Honours even after enthralling MacLarnon final decider

Dean Maguirc 1-10

Patrician High 0-13

By Niall Gartland

THE Dean Maguirc will have to wait, but not for too long, if they’re to get their hands on the prized MacLarnon Cup for the first time in the school’s history.

They played out a thrilling encounter against Patrician High, Carrickmacross, at Celtic Park yesterday but in the end the teams couldn’t be separated, and the general consensus after the game was that a draw was a fair enough result.

That said, with a shade more luck, the Dean panel could easily have woke up this morning savouring the spoils of victory. A couple of goal chances went awry and they shot a few wides late on with the game on the line, but heck – a draw is still a much more palatable outcome than defeat. Living to fight another day and all that.

That said, neither team have time to sit back and reflect on the minutiae of yesterday’s game: the replay has been scheduled for tomorrow evening and a 48-hour turnaround isn’t exactly an ideal state of affairs for two sets of players who poured so much of their energies into a massive Ulster Schools final.

Looking back on yesterday, the Dean got off to a dream start when Shea Munroe palmed the ball to the back of the net after an exquisite footpass across goal from their captain Sean Óg Teague, though Patrician responded well in a frantic opening ten minutes.

Their free-taker Peter Connolly got Patrician’s first score of the day and they almost cobbled together a goal when a long ball from Cian Rafferty was pounced upon by their big full-forward Joe O’Farrell, whose shot skirted across goal and wide.

Patrician were in the ascendancy – at this juncture at least – and narrowed the gap to a single point when Rafferty landed a superb long-range score from distance.

It wasn’t long though before the Dean started to firmly establish themselves as the superior side for the remainder of the half.

They laid the platform for their dominance in midfield – James McCallan landed a number of clean catches, while they also utterly bossed the breaking ball. Indeed, Patrician barely won a single possession in the middle of the park whether by hook or by crook for a full 20 minutes of play.

In defence, Ciaran McCrystal, Tiarnan Mullin and Finbar Donnelly were diligent and determined while the Dean’s hard-running in conjunction with slick handpassing in attack posed Patrician serious problems.

Micheál McCallan and Sean Donnelly landed eye-catching scores in quick succession but their Carrickmacross-based opponents reduced the deficit to a single point when Peter Connolly landed his latest free of the day.

The Dean were playing much the better football, though – their clever interplay acting as the catalyst for another goal chance, Shea Munroe’s side-footed effort smothered by the Patrician netminder Dion O’Gorman.

Not long after, they got the scoreboard ticking over again when Padraig Donaghy drove forward before fisting over, opening up a 1-3 to 0-4 lead with 25 minutes on the clock.

They added two further points with Sean Óg Teague finding the target after they turned over possession in the middle through corner-back Tiarnan Mullin, after which Shea Munroe blasted the ball over the bar with the goal at his mercy.

It was something of a reprieve for Patrician – the Dean could easily have scored three first-half goals – and they finished the half strongly with three points in the dying embers, an effort from play from Luke Poval and two frees from the reliable Peter Connolly.

In between times, James McCallan knocked over a score for the Dean, but while they led 1-6 to 0-7 at the interval, they’ll have justifiably felt they should have been further in front, not least because a few of Patrician’s frees were of the soft variety.

From early in the second half, it was apparent that Patrician had upped the ante, playing a more methodical brand of football as opposed to the more direct stuff that hadn’t really done the job for them in the opening half.

Now attacking in waves, as exemplified by their adventurous corner-back Conor Meehan, who would prove a real handful for the remainder of the contest.

There were a flurry of scores early doors – two from Connolly, Patrician’s scoregetter-in-chief, and the Dean matched their efforts with fine scores from Michéal Gallagher and Ryan McCallan, who had a big, big second half.

Patrician were looking very sharp, however, and landed three points on the trot as they edged into the lead for the first-time with 15 minutes remaining when Peter Connolly landed his seventh of the day, all but one coming from the dead ball.

The final quarter made for enthralling viewing as both sides played their hearts out in their quest to land the title, Shea Munroe levelling matters for the Dean with a long-range effort with 47 minutes on the clock.

The Dean edged level with a brilliant point from Ryan McCallan after an excellent pass from Odhran Curran, but Patrician weren’t going away and drew level with a point from their ace in the pack, defender Conor Meehan who was proving very difficult to handle.

Patrician could easily have got a game-winning goal only for two quickfire interventions from the exceptional Sean Donnelly, who played out of his skin, ensuring that this one would go right down to the wire.

And both sides had their chances of nailing down the title in a nerve-shredding five minutes of injury time (three minutes had been announced, but the ref permitted a further 120 seconds of action).

Patrician were granted a very scoreable free but Peter Connolly, for the first time all day, miscued. At the other end of the pitch, Shea Munroe missed a difficult free from way out and James McCallan also had a go at landing the winner but his effort whistled wide.

In the end up, it wasn’t to be for either team, but they won’t be too disappointed as they’ll get the chance to do it all again in the upcoming replay encounter – and if it’s anywhere near as entertaining, we’ll be in for quite a treat.

Scorers

Dean Maguirc: Shea Munroe (1-2), Ryan McCallan (0-2), Michéal Gallagher, Sean Óg Teague, James McCallan, Michéal Gallagher, Sean Donnelly, Padraig Donaghy (0-1 each)

Patrician High: Peter Connolly (0-8, 0-1f), Harry Reilly (0-2f), Luke Poval, Conor Meehan and Cian Rafferty (0-1 each)

Teams

Dean Maguirc: Caolan Tracey, Micheál Gallagher, Ciaran McCrystal, Tiarnan Mullin, Sean Óg Teague, Eoghan Conway, Finbar Donnelly, James McCallan, Micheál McCallan, Ryan McCullan, Shea Munroe, Padraig Donaghy, Odhran Curran, Kevin Cuddy, Sean Donnelly

Subs: Phelim McCrory for Cuddy, Davagh Loughran for Donnelly

Patrician High: Dion O’Gorman, Harry Reilly, Conor Mulligan, Conor Meehan, Cian Rafferty, Joseph McArdle, Luke Poval, Shane O’Connor, Tom Maguire, Mark Hanratty, Fergal McEnaney, Sean O’Brien, Peter Connolly, Joe O’Farrell, Geaoird Murray

Referee: Enda Mallon (Armagh)