So near yet so far for the class of ‘81
The St Colman's College team that lined out in the 1981 All-Ireland Colleges Hogan Cup final where they suffered an agonising defeat at the hands of Carmelite College, Moate.
It was definitely a case of unlucky 13 the last time St Colman’s College appeared in the final of the Hogan Cup. It’s all of 44 years ago at this stage and while that it is a long time, only on two occasions since have Mayo schools reached the final – St Gerald’s, Castlebar in 1997 and Rice College, Westport in 2018 – up until St Colman’s return to the showpiece event of colleges football next weekend.
13 was the number of wides that the Claremorris team kicked in the 1981 Hogan Cup final at Dr Hyde Park, a devastating figure in the context of a one point defeat. The fact that they were leading the game right up until the final moments, when Carmelite College of Moate were awarded and converted a penalty to win by 2-2 to 1-4, only added to the agony.
“It haunts me to this day,” Padraic O’Reilly admitted to the this week. O’Reilly lined-out at full-forward against the Leinster opposition whom St Colman’s had beaten in the All-Ireland final four years earlier. Like that previous encounter in ’77, the Moate side entered the game as holders of the Hogan Cup having beaten St Patrick's College, Maghera (ironically, St Colman’s opponents this coming St Patrick’s Day) in the 1980 final. The Moate team in ’80 included a certain John Maughan from Crossmolina in its ranks, as well as Galway’s Val Daly.
St Colman’s College had advanced to the 1981 All-Ireland Colleges senior football final by virtue of a nail-biting 0-6 to 0-5 victory over St Jarlath’s College in the Connacht final. This was when the pedigree of St Jarlath’s was at his highest; the Tuam school contested eight Hogan Cup finals in a twelve year period from 1973 to 1984, winning four.
The All-Ireland semi-final victory in ’81 was a higher-scoring affair, with St Colman’s overcoming Coláiste Íosagáin of Ballyvourney by 3-5 to 0-10 before a final in which the teams between them raised only nine flags for the entire game.
The penalty from which Carmelite College derived their one point win was scored just two minutes before the full-time whistle.
“There isn’t a week goes by that I don’t think about that day in Roscommon,” assures Padraic O’Reilly.
“It was a horrendous day with rain. I had scored a few goals along the way to the final, so I was double marked in the final. I drifted out from full-forward to the half-forward line and to midfield, to make room inside.
“We were two points up right at the end of the game and then we conceded a penalty. When I heard the whistle first, I thought the referee was blowing for the end of the game. But then the ball was driven past the late Noel McGuinness, in our goal, and that was it. They had won it by a point. It was hard to take and it still is.” It was a St Colman’s team that provided two players who would later feature in the Mayo team that in 1989 ended the county’s 38-year wait to reach an All-Ireland SFC final. John Finn captained the Claremorris side from centre-back while Sean Maher lined out at midfield.
Over four decades on from those halcyon days as a student at St Colman’s College, Padraic O’Reilly says that seeing the red and white flags up around the town of Claremorris has brought the memories of 1981 flooding back.
“I drive out to the gates of the college every evening after work, to soak in the atmosphere. It’s great to see them in the final again and I hope they win it.”
