St Joseph’s bow out of the MacRory Cup in bizarre fashion

Cathair Dhoire 1-6  St.Joseph’s Donaghmore 0-9

THE drama didn’t end at the final whistle at Celtic Park in Derry on Wednesday afternoon after St Joseph’s Donaghmore and Cathair Dhoire had finished in a stalemate in Group B of the Danske Bank MacRory Cup.

Both sides went into this final group game with nothing to show for their efforts but still with the final spot in the knockout last 16 up for grabs.

After it ended level the common consensus was that Donaghmore had just done enough to qualify as their scoring average was -20 to their opponents -21.

They left Derry believing that they were through only to find out that wasn’t the case as newcomers Cathair Dhoire took the final spot much to St Joseph’s disappointment.

Donaghmore trailed by a point at the interval despite having a strong wind at their backs. Scores proved difficult to come by in the second half as well with both defences on top.

The Derry school though pushed three clear and it looked to be enough especially after Donaghmore lost Larry Shields to a black card in the 54th minute. St Joseph’s refused to accept defeat with substitute Darragh Devlin weighing in with a brace of points as they grabbed the draw that they believed they required but that proved not to be the case.

Played against a tricky wind it was the home side who enjoyed the perfect start to the game when Oran Donnelly struck for a goal to open the scoring. It was an early blow to St Joseph’s and they fell further behind when Tiernan McFeely pointed for Cathair Dhoire.

That proved to be their last score of the first half although they still went in at the break with their noses just in front. St Joseph’s finally opened their account in the 13th minute via Eoghan O’Neill but they struggled to make the most of the possession that came their way. Conal Quinn and Darragh Donaghy both weighed in with points but there was no doubt that the lads from Derry City would have been the happier of the two sides with a 1-1 to 0-3 lead.

With the elements in their favour Cathair Dhoire made a bright start to the second half with points from Caoimhim Wray and Cathal Deery. O’Neill converted his second free of the afternoon for the Tyrone school but Cathair Dhoire responded through Wray and Jude Bryson. A Donaghy free was followed by a Marty Coyle effort from play as Donaghmore showed signs of taking something from the contest.

A Deery free left three between the sides again before Donaghmore were dealt a blow with six minutes left on the clock when they lost Shields to a black card.

It looked all over bar the shouting but there was still a twist or two to come. Charlie McNulty narrowed the gap before Devlin left just the minimum between the two sides. With time almost up Devlin scored again to secure the result that St Joseph’s believed they needed but alas that wasn’t the case.

Scorers
Cathair Dhoire: Oran Donnelly 1-0, Caoimhin Wray 0-2, Cathal Deery 0-2 (2F), Tiernan McFeely 0-1, Jude Bryson 0-1.
St.Joseph’s Donaghmore: Eoghan O’Neill 0-2 (2F), Darragh Donaghy 0-2 (1F), Darragh Devlin 0-2, Conal Quinn 0-1, Marty Coyle 0-1, Charlie McNulty 0-1.