Danske Bank MacRory Cup quarter-finals (Friday, 7.30pm)
Omagh CBS v Our Lady’s, Castleblayney (O’Neills Healy Park)
St Patrick’s, Maghera v St Mary’s, Magherafelt (Owenbeg)
THE winners from this evening’s quarter-finals are set to meet in the semi-finals at the end of the month.
It is widely expected that Omagh CBS and St Patrick’s, Maghera will make that fixture and such expectation will suit both Our Lady’s, Castleblayney and St Mary’s, Magherafelt just nicely.
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The Derry supporters will flock in their thousands to Owenbeg to see the Maghera v Magherafelt derby.
There was a fair few in Rossa Park last Saturday to watch the Convent overcome St Patrick’s, Cavan in a play-off that never reached any great heights.
St Mary’s were always in charge. Their defence held a tight rein with Rory Small’s and Ben McLarnon’s bursts forward creating the openings for scoring opportunities.
James Sargent and Cathair McBride were in control at centre-field, while Conall Higgins and Pearse O’Neill kept the scoreboard ticking over. Having to play 40 minutes without Eamonn Young was not a handicap.
The proximity of that fixture should aid Magherafelt’s preparation, compared to Maghera’s last competitive outing in mid-November.
St Patrick’s easily accounted for St Macartan’s and Abbey CBS in those opening two games, meaning that their third tie was a dead-rubber and that allowed them to give game-time to a number of the wider panel.
The result was a narrow defeat; it allowed management to assess their bench but was of little use otherwise in sorting out how they will set up for the business end of the competition.
You would expect to see a team similar to the opening game against the Sem and that would mean captain Fionn McEldowney at the heart of the defence with a licence to attack, while still managing to filter back.
Ciarán Chambers will probably end up top point-scorer, while Antain Donnelly and Johnny McGuckian will provide the links and still chip in with scores.
With more from the All-Ireland winning team than St Mary’s, Maghera rightly go into the game as favourites, but they will be aware that they can take nothing for granted, as was demonstrated last season against Holy Trinity.
What applies to Maghera could also be said of Omagh CBS, who have more than half of last year’s Hogan Cup winning side on board.
They went through the group stages unbeaten, winning every game with ease and have done nothing to suggest that they are not capable of retaining their provincial title, at least. Complacency is their only enemy.
Our Lady’s were decidedly lucky to make it through Saturday’s play-off with St Colman’s.
There are decent players in their team like Max McGinty, Dara McMahon and Jamie Mooney, but they will need to produce a performance that is above the sum of the parts if they are to better the scoring of Charlie Donnelly, Liam Óg Mossey and Ruairí McCullagh.
St Patrick’s, Dungannon v Patrician, Carrickmacross (Saturday, Galbally, 2pm)
THE only quarter-final tie to take place in natural light has the potential to cause an upset.
Somehow, Patrician always seem to come up with a big performance when least expected.
Last year, they ran Omagh close in a semi-final. Last Saturday, they were poor enough for most of the first half and deserved to be 1-4 to 0-1 down in their derby with the Sem.
Yet, within 10 minutes of the re-start they were in control of the tie after hitting the net four times.
A fifth goal at the death meant that they won by 5-3 to 1-8 against a team that was considered an outside bet to maybe reach a final.
Carrickmacross’s tactic of defending in numbers and breaking at pace was crucial to the turnaround with Tomás Quinn and Packie Doogan the key players.
Ciarán Gourley will have noted that aspect of their play and you would expect the Academy to close out those quick breaks.
The Academy are a little under the radar in the sense that most of the focus until this stage seems to be on Maghera and Omagh.
They had their group won after two games and experimented with their bench in the third with the result that they suffered defeat.
The gap between those two competitive games at the start of the group and Saturday should be Gourley’s only real concern, although they faltered for periods against St Mary’s, Magherafelt and were lucky to come out on top with a couple of late scores.
On balance though, if both teams play to their potential, you would expect the scoring returns of Sean Hughes, Fiachra Nelis and Liam McGeary to outgun whatever Conor Meehan, Matthew Carolan and David McNally deliver – unless they hit another goal burst like last Saturday.