Marist bid to make history in clash with champions

The current crop of Marist College players have a chance to etch a special place in the Athlone school’s sporting history as they prepare to take on Coláiste Mhuire, Mullingar in the Leinster Schools Senior Football ‘A’ Championship final tomorrow (Saturday). TEG Cusack Park in Mullingar is the venue for the eagerly awaited final, with throw-in at 1pm at Westmeath GAA headquarters.

The Marist have reached five previous Leinster senior football finals - 1983, 1999, 2014, 2016 and 2018 - but finished on the losing side on each occasion. The first of those finals was against Saturday’s opponents, when Coláiste Mhuire, then known as St Mary’s CBS, came out on top.

Coláiste Mhuire are the defending champions and having defeated highly rated St Patrick’s, Navan and Naas CBS teams en route to the final, they are regarded as strong favourites to lift the Bro Bosco Cup again. They overcame Naas CBS on a scoreline of 2-16 to 0-14 in the semi-final after an impressive second-half display.

For their part, the Marist have been involved in some thrilling matches on the way to the decider, winning their quarter-final against Terenure College on penalties, and requiring extra-time to overcome Ardee CS in their semi-final.

“We’ll keep knocking at the door and hopefully some day it will open,” said Marist College joint manager Fergal Wilson, who is joined in the management team by Kevin Fagan, Paul Kelly, John Parker and Fiona Dempsey.

Saturday’s final is attracting plenty of interest but while it’s an all-Westmeath decider, there is plenty of involvement from South Roscommon in the Marist panel, with St Brigid’s having several representatives involved. Offaly club Doon is represented by Cian Duffy, while Dónal Dawson, who has family links to Lecarrow and Limerick, plays for Limerick club Ahane.

The following clubs are represented on the Marist panel: St Brigid’s, Tubberclair, Garrycastle, Maryland, Athlone, Clann na nGael, St Dominic’s, Castledaly, Doon, Moate All Whites, St Aidan’s and Ahane. The Marist team is jointly captained by Adam Smyth (Maryland) and James McHugh of Garrycastle - see player profiles below and see here for separate article which includes the full Coláiste Mhuire panel.

Garrycastle’s Andrew Henson, also well known for his rugby prowess, is set to miss the final due to a hamstring injury. It's a considerable blow for Henson on a personal basis and for the Marist team as a whole. When the Marist were knocked out of the 2024-2025 Leinster championship by Moate CS, Henson was their best player on the day.

However, the Marist have demonstrated a capacity to overcome various setbacks on the way to the final and they will need to show similar resilience again tomorrow.

Coláiste Mhuire and Marist College met two years ago in the North Leinster junior final, which needed penalty kicks before the Mullingar side prevailed. If tomorrow's final ends level, extra-time will be played and if that fails to separate the sides, a penalty shootout will take place.

Saturday’s final promises to be an intriguing contest and a big crowd is expected at Westmeath GAA headquarters for what is sure to be a special sporting occasion.

Marist College player profiles

Aaron Hardiman (Age: 17), Club: Athlone (Favourite player: Gavin White, Kerry)

Adam Smyth (18), Maryland (Callum McCormack, Maryland/Westmeath)

Aidan Brennan (18), St Dominic's (Diarmuid Murtagh, Roscommon)

Americo Miranda Da Costa (18), Athlone (David Clifford, Kerry)

Andrew Cotton (17), St Dominic's (Keith Doyle, St Dominic's/Roscommon)

Andrew Henson (18), Garrycastle (Joe O'Connor, Kerry)

Brian Elliott (17), Tubberclair (Luke Loughlin, Westmeath)

Cian Duffy (17), Doon (Eoin McElholm, Tyrone)

Conor Fennell (18), Clann na nGael (Sean O'Shea, Kerry)

Conor Flynn (16), St Aidan's (Lee Keegan, Mayo)

Daire Burke (18), Tubberclair (Fergal Wilson, Tubberclair/Westmeath)

Darragh Glennon (18), Garrycastle (Cillian O'Connor, Mayo)

Darragh Lough (18), Athlone (Shane Allen, Athlone/Westmeath)

Daragh Murray (18), Moate All Whites (Ruaidhrí Fallon, St Brigid's/Roscommon)

David Temple (16), Maryland (Sean O'Shea, Kerry)

Diarmuid O'Higgins (17), Clann na nGael (Gavin White, Kerry)

DJ Connaughton (17), Maryland (James McCarthy, Dublin)

Dónal Dawson (18) Ahane, Limerick (Gary Brennan, Clare)

Donnchadh O'Dwyer (17), St Brigid's (Brian Stack, St Brigid's/Roscommon)

Dylan Dennehy Lyons (17), St Brigid's (David Clifford, Kerry)

Eoin Carr (16), St Brigid's (Brian Stack, St Brigid's/Roscommon)

Gary Staunton (17), Tubberclair (Lee Keegan, Mayo)

Jack Sammon (16) St Brigid's (Lee Keegan)

Jacob Bourke (17), Castledaly (Lee Keegan)

James McHugh (18), Garrycastle (Rian O'Neill, Armagh)

James Pettit (17), Tubberclair (Mick Fitzsimons, Dublin)

James Trundle (17), St Brigid's (Pearse Frost, St Brigid's/Roscommon)

John Timlin (18), Clann na nGael (Ryan O'Donoghue, Mayo)

Mikey Sammon (17), Tubberclair (Sean O'Shea, Kerry)

Padraig O'Neill (16), Tubberclair (Sean O'Shea)

Patrick Collins (17) St Brigid's (Matthew Whittaker, Tubberclair/Westmeath)

Rory McMickan (18), Athlone (Finbarr Roarty, Donegal)

Ryan Hughes (16), St Brigid's (Conor Hand, St Brigid's/Roscommon)

Sean Keegan (17), Tubberclair (Conor Hand)

Sean McDonnell (17), St Brigid's (Lee Keegan, Mayo)

Sean Whittaker (17), Tubberclair (Oisin Conaty, Armagh)

Tadgh Fallon (16), St Brigid's (Brian Stack, St Brigid's/Roscommon)

Thomas Egan (17), St Brigid's (Niall Morgan, Tyrone)

William Geraghty (17), Maryland (Kieran Martin, Maryland/Westmeath)

Zac Mullally (16), Clann na nGael (Billy Hogan, Meath).