THE GAME was not even listed in daily newspapers, but perhaps that is an issue for another day which might be addressed by Leinster Council. However, Friday's provincial girls schools SFC 'A' final in Vicarstown went down as another 'first' for the Carlow school which was winning its fifth successive eastern title. And again they delivered another five-carat performance - at least in the first half - but then they have not had a peer in Leinster for those five seasons; losing only once – to Friday's opponents in a league tie last year.

St. Leo's strolled away with the silver again, but they will have more aggressive foe now they are out of the province, beyond which these girls have only triumphed once, that in '07, and they have designs on the national trophy again.

They face the Connacht champions over St. Patrick's weekend, and in the meantime their juniors meet the same opposition in defence of their title on March 2.

Edenderry were smothered by the all-court 'Leo's game whose only weakness was not posting scores proportionate to possession and panache; they shunning a rake of goals, particularly late in the contest.

Even considering the spirit of the only school able to share the same pitch with them, St. Leo's were not at their usual racy pace and they merely went through the motions in a highly-predictable second half.

Like Kilkenny hurlers, eleven of this crew are in line for the '11 Leinster also, and with only four departures from the present combination the outlook is not rosy for anyone else, and if successful it would give the slightlybuilt Sinéad Doogue a provincial record; that is if she did not create it on Friday.

Those who are aware of 'Leo's pedigree called 'time' by the tenth minute when the Dublin Street girls were 1-4 and cruising, with Aisling Hayden dominating the middle, even against an enthusiastic Edenderry pairing.

Sinéad Ruth began the Offaly agony after 57 seconds and Emer Delaney and Doogue added to the score before a Doogue pass saw team captain Deirdre O'Sullivan turn and raise a green flag. They sailed through with little real opposition, and were comfortable at 1-7 to 0-1 before St. Mary's landed two of the final three points of the half. But they were being tortured at the back by Ceira Callinan, Rhona Julian and wingers Ashling Wall and Aoife Byrne and not even the best from Kym Furey, Karen Cummins and Miriam Murphy could dent Carlow armour.

The score reached 2-10 to 0-4 after a move involving Lauren Dwyer and Hilary Griffin placed Doogue for their second goal in the 54th minute.

Edenderry fought hard to stay upright and shadowed the 'Leo's girls into missing an open goal and hitting the wood twice, but by that time Leinster president Sean McMullin had the trophy in hands, ready for the ceremonials, and presenting the game's MVP to the indefatigueable Danni Callinan who spent as much time augmenting defence as sticking rigidly to her No. 10 role.

On the negative side the winners conceded 28 of the 45 frees which may prove far more costly against superior opposition, and hit seven of the 16 wides.

Even St. Leo's must drop tempo in their own province for their high-grade consistency must be very difficult to maintain. Tanala Kehoe in goal, Callinan, Julian and Byrne in a really untested defence, the all-action Hayden in the middle and forwards Callinan, Delaney, Ruth and O'Sullivan were marginally best but seldom under pressure to find another gear.

Problem with St. Leo's is that they never have to hit the high notes in Leinster, and are thus relatively unprepared for the bigger stage, but this collection have the credentials if they are not lured into security by the ease of provincial passage.

Few savoured the moment that overcome skipper Deirdre O'Sullivan who only sees the task half-completed. 'We've got what we wanted today and we'll dive into the hard work after a good night tonight,' she promises, glowing with trophy in hand. 'Then we'll see about coming home with the really important silverware we all really want.'

The Bennekerry/Tinryland lass admitted their normal racy game did not arrive, despite the comfort of their victory. 'I don't really know why but then they were sticky markers.'

She did not realise how far they were ahead at half-time. 'We never even thought of the score then, no-one even asked and none told - we didn't care, it was just about the next ten minutes' recalling that they had questions as to how their usual flowing game was not being delivered. 'It was a very lifeless second half.'

It was a good weekend for the Miller (Timahoe) family, with Grace pivot in Friday's final, and sister and former 'Leo's pupil Alison (Portlaoise/Connacht) on the wing for the Irish women's rugby team against at Italy in Ashbourne that evening. More than a few recalled the contribution of their father the late Bobby to Gaelic football in Laois, Kildare and Carlow.