Marist College have booked their place in the Connacht Senior Cup Final after coming out on top of an absolute thriller against Summerhill in Hamilton Park this afternoon.

In an incredible display of attacking rugby that ebbed and flowed with both teams leading at various points throughout, it was a Charlie O’Carroll penalty that will be credited with the winning score of the game. 

The Athlone side now will sit back and watch on Wednesday as Sligo Grammar and Colaiste Iognaid do battle to see who will compete for the Cup in Galway in a few weeks' time. 

Summerhill College came into Hamilton Park with home advantage having topped Pool 1 of the competition in the group stages and thus heralded the favourites tag. Marist were travelling north having featured in both of the two most recent fixtures in the competition, having beaten CBS Roscommon a month ago to the day to book their spot today, with that fixture originally being postponed in January due to adverse weather conditions.

The game kicked off in a wet and windy Sligo to a boisterous crowd on the sidelines creating a great atmosphere. Neither side getting off the mark early on as in typical semi-final fashion both teams looked to get a feel for each other and not make a vital early mistake, but the scoring would soon come.

It was the away side Marist who opened the scoring, Summerhill did well to hold Marist at bay but the pressure from the Athlone side pushed them back and it was Tom Bourke who got over to touch down and give his side an early lead. The competition's top scorer Charlie O’Carroll continued his fine form despite a chorus of noise as he composed himself to add the extra two.

Summerhill did not take too long to answer back, they squandered a scoring chance immediately through a forward pass but regained possession and composure to get on the board in the next play. It was Teddy Kilgannon who spotted the gap to get over the whitewash. Oisin O’Neill lost his footing on the conversion attempt leaving the Sligo side two points behind coming up to the quarter mark of the fixture.

The Sligo side took their first lead of the game a couple minutes later, Stefan Roche spotted a gap and broke the tackle to march through and touch down under the posts to give his side their first lead of the fixture. Oisin O’Neill made the extras count this time to give his team a five-point lead. 

Marist could’ve started to crumble given the situation and the dominance of their opponents in the last period but they showed great character looking to respond shortly after. The Athlone side broke through on their second visit to the Summerhill 22 and it was Niall Tallon who got over to silence the majority home favouring crowd in Hamilton Park. O’Carroll made no mistake once again helping Marist retake the lead with the conversion. 

Summerhill once again went into the lead just before the break. A quick tap-and-go penalty caught the away side napping as they went in at the corner through Eamon Keane to stun their opponents. O’Neill faced a tough conversion attempt by the sideline and was unable to put it between the posts with his side leading by three with just seconds left in the opening half. 

In what seemed to be the longest ending to a half ever, Marist got over with the last play of the opening period through Danny Reid who got over in the corner with the Athlone side now taking the lead for the third time in the half with their third try of the game. Charlie O’Carroll was unable to convert for the first time today although the wall of noise created by the home crowd could not have helped matters. So it was the away side who held the lead by two after a blistering first half of rugby. 

It did not take long for the opening score of the second half, as after just three minutes the home side got a penalty after a high tackle on O’Neill, who recovered to slot the first penalty of the game between the posts as once again, the lead changed.

Marist picked up their fourth try of the game and their fourth lead through Tom Sheehan after the away side used an advantage to slam the Sligo backline back and broke them down. Charlie O’Caroll made no mistake this time putting the last miss out of his head to give his side a six-point lead with over 20 minutes left. 

Moments later, for the first time, Marist extended their lead out to two score game. Another penalty from the Summerhill side left a very kickable attempt for O’Carroll who opted not to kick for the corner and instead put daylight between the sides as Marist were now starting to look likely to cause an upset in Sligo this afternoon.

As was becoming tradition in this game, no team would be able to breathe for too long, with Summerhill immediately marching up inside the 22 and it was Oisin O’Neill who ended up over the line after some great carrying from the hosts breaking down Marist. O’Neill converted his own kick to bring it back to a two-point game.

Oisin O’Neill took on an ambitious attempt at looking for the posts from a penalty outside the 10-metre line almost at halfway and it fell inches short of giving his side the lead. The level of quality we were seeing from the two sides was really emphasised by this as the margins between winning and losing are so fine. 

The final few moments of the game were spent near the Summerhill 22, with Marist gaining control despite it only being a one-score game, and despite the Sligo side regaining the ball a few knock-ons were the writing on the wall for the home side and Marist held on. As the Final Whistle blew to the Marist side's delight, it was O’Carroll who converted and O’Neill whose ambitious effort dropped inches short which turned out to be the difference.