A RECORD 18 teams will participate in this season’s Danske Bank MacRory Cup, an increase of two on the centenary event last year.
There are three new teams, while Patrician High, Carrickmacross, who lost on penalties to St Patrick’s Academy in last January’s quarter-final, have dropped back to compete in the MacLarnon Cup, which they won three years ago.
The new teams include Abbey Vocational from Donegal town, who won the Danske Bank MacLarnon Cup for the first time time last February, and went on to collect the All-Ireland title a month later.
There will be a second Donegal unit competing in the shape of the south and west Donegal schools, an amalgamation of five schools from Gaoth Dóbhair to Killybegs.
The third new team is also an amalgamation covering the Derry city area, Cathair Dhoire.
Both of the amalgamations have been drawn in groups of five teams and that means their opening games will take place before the Halloween break.
The two groups of four teams will start a couple of weeks later after mid-term.
Cathair Dhoire will feature in Group B along with back-to-back Hogan Cup winners Omagh CBS. It looks to be a very strong group with two more of last season’s semi-finalists – St Joseph’s, Donaghmore and St Mary’s, Magherafelt –as well as St Macartan’s, Monaghan.
Diarmuid McNulty, winning coach for the past two years, had a wry smile as his team came out from the cup.
“Look, there’s never an easy draw, is there? I had been in touch with Niall Kelly in Donaghmore and we were floating the idea of a friendly early next month. He’s just after texting “No friendly then.”
“And Kevin Brady, who takes Magherafelt, is my brother-in-law. So another friendly gone!”, he joked.
“It’s going to be very interesting this year. There are a lot of teams in the mix there with genuine hopes of winning outright and a few others that will make life very difficult in individual games.”
The other group of five sees the Donegal combination in with Holy Trinity, Cookstown; St Patrick’s, Armagh; St Colman’s, Newry and Our Lady’s, Castleblayney.
St Patrick’s, Maghera will be in a group with their Cavan namesakes; St Michael’s, Enniskillen and St Ronan’s, Lurgan. All four are MacRory winners over the last decade.
In Group D, Abbey Vocational take their bow against St Patrick’s, Dungannon; Abbey CBS, Newry and St Paul’s, Bessbrook.
Four teams from each group progress to the first knock-out round before Christmas and that means that just eight will go into 2025 still with a chance of collecting the first MacRory title of its second century on Sunday, February 9 in the BOX-IT Athletic Grounds.
Group A (5 teams)
Southwest Donegal; St Patrick’s, Armagh; Holy Trinity, Cookstown; St Colman’s, Newry; Our Lady’s, Castleblayney
Group B (5)
Cathair Dhoire; St Macartan’s, Monaghan; St Joseph’s, Donaghmore; St Mary’s, Magherafelt; Omagh CBS
Group C (4)
St Patrick’s, Cavan; St Ronan’s, Lurgan; St Patrick’s, Maghera; St Michael’s, Enniskillen
Group D (4)
Abbey Vocational, Donegal; St Patrick’s, Dungannon; Abbey CBS, Newry; St Paul’s, BessbrooK
