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MacRory Cup Final thriller
St Pat’s Dungannon and Abbey CBS produced a superb advertisement for Ulster Schools football in Sunday’s MacRory Cup Final and it would have been rough justice for either team to have emerged on the losing side. The Academy’s level of marksmanship in that second quarter was incredible as they stormed into a nine point half-time lead. Yes they will be disappointed with how the second half unfolded but Ciaran Gourley will have them well primed to give it another rattle back at Armagh on Friday night. On another note wasn’t it great to see a bumper crowd at the Athletic Grounds for the match.
Must win for Tyrone
It’s early in the season to be labelling matches as must win games but how else can you describe this Sunday’s Tyrone clash with Cavan in the National Football League. The Red Hands may have to win out in their remaining five matches to secure promotion back to Division One and while clearly it won’t be the end of the world if they don’t go up, home supporters in Omagh will be demanding a turnaround in results and performance asap. A litany of top players are still unavailable for a variety of reasons but excuses will be thin on the ground if Tyrone don’t maintain their near imperious League and Championship track record against the Breffni Blues.
Ulster Club League numbers down
Interesting to see that Eglish and Owen Roes are the only two of the 32 Tyrone Senior and Intermediate sides competing in the annual Ulster Club Leagues in 2026. That is a huge falloff from previous seasons when up to a dozen clubs from the county regularly participated. Perhaps it suggests that the restored Jim Devlin/ Frank O’Neill Cups are now deemed as the preferred pre-season competitions for Tyrone sides as they hone their preparations for the new season. That said there is still a healthy enough representation of Tyrone Division Three sides competing in the Ulster Junior League, as well as set to feature in the McGarrity Cup which starts next month.
Hurlers and Ladies
Both the County lady footballers and hurlers headed into their mini break in the league on the back of defeats but respective managers Darren McCann and Stephen McGarry will be fairly satisfied with the showings so far. The Ladies were below par in their top of the table clash with Donegal in Aghyaran as their protracted unbeaten run extending back to last year’s Championship was eventually ended. They are home again in ten days time against Mayo as they look to bounce back. Victories for the hurlers have been thin on the ground over the past year but they can be upbeat about garnering another point or two in their remaining league fixtures.
