Diarmaid delighted with his CBS history makers

AT half-time on Sunday at the Athletic Grounds the special guests – the Artane Band- were blasting out Lady Gaga’s hit ‘The Edge of Glory’ to entertain the crowd at the Centenary MacRory Cup Final. An hour later the ‘Glory’ in Armagh all belonged to the back-to-back champions from Omagh CBS.

The brilliant Brothers clinched the sixth MacRory Cup in the school’s history as they successfully defended their title with a 1-18 to 1-12 triumph over a battling St Patrick’s Academy Dungannon, breaking clear down the straight with the teams having been locked together at the 50 minute mark.

A goal from distance by midfielder Charlie Donnelly paved the way for the emphatic late scoring spree by the CBS as the Kevlin Road boys annexed the crown for the second year running.

Diarmaid McNulty has overseen this superb back to back success and the manager was understandably elated come the final whistle to have lifted the MacRory in this special milestone year for Ulster Schools football.

“ Our first one was fifty years ago (1974) this year so to win it at the 50^th and 100^th is special. We did talk about that last September and what we needed to do to get Callum Daly up the steps to lift the trophy.

“ The target was on our back all year. Everybody knew we were the champions and everybody knew they would bring their best game against us so to answer in such a fantastic way with ten minutes to go. I’m just so proud of the group.”

Omagh’s greater composure and experience shone through as the match built to a climax, and with six of last year’s Hogan Cup winners in their midst, McNulty appreciated that their presence was vital.

“ Those six have great experience and they talk to everybody else but 1-15 and the subs we talked about it. The boy wearing Number 37 is as important as the boys in the starting jersey.

“ The big one for me was that we didn’t finish the quarter-final or the semi-final really well and people thought we were hanging on in those games. We have fought off some amount of injuries and flus and kept it all in-house. Today with ten minutes to go the question was asked and we answered it with flying colours.”

“ Some of them boys will leave the school having never lost a MacRory Cup game. That is some achievement and I am just proud of every single one of them.”

Dromore defender Brian Gallalgher was named as the official man of the match, having also marauded up the pitch to score two vital points. It was an accolade which his manager had no qualms with at all.

“ Brian Gallagher I thought was immense today. He dealt with Higgins the last day and he dealt with McGeary today. They had quality forwards and we knew our defenders had to step up and win their one on one battles and they did that.”