free in the 43rd minute and that tied things up while breathing new life into his side’s forward line.  He put over four more and slowly Críost Rí were gaining a cushion as the as the clock began to wind down in Killarney.

The only thing that stopped him from having a perfect game was the heroics of Chorca Dhuibhne goalkeeper Gavin Curran, who saved his penalty after Ciaran Dalton was fouled. There was no time to be disappointed as the final whistle went seconds later and Críost Rí were crowned Munster champions for the first time since 2004.

As the school and team ran to embrace the forward just before the cup was lifted, Moynihan made sure to give special praise to midfielder Shane O’Keeffe and his role in stopping the Chorca Dhuibhne comeback.

“We got to grips with things and ground out a victory in the end. Shane O’Keeffe won an amount of possession for us at midfield and we drove on from there,” he said.

“The lads have been pushed to the edge every game they’ve played this season and it’s something that has stood to us. And it was the same again today.” 

The spine of that team would go on to dominate Cork football over the next ten years with the Andy Scannell Cup regularly changing hands between Nemo Rangers and St Finbarr’s in the latter half of the decade.