Danske Bank MacRory Cup final: St Patrick's, Maghera v St Paul's, Bessbrook (Thursday, 1.15pm, the Athletic Grounds, Armagh)
TWO years ago, a couple of months before he starred as St Patrick's, Maghera put together back-to-back Danske Bank MacRory Cup titles, Conor Glass captained the school to the Rannafast Cup title in a top-class final at the Dub against St Colman's, Newry.
Almost immediately, Maghera were the "anointed" ones for the 2016 MacRory title. An hour's football away from the final whistle in the Athletic Grounds today, they remain favourites in most people's eyes to land their 15th crown.
Their usual extended involvement in hurling's Mageean Cup once again meant that they were late starters to the league sections of the competition and paid the penalty with a narrow loss to St Michael's, Enniskillen.
They also lost to St Patrick's Academy, Dungannon, who went on to win the MacCormick Cup. But revenge was sweet for Maghera in the MacRory semi-final in the Loup at the end of last month. Despite falling 1-3 to 0-0 behind after just 10 minutes they surged back to lead 2-4 to 1-6 at the break with goals from Glass and Shay McGuigan and went on to win by two points.
While the two goal-scorers have been key score-getters in each of the three games since the turn of the year, goalie Seán Ó Caiside turned out to be the star-man in the semi-final with three outstanding saves. Remarkably, Ó Caiside might never have been considered for nets. The Slaughtneil hurler was recovering from injury and "accidentally" ended up in goals for the school football team. The rest "is history".
The team though have delivered on the pre-competition hype because they have been controlled in their games since the turn of the year. When they fell behind early to both Omagh and Dungannon, there was no sense of panic and within a short period of time they were back in the ascendancy.
That, for the most part, is down to the maturity of the team - and to their captain Glass, who leads from the front. The Glen midfielder, under his contract with Melbourne outfit Hawthorn, is permitted only to play for the school team prior to moving down under and that seems to have given him added focus. Around him are other players who have plenty of big game experience and are delivering on their potential.
Thirty-one years ago, Maghera collected their fourth MacRory title in a row with a certain Henry Downey at centre-half back. Today, Henry's nephew, Seamus's son Shea, mans the same position, with Odhrán McKeever, son of former dual star Kieran, behind him at corner-back.
The tradition of the school, the family tradition and this particular team's winning run through the school will mean that they run out in the Athletic Grounds as favourites for the Cup. But there is another side to the equation.
As Maghera grabbed the headlines in their side of the draw, St Paul's, Bessbrook quietly slipped through two Armagh derbies in the Athletic Grounds either side of an impressive showing against St Michael's in Clones. They looked on the way out against St Patrick's, Armagh in the play-off, only for captain Jarlath Óg Burns to drive through for a goal and change the course of a game that was almost gone.
They have improved significantly in the quarter and semi-final games and look to be gaining momentum all the time. Burns is a player in the mould of his midfield adversary Glass - someone who leads from the front.
From early in the competition, the two Down men in the Bessbrook forward line – Shamrock's Josh Durnin and Burren's Liam Kerr – have been key to the team's development. Durnin plays a deep role, working ball through, while Kerr's lightening pace has opened up scoring opportunities for himself and Shea Loye.
John Rafferty and Barry Shannon have worked hard with this squad and the end result is impressive. They can, and will, trouble Maghera as the first Bessbrook team to reach the final did three seasons ago.
However, it is very difficult seeing how they can subdue a Maghera side that eased their way through two difficult games against Tyrone opposition. St Paul's will probably have to wait another while for their breakthrough title.
TEAM NEWS
St Patrick's: S O Caiside; O McKeever, P Turner, K Feeney; P McCormick, S Downey, C McAllister; C Glass (capt.), J Doherty; P Kearney, P Quigg, O McWilliams; C Darragh, S McGuigan, F Kearney; Subs: N McNicholl, D McPeake, M Mullan, C Mulholland, M McClenaghan, F Higgins, R McElwee, J McErlean, H McGurk, L Kielt, C McAlinden, A Hughes, T Walsh, L McWilliams, P McLaughlin, T McHugh, O McGill, T McCusker, R Mullan, D Rafferty, C McShane, A Doherty, P Stuart.
St Paul's: M Murphy; R McGuinness, D Loye, C McDonnell; E McCabe, R Gaskin, C Clarke; J óg Burns (capt.), D O'Hagan; R McCann, J Durnin, A Boyle; L Kerr, S Loye, R McSherry; Subs: R Daly, R Quinn, C Magennis, N Magennis, R. Keenan, Z Burnickas, D Hanrahan, A Finnegan, S Finnegan, C Magee, K Crozier S Loughran, S óg Hoey, D Garvey, J McVerry, C Murphy, S McGenity, S Trainor, C Cosgrove, R Hughes, FD Ó Gribín.
