Danske Bank MacRory Cup final:
St Patrick’s, Maghera 5-7 St Paul’s, Bessbrook 1-9
ST PATRICK’S, Maghera secured the MacRory Cup for the 15th time in their illustrious history when they had too much power and know how for St Paul’s, Bessbrook in Thursday’s decider at the Athletic Grounds in Armagh.
A blistering start when they found the net three times in the opening 12 minutes paved the way for their victory but credit has to go to a St Paul’s side who made a fight of it after trailing 4-4 to 0-5 at the interval. Indeed, Maghera goalkeeper Sean Cassidy made a brilliant save to deny Ryan McSherry a goal in the 50th minute when the gap had been cut to six points. That was a big moment in the game and Maghera steadied the ship after that with an injury-time penalty from Conall Darragh putting gloss on their victory.
The Derry lads don’t have time to rest on their laurels as they face Connacht champions Summerhill from Sligo in the Hogan Cup semi-final next Wednesday but for now joint-manager Paul Hughes was revelling in their latest success.
“You never get tired of winning the MacRory Cup, especially in perfect conditions like today,” he said.
“I have said for years that MacRory football is a special competition simply because of the bond that there is among the players and the whole school. We had asked the lads to start with intensity but we couldn’t have dreamed of the beginning that we got. If you tracked our games through the knock-out stages we were poor starters and that was something that we had to address.
“In a couple of challenge games we developed a great intensity. We told the lads that today wasn’t about the fact that we were playing Bessbrook it was all about what they could bring to the game. In the first quarter we did everything that was asked of us and while after that there were things that we weren’t happy about we got the win and that was the most important thing.”
Maghera had their opening score after only 20 seconds through Francis Kearney and when the same player did the spadework for full-forward Shane McGuigan to fire home a third minute goal Bessbrook already had a mountain to climb.
In the eighth minute the winners pounced for their second goal of the afternoon when McGuigan was in the right place at the right time to score from close-range after a shot from Kearney had been blocked on the line.
St Paul’s finally opened their account in the ninth minute through Niall Magennis and captain Jarlath Og Burns followed that up with another well-taken score 60 seconds later. Instead of settling Bessbrook it stung Maghera into action with Kearney finishing to the bottom left-hand corner of the net past goalkeeper Michael Murphy. Damian O’Hagan countered with a Bessbrook point but in the 19th minute the Kearney twins Patrick and Francis combined for Paddy Quigg to find the roof of the net.
Bessbrook had nothing to lose in the second half as they threw off the shackles and threatened to make a game of it. Liam Kerr and Shea Loye had early points before a blistering run from Conor Magennis saw him offload for Loye to find the roof of the net in the 46th minute.
Points from Oisin McWilliams and McGuigan helped steady the ship for the winners but Bessbrook weren’t going away with Loye and Kerr both finding the target again. It was at that stage that Cassidy pulled off that superb save and Maghera lifted their game with man-of-the-match Patrick Kearney really coming to the fore winning a number of crucial kick outs.
The superb McGuigan took his personal haul to 2-4, all from play, as the winners closed out the game on a high. Three minutes into injury time they completed the scoring when Conall Darragh expertly tucked a penalty into the bottom left-hand corner of the net after he had been fouled himself.
MATCH STATS
Maghera: S Cassidy; O McKeever, P Turner, K Feeney; P McCormack, S Downey, C McAllister; C Glass, J Doherty; P Kearney, P Quigg (1-0), O McWilliams (0-2); C Darragh (1-0 pen), S McGuigan (2-4), F Kearney (1-1); Subs: T Walsh for McKeever, D McPeake for Quigg, M Mullan for McWilliams, C Mulholland for McAllister, F Higgins for P Kearney.
Bessbrook: M Murphy; C Magennis, D Loye, C McDonnell; E McCabe, R Gaskin, C Clarke; J Og Burns (0-1), D O’Hagan (0-1); R Keenan, N Magennis (0-1), A Boyle; L Kerr (0-3, 0-2 frees), S Loye (1-3, 0-1 free), R McSherry; Subs: S Finnegan for Keenan, J Durnin for O’Hagan, R Hughes for N Magennis.
Referee: M McNally (Monaghan).
