Danske Bank MacRory Cup
Section C, round three
St Patrick’s, Cavan 1-9
St Patrick’s, Maghera 2-8
THIS tie in Garvaghey was very much dictated by the strong breeze and when Maghera turned around at half-time just four points in arrears, victory seemed to be in their sights.
Cavan had the elements behind them in that opening half and Fiachra Brady used it to hit the first point from well out the field.
Ultan O’Reilly added two good scores, one off each foot while Maghera’s sole point came from Cormac McCloskey to send them in down by 0-5 to 0-1.
The teams opened the second half with a point each from Mark McGurk and a Charlie Fallon free before Paddy Brides, a point-scorer for Cavan in the first half, picked up a black card.
Maghera, now with a numerical advantage, tagged on a couple of points through Pádraig Haran (free) and Odhrán Doherty, before Cormac McCloskey fired home the opening goal to edge them 1-5 to 0-6 ahead.
However, Cavan responded fairly quickly with Charlie Fallon playing a one-two with Dylan Brady and hitting the Maghera net.
Turlough McHugh’s influence up front, however, was growing and he and Odhrán Doherty tagged on points for Maghera to level the game ahead of Darragh Doherty’s goal in the 49th minute.
Pádraig Haran added a point, but Cavan wouldn’t roll over and they pulled it back to a one-point game with scores from Nathan Quigley and Fallon. However, a late goal attempt was blocked and they had to settle for third place in the group.
Best on show for Cavan were Oisín Maguire, Phillip Shannon, Ultan O’Reilly and top-scorer Charlie Fallon, while Turlough McHugh, Padraig Haran and Odhrán Doherty took Maghera through to victory.
The Derry side has topped the section and will face either Our Lady’s, Castleblayney or St Colman’s, Newry in the play-offs in a fortnight. St Colman’s need just a draw in that head-to-head on Thursday in Castleblayney to finish in third and would then take on Cavan.
Maghera C McCloskey 1-1; D Doherty 1-0; P Haran & O Doherty 0-2 each; M McGurk, G McIvor & T McHugh 0-1 each.
Cavan C Fallon 1-2; N Quigley 0-3; U O’Reilly 0-2; P Brides & J Donohue 0-1 each
Section A, round four
Holy Trinity, Cookstown 1-6
Our Lady’s, Castleblaney 3-12
IT was winner-takes-all at Paddy Cullen Park in Cookstown on Friday with Our Lady’s, Castleblayney taking the spoils to secure the last qualifier place in Section A.
After an even start the Monaghan lads assumed control to establish a seven-point interval lead and they never looked back for a result that sees Holy Trinity exit the competition.
The home side started quickly and established an early lead through frees from Karl Wawryniewicz and Conor Mallon.
By the 10th minute, a Sean Murtagh free and Canice Murphy point had levelled the contest. Little separated the sides with Darragh Muldoon’s point then cancelled out by a Tristian Nugent free.
A powerful finish from midfielder Canice Murphy, giving keeper Jack McElhone no chance, gave Our Lady’s a huge boost and although Wawryniewicz did reduce the deficit with an excellent free, the Monaghan lads took control.
A brace of Murtagh scores, followed by points from Murphy, Pauric Carville and Evan Trainor gave Our Lady’s a comfortable seven-point advantage at the interval.
Trainor opened the second-half scoring before Jamie Concannon converted a free from near the sideline at the other end.
Trainor kicked a quickfire double to extend ‘Blayney’s lead as the game entered the final quarter.
Defender Wawryniewicz did give Holy Trinity some hope with an opportunist goal in the 52nd minute, flicking to the net and then adding a point, but any hopes of a comeback were quickly extinguished with both Carville and Murtagh finding the net in the closing five minutes.
Carville stepped inside two defenders to smash home and Murtagh palmed home at the back post after excellent build-up play. Castleblayney C Murphy & S Murtagh 1-3 each; P Carville 1-1;
E Trainor & E Trainor 0-4 each; T Nugent 0-1
Holy Trinity K Wawryniewicz 1-3; D Muldoon, C Mallon
& J Concannon 0-1 each
