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ULSTER SCHOOLS MACRORY CUP PLAYOFFS
Omagh CBS 1-12 Patrician High 0-11
By Niall Gartland
OMAGH CBS did extremely well to wrestle back control of the contest in a hard-earned victory over Patrician High last Thursday afternoon at Fintona, ensuring their pathway to the quarter-finals of the MacRory Cup.
The Brothers held a deceptively comfortable 0-8 to 0-2 lead at the interval, but a wind-assisted Patrican came roaring out of the blocks and edged into the lead with just a smidgeon over 15 minutes remaining.
They only managed one more score though, as Pat McNabb and Conor McFlynn made the necessary tactical readjustments and unleashed their bench, setting in motion a really strong finish to an entertaining dual.
The game still hung precariously in the balance heading into the home straight but a late equalising score by corner-back Ryan Baxter was followed by a game-winning goal by sub Vincent Lowry, who is also making his mark as part of Clogher’s ongoing All-Ireland campaign.
Others to catch the eye in the closing quarter included captain Michael McNamee, who showed real composure, drive and leadership, full-back Padraig Goodman and the Meenan siblings Thomas and Charlie.
Goodman boomed over a ’45’ on his home patch to get their account up and running, while his clubmate Cillian Morgan made a smart save down the other end of the pitch to deny Cian Rafferty, Patrician’s best performer on the day.
The CBS surged further in front via Thomas Meenan, Harley Patten (after a tidy cross-field ball by Diarmuid Martin) and Jake Donnelly, before Patrician nabbed their first score in the 13th minute via Harry Reilly.
Patrician’s attacks were fairly ponderous, though Omagh CBS deserve credit for their defensive discipline, curtailing their opponents to only two points across the entirety of the first-half.
Diarmuid Martin made it 0-5 to 0-1 and the scores kept on coming with Patten, Thomas Meenan and Jake Donnelly all weighing in withir the second of the day. Charlie Meenan, meanwhile, made a number of great fetches in the middle while his defensive positioning was also impressive.
Patrican’s Joseph McArdle converted with the last kick of the opening half, but it had been lacklustre stuff from their perspective so their second-half rejuvenation came as something of a surprise in the circumstances.
Half-back Cian Rafferty, who was excellent, converted a stylish score from play preceding a two-pointer from Peter Connolly, and all of a sudden they found themselves only three points in arrears with plenty of time remaining.
The Brothers stemmed the tide with a well-worked score polished off by Ryan Baxter, both Michael Namee and Diarmuid Martin heavily involved in the build-up, but it didn’t deter Patrician, who drew level with subsequent scores from Thomas Watt, Michael Doogan Burke and a two-pointer from Oran Connolly.
The comeback was complete when Fergal McEneaney nudged Patrician into the lead with 44 minutes on the clock, but from that moment on, the CBS really tightened up defensively, nullifying their scoring threat from distance.
Diarmuid Martin restored parity while newly introduced subs, including Minor Football of the Year Peter Colton, were making a positive impact though Patrician did temporarily move back in front after a Cian Rafferty ’45’.
Thomas Meenan split the posts, selling a lovely dummy after enterprising build-up play from Michael McNamee, and the Loughmacrory lad was again involved as Ryan Baxter pushed the CBS one point in front with 57 minutes on the clock.
Then came the decisive moment of a rip-roaring second-half as Vincent Lowry was on hand to drop-kick the ball to the net as injury-time approached. That gave the Brothers precious breathing space and they held on well to record a deserved, if not entirely straightforward victory over their Carrickmacross counterparts.
Scorers
Omagh CBS: Thomas Meenan (0-3), Vincent Lowry (1-0), Harley Patten, Jake Donnelly, Ryan Baxter and Diarmuid Martin (0-2 each), Padraig Goodman (0-1, 1 45).
Patrician High: Oran Connolly and Peter Connolly (0-2, 1 2pt each), Cian Rafferty (0-2, 1 ’45’) Harry Reilly (0-1), Joseph McArdle, Thomas Watt and Michael Doogan Burke (0-1 each)
Teams
Omagh CBS: Cillian Morgan, Jack Gartland, Padraig Goodman, Ryan Baxter, Eoin Griffiths, Michael McNamee, James Maguire, Charlie Meenan, Cathal Cunningham, Kieran McDonagh, Jake Donnelly, Thomas Meenan, Harley Patten, Diarmuid Martin, Eoghan Donnelly. Subs: Shay O’Donnell for Lowry, Peter Colton for McDonagh, Tom Gallan for Cunningham
Patrician High: Liam Mulholland, Dermot Farrelly, Christopher Corrigan, Joseph McArdle, Cian Rafferty, Conor Mulligan, Thomas Watt, Liam Maguire, Cian McCarthy, Peter Connolly, Fergal McEneaney, Michael Doogan Burke, Harry Reilly, Joe O’Farrell, Oran Connolly. Subs: Gearoid Murray for O’Farrell
Referee: Paul Fallon (Down)
St.Joseph’s Donaghmore 0-12 Our Lady’s Castleblaney 1-16
ST Joseph’s Donaghmore’s interest in this season’s MacRory Cup came to an end on Wednesday afternoon when they lost out to a strong Our Lady’s Castleblaney side.
The Tyrone school conceded an early goal and after that they were always chasing the game. Castleblaney led 1-9 to 0-5 at the break and they never looked back tagging on the opening three points of the second period to tighten their grip on proceedings.
To their credit St.Joseph’s kept plugging away with a late flurry of points but it came too late to save them.
The contest was only a couple of minutes old when St Joseph’s defender Oisin Cullen put the ball into his own net.
Adam Cushnahan then got Donaghmore up and running from a placed ball but the winners then rattled of half a dozen points without reply to take the game by the scruff of the neck.
Impressive corner forward Tristan Nugent got three of those scores with wing back Charlie Mone and Evan Treanor also on target from play while Senan Hanratty knocked over a “45”.
Caolan McKee stopped the rot for St Joseph’s with a point and Aidan Quinn added another one before Cushnahan sent a two pointer from a place ball between the posts.
It was a good spell for Donaghmore but it was Castleblaney who closed out the first half on top with points from Nugent, Treanor and Hanratty.
Treanor opened the second half scoring before Nugent converted a brace of frees as the winners made it six unanswered points either side of half-time.
Finbar Quinn opened St Joseph’s second half account and after Tiernan McGeough had responded for Castleblaney it was Quinn who scored another with centre half back Larry Shields also on target.
Castleblaney though always looked the likely winners as they moved the ball at pace and kept the scoreboard ticking over through points from Treanor, Nugent and Mone.
In the closing stages Cushnahan converted two frees either side of a two pointer from a placed ball as well but it was only academic at that stage as the Monaghan lads had already booked their place in the last eight.
Scorers
St.Joseph’s Donaghmore: Adam Cushnahan 0-7 (2 x 2ptf, 3f), Finbar Quinn 0-2, Caolan McKee 0-1, Aidan Quinn 0-1, Larry Shields 0-1
Our Lady’s Castleblaney: Tiernan Nugent 0-7 (3f), Evan Treanor 0-4, Oisin Cullen 1-0 (og), Charlie Mone 0-2, Senan Hanratty 0-2 (1 x 45), Tiernan McGeough 0-1
