Determined Dean push past St Pius to create history

Dean Maguirc, Carrickmore 2-11 St Pius X Magherafelt College 0-15

THERE’S still one important box left to tick, but a crisp Monday evening at Owenbeg marked a moment of real significance for a talented crop from the Dean Maguirc as they booked their spot in the MacLarnon Cup final for the first time in the school’s history.

This was an enthralling game that went right down to the wire as the Dean battened down the hatches and held their nerve superbly against a St Pius team that couldn’t quite reel in their opponents who had carried a 2-5 to 0-7 lead into the second-half.

The Dean played some magnificent football when in the ascendancy early on, typified by the efforts of forwards Shea Curran and Odhran Curran and their energetic half-back Eoghan Conway, helping them into that deserved four-point lead at the interval.

But any thoughts of a one-sided second-half were quashed as St Pius started to enforce themselves in the middle sector and drove forward in waves in a gripping, if nerve-racking finale. They too have plenty of talented players in their ranks, but it’s a testament to the fortitude of the Dean Maguirc rearguard that they refused to yield in the face of the Magherafelt onslaught.

A coolly taken score from Dean sub Shane Morris deep into stoppage time released the pressure valve, and now the Dean can look ahead to their MacLarnon Cup final against Patrician, Carrickmacross on Sunday week. What an occasion that promises to be, and let’s hope the Dean go on to finish the job.

The Dean had the better of the opening exchanges last Monday evening, surging into a 1-3 to 0-2 lead with Odhran Curran, Shea Munroe and Kevin Cuddy landing points, while Curran also showed real skill to dink the ball over the opposition goalkeeper to register an 11th minute goal.

St Pius composed themselves and enjoyed a purple patch of their own  with Ronan Lennox, Eoghan Musgrave and Oisin Doherty landing scores, but the wind was taken out of their sails shortly before the half-time whistle when Ryan McCallan showed good opportunism to find the net after a smart attacking move.

That left Dean Maguirc with a 2-5 to 0-7 lead at the interval, and they carried on where they left off with further scores from the impressive Odhran Curran, Phelim McCrory and Shea Munroe.

It was a long way back for St Pius, but they banged over four points in the space of as many minutes to drag themselves back into the contest.

The final quarter was frantic stuff as St Pius went for broke, but Dean defenders like Ciaran McCrystal and Tiernan Mullan were in inspired form and they kept the scoreboard ticking over down the other end with scores from Michael McCallan and Phelim McCrory’s second of the day.

It wasn’t over yet and St Pius reduced the deficit to a single point in injury time when sub Dylan Rocks squeezed the ball over the bar after some last-ditch defending, but the Dean were determined to have the final say of a brilliant game and got the last point through Shane Morris to make sure of their place in the final.

Scorers

Dean Maguirc, Carrickmore – Odhran Curran (1-2), Shea Munroe (0-4, 2f), Ryan McCallan (1-0), Phelim McCrory (0-2), Michael McCallan and Shane Morris (0-1 each), Kevin Cuddy (0-1m)

St Pius X College, Magherafelt – Oisin Doherty (0-6, 5f), Dylan Rocks (0-2), Cathal Scullion, Eoghan Musgrave, Emmett Spiers, Padraig Donaghy, Joe Connery and Ronan Lennox (0-1 each), Cody Rocks (0-1f)

Teams

Dean Maguirc, Carrickmore – Caolan Tracey, Michael Gallagher, Ciaran McCrystal, Tiernan Mullan, Sean Og Teague, Eoghan Conway, Rory Woods, James McCallan, Michael McCallan, Ryan McCallan, Shea Munroe, Daithi McElhatton, Odhran Curran, Kevin Cuddy, Sean Donnelly. Subs: Phelim McCrory for Donnelly, Shane Morris for McElhatton, Caolan Grimes for James McCallan

St Pius X College, Magherafelt – Ethan Martin, Ronan Conway, Conor Martin, Finn McIvor, Zach Gavigan, Cody Rocks, Emmett Spiers, Padraig Donaghy, Joe Connery, Ronan Lennox, Dylan Devlin, Coadhan Kane, Cathal Scullion, Oisin Doherty, Eoghan Musgrave. Subs: Dylan Rocks for Conway, Daultagh Donnelly for Musgrave, James O’Neill for Kane