Holy Trinity edge out St Pat’s to make MacRory Cup Final

Holy Trinity Cookstown 1-10    St.Patrick’s Academy Dungannon 1-9

Ryan Quinn proved to be the hero at Carrickmore on Saturday afternoon as he kicked the injury time winner to send Holy Trinity Cookstown into successive MacRory Cup finals at the expense of East Tyrone neighbours St.Patricks Academy Dungannon.

 The Academy dominated the opening quarter to establish a 0-5 to 0-1 lead but in the next two quarters they managed just a single point as the winners landed 1-8. At that stage they looked to be well on their way to the final but Dungannon had other ideas as they kicked 1-3 without reply to set up a tense finish with Quinn getting the priceless winner after they had gone seventeen minutes without troubling the umpires.

Ronan Cassidy, who was Dungannon’s best forward on the day, turned sharply to split the posts and open the scoring in the third minute before centre half back Darragh McGrath pushed forward to double their advantage. Karol McGuigan then opened Holy Trinity’s account but Cassidy cancelled that out with a quality score. In the ninth minute Dungannon opened the Holy Trinity defence with a slick move but Finn Spence was denied a goal with a superb save from keeper Ruairi Dillion. A brace of frees from Cassidy pushed the Academy further in front and at that stage they looked comfortable but then came their barren spell as Holy Trinity began to get on top.

Hugh J Cunningham knocked over a free and that was quickly followed by a fine effort from play from out on the right wing from Jack Martin. Wing half back Shea McCann then landed a superb effort from distance and all of a sudden the deficit was down to the minimum. Dungannon were struggling to get back into the game and just before the break they were dealt a double blow. First of all defender Liam Traynor was black carded before a good move involving man of the match Conor Devlin and Martin resulted in a McGuigan goal for a 1-4 to 0-5 interval lead.

Within thirty seconds of the restart Holy Trinity had picked up where they had left off with a superb effort from out on the right wing from defender Ryan Nelis. A strong run from midfielder Ruairi McHugh resulted in another good Holy Trinity score before a Cassidy free got Dungannon a much needed response. Cookstown though were the better side and the superb Devlin hit an outstanding score with his weaker left foot to put four between them again.

The Academy though were still looking dangerous and keeper Dillion came to his side’s rescue again to deny Spence for the second time. It was a save that lifted Holy Trinity and brilliant scores from McCann and Martin within sixty seconds of each other left it 1-9 to 0-6 going into the final quarter. It looked like a decisive gap but the Academy had other ideas as they produced a thrilling comeback. In the 46^th minute they halved the deficit when Ryan Donnelly blasted the ball to the net after he had twice traded passes with Spence. It was now very much game on and within two minutes of that goal the Academy had tagged on fine scores from Sean Hughes and Cassidy to make it a one point game.

The momentum now was clearly with Dungannon and Hughes lofted over a good equaliser from distance with eight minutes of normal time left to play. Good defence from Holy Trinity saw them break up a couple of Dungannon attacks before the winning score arrived in the 62^nd minute. A quick free from Devlin picked out McCann who offloaded for Quinn to hit a beauty straight between the posts. There was still time for the Academy to force extra time and they had a late chance to do so but a Hughes shot was brilliantly blocked down by Holy Trinity substitute Shane Hughes and the final whistle sounded seconds later.

The Scorers

Holy Trinity Cookstown

Karol McGuigan 1-1, Jack Martin 0-2, Shea McCann 0-2, Hugh J Cunningham 0-1 (1F), Ryan Nelis 0-1, Ruairi McHugh 0-1, Conor Devlin 0-1, Ryan Quinn 0-1

St.Patricks Academy Dungannon

Ronan Cassidy 0-6 (3F), Ryan Donnelly 1-0, Sean Hughes 0-2, Darragh McGrath 0-1