By 
Omagh CBS 0-15 Abbey CBS 1-14
IT wasn’t to be for Omagh CBS, but there was no shame in losing to a supremely capable Abbey CBS team in Sunday evening’s MacRory Cup semi-final at Fintona.
A devastating 15-minute spell from the very beginning of the second-half did the damage. Abbey CBS went straight for the jugular from the throw-in, were awarded a penalty and Charlie McGrath defiantly thumped the ball to the net. Omagh CBS’s four-point lead was trimmed back to a single point in one fell swoop, and for the next quarter of an hour it was more or less one-way traffic.
And Abbey CBS certainly made hay in their dominant spell, outscoring their opponents by 1-6 to 0-1 in the defining period of the game.
To their lasting credit, the Brothers didn’t give up the ghost. They wrestled back a modicum of control in the middle sector and their forward line clicked into gear. Ultimately it was too late though they weren’t a million miles away from salvaging extra-time – they just needed to conjure an injury-time two-pointer but the best-laid plans don’t always come to fruition.
So what about Abbey CBS? They’ll face off against St Patrick’s Academy in the MacRory Cup final and on Saturday’s evidence, they’ll take some stopping. Diarmaid O’Rourke, son of All-Ireland winning Armagh wing back Aidan O’Rourke, has been talked about as a future star for quite some time and he certainly lived up to his billing.
His nine-point haul doesn’t even tell the whole story – his game intelligence is very evidently through the roof and he pulled the strings from the ‘45’ in a remarkable display of playmaking. Elsewhere, Keelan McEntee, son of Tony, another former Armagh star, had a tremendous game in the middle, while Michael O’Neill and Oisin Byrne were also to the fore in their sustained second-half purple patch.
And yet, Omagh CBS weren’t too far away. It was all going swimmingly at the interval having accrued a four-point lead, and there were plenty of positives to take from their performance a general sense. Their defensive discipline was outstanding and perhaps most importantly they never threw in the towel even when all looked lost. With many of the players still eligible next year, there’s plenty of cause for optimism.
In terms of how it all panned out, Omagh CBS enjoyed a fruitful start with Thomas Meenan booming over two early two-pointers and Ryan Baxter getting his name on the scoresheet as they opened up a 0-5 to 0-2 lead.
A second two-point free from the omnipresent O’Rourke kickstarted Abbey CBS’s challenge and they drew level with a score from classy midfielder McEntee. They were enjoying plenty of possession at this juncture and laid siege to the Omagh CBS defence, who did very well to keep the dam from bursting.
And it was the Brothers who assumed control of the game in the closing stages of the half, rattling over four consecutive scores (Cathal Farley, James Maguire, captain Michael McNamee and Colton) to wedge open a 0-10 to 0-6 lead at the interval.
Half-time came at the opportune moment for Abbey CBS and they emerged a transformed force upon the resumption. Charlie McGrath’s spotkick was followed by a string of scores punctuated by a solitary Omagh CBS point by Harley Patton.
The pick of the bunch was an outrageous effort from O’Rourke, who sidestepped his man before wellying it over the bar to open up a 1-11 to 0-10 lead. A superb long-distance free from Daniel McKernan extended the advantage further and the game was slipping away from the CBS with just over 10 minutes remaining.
Omagh CBS elected to go for broke with their MacRory hopes on a lifelong and they started to chip away at the deficit. An O’Rourke free in the 49th minute proved to be Abbey CBS’s final score of the game, and points from Martin (including a two-pointer) and Cathal Farley (an excellent individual effort) set up a grandstand finish.
The Brothers had their chances in injury time to find the two-pointer they so sorely needed, but ultimately it wasn’t to be and they can take pride in their late revival against an Abbey CBS team who now have one hand on the title.
Scorers
Omagh CBS: Thomas Meenan (0-4 2 2pts, Diarmuid Martin (0-3, 1 2pt), Michael McNamee and Cathal Farley (0-2 each), Ryan Baxter, James Maguire, P Colton (f) and Harley Patton (0-1 each)
Abbey CBS: Diarmaid O’Rourke (0-9,1 2pt, 2 2pt f, 2f); Daniel Carr (0-3 1 2pt f, 1m); Charlie McGrath (1-0), Keelan McEntee and Ryan O’Hare (0-1)
Teams
Omagh CBS: Cillian Morgan, Jack Gartland, Padraig Goodman, Owen Griffiths, Ryan Baxter, Michael McNamee, James Maguire, Charlie Meenan, Tiarnan McCarron, Eoghan Donnelly, Peter Colton, Thomas Meenan, Harley Patton, Diarmuid Martin, Cathal Farley. Subs: Reece Winters for Griffiths, Aodhan Corry for Donnelly, Tomas Gallen for McCarron, Cormac Darcy for Patton
Abbey CBS: James McBennett, Finn Madine, Conor Laverty, Cathal Burns, Michael O’Neill, Dara Havern, Fergus Toale, Keelan McEntee, Diarmaid O’Rourke, Oisin Byrne, Charlie McGrath, Daniel McKernan, Ryan O’Hare, Daniel Carr, Jack O’Mahony
Referee: Martin McNally (Monaghan)
