Patrician pip Dean at the post in MacLarnon Final replay

Dean Maguirc 0-12  Patrician High 1-10

GUTTING, absolutely gutting. Dean Maguirc Carrickmore came agonisingly close to clinching their first ever Ulster Schools MacLarnon Cup title in Tuesday’s replay showdown against Patrician High under lights in Brewster Park, but victory slipped through their fingers in the closing seconds of another enthralling contest.

It looked like Ryan McCallan had propelled his school to the promised land when he slotted home an injury-time point, a score that had ‘winner’ written all over it.

At the very least, extra-time looked like the worst possible outcome at that juncture.

Patrician High would likely get one more chance – and they did, drawing a scoreable free converted by the reliable Peter Connolly.

But there was time for one more act. Carrickmacross won the resulting kick-out and broke forward at speed, the ball finding its way to centre half-back Joseph McArdle who made no mistake around 20 metres from goal.

That was the dagger in the Dean heart, and the final whistle blew moments thereafter, leaving this talented young group of Dean footballers to come to terms with a one-two combo right at the very death that dashed their dreams of a historic title. Indeed, McArdle’s score was the first time Patrician led all day.

So this was a sore one for the Dean to take, but when the dust settles, they can be incredibly proud of their charge to the brink of a MacLarnon Cup.

They couldn’t have given any more of themselves, and that’s no small thing.

The Dean were the better team for most of the contest and accrued a 0-8 to 0-5 advantage by half-time, Eoghan Conway, Ciaran McCrysal and James McCallan getting through a mountain of work in the engine-room and Shea Munroe bringing his ‘A’ game to proceedings up front.

Munroe got the scoreboard up and running in the second minute with a confident strike from open play, before tagging on a play after the spade-work was done by the determined Ryan McCallan.

The Dean looked sharp but the prevailing theme of the night was Patrician’s refusal to go away and they landed two of the next three scores – a point from their big midfielder Tom Maguire and a booming long-range effort from Fergal McEnaney.

The Carrickmore school enjoyed a sustained period of supremacy in the middle portion of the half, bossing the battle in the middle and flinging over points via James McCallan, Michéal McCallan and Ryan McCallan.

Patrician still looked dangerous on their forays forward and they kept chipping away with a smattering of points, though the Dean seemed to have their measure at their juncture and kept their noses in front with scores from their dynamic full-back Ciaran McCrystal, a real gem of a player, and the latest score from Shea Munroe, steering over a free.

The Dean were full value for their three-point lead at half-time, and while it was already an enjoyable contest, the intensity levels ratched up another level in a frantic second-half where both sets of players expended everything for their respective causes.

Patrician ate into the deficit with an early point from Luke Poval, before the Dean responded in kind with a free from Munroe, after which there was a prolonged period where Patrician assumed some degree of control in the middle but couldn’t convert their possession into a single score for a full 15 minutes thanks to the diligence of the Dean defence.

The Dean opened up a 0-11 to 0-7 advantage following a fine score from Sean Donnelly after excellent work from Sean Óg Teague and Kevin Cuddy, and another Munroe free, and it looked the job was three-quarters done.

In the space of just a few minutes, however, the game was tossed on its head. Patrician corner-back Conor Meehan swung over a score, and then came the bodyblow of a goal – Tom Maguire palming the ball to the net after a speculative effort from sub Sean O’Brien. It was all square and anyone’s game with a shade.

The last ten minutes were utterly absorbing – albeit nerve-racking – as both teams pushed hard in search of victory. It looked like Ryan McCallan had won the day for the Dean when he traded passes with Tiarnan Mullin and boomed over a point into the Enniskillen night-sky as the clock ticked into injury time, but the die hadn’t yet been cast.

Patrician won a free which they duly converted, and there was still time, just about, for either team to conjure one last chance. The kick-out was won by Patrician, they sensed their opportunity and seconds later Joseph McArdle, an unlikely hero, had the ball over the bar.

And that was that basically that – they had snatched victory right at the death, a heart-breaking outcome for the Dean all told.

Scorers

Dean Maguirc: Shea Munroe (0-5, 3f), Ryan McCallan (0-2), James McCallan, Michael McCallan, Sean Donnelly, Ryan McCallan and Kevin Cuddy (0-1 each)

Patrician High: Peter Connolly (0-4), Tom Maguire (1-1) Fergal McEnaney (0-2), Conor Meehan, Luke Poval and Joseph McArdle (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 McCallan, Shea Munroe, Padraig Donaghy, Odhran Curran, Kevin Cuddy, Sean Donnelly. Subs: Phelim McCrory for M McCallan, Vincent Gormley for Cuddy

Patrician High: Dion O’Gorman, Chris Corrigan, Conor Mulligan, Conor Meehan, Cian Rafferty, Joseph McArdle, Luke Poval, Shane O’Connor, Tom Maguire, Mark Hanratty, Fergal McEnaney, Harry Reilly, Peter Connolly, Joe O’Farrell, Geaoird Murray. Subs: Dermot Farrelly for Corrigan, Jamie McNally for Reilly, Daniel Breen for Murray

Referee: Anthony McCallig