23 October 2010
It was a mixed day on the colleges hurling front for Antrim schools on Friday with St Killian’s Garron Tower winning the Casement Cup with a victory over St Patrick’s Keady in a great contest under the Casement Park lights. However in the other two finals Antrim schools tasted defeat as St Pat’s Maghera beat Cross & Passion in the McNamee final at Creggan and followed it up with a one point win over St Mary’s in the Mageean final in the showpiece game at Casement Park later in the evening. It wasn’t all doom as far as Antrim was concerned however as the county was well represented on the St Pat’s Mageean team through goalkeeper James O’Mullan from St Mary’s Rasharkin with left-half back Martin Johnston and left half forward Oran McCann both from Creggan Kickhams playing prominent roles. Dunloy’s Cormac Gaston and Creggan’s Pearse Sheerin were also members of the panel.
Here we carry reports of the three games courtesy of Seamus McAleenan.
BT Mageean Cup final.
St Patrick’s Maghera 1-12 St Mary’s Belfast 1-11
Shane Farren was the St Patrick’s Maghera hero as the south Derry school powered their way to the top of Ulster Colleges’ hurling after a 5 year break.
The full-forward claimed 9 points over the hour and was the target of a lot of the ball out of the Maghera half-back line. He showed the full range of skills and eventually attracted the attention of two markers.
That move helped St Mary’s back into the game and they tagged on points to gradually pull in a 5 point deficit from the break.
In a game where only a point divides teams, small turnovers matter, like in the 45th minute with Jackson McGreevy’s decision to go low from a 20 metre free.
St Mary’s had lowered the gap to 3 points at that point, and a score would have been another significant blow. McGreevy’s goal-bound effort though was smothered and eventually cleared to lift the siege with Gerald Bradley and Michael Warnock compounding the heartache for McGreevy 2 minutes later.
Bradley set off on a strong run, drawing defenders and then his reverse handpass left Warnock with an easy point.
The strength of Maghera on the ball in such heavy conditions was a key factor in them upsetting the form-book. Their physical presence won plenty of 50-50 ball and the smaller St Mary’s forward division found it difficult to compete.
Goalie James O’Mullan pulled off a couple of good first half stops and kept his defence on their toes.
Chris Convery, Karl McKaigue and Declan McAlary were huge in that defence, while pulling Brendan Rogers back as a third midfield both helped Maghera control the sector and opened up the space for Farren up front.
Farren was the man up front, but Bradley and Warnock made their presence felt.
Apart from the missed 20 metre free,McGreevy was a star for St Mary’s, with plenty of support from Ciaran McGreevy in defence although his younger brother Conor in attack had to operate too far from the goals to be really effective.
At different points the skill level of St Mary’s came through, but they couldn’t get close the gap that Maghera opened in the second quarter.
Farren answered St Mary’s two early scores with three of his own, before Michael Warnock crossed from the far corner and Tiarnan MacBhloscaidh broke down and then buried.
That was in the 17th minute and Maghera pushed on to lead by 1-6 to 0-4 at the break.
St Mary’s were back in business though on the re-start with a long delivery from McGreevy snapped up by Thomas Moran for a goal.
However Farren responded with a brace and that was to be the pattern of the second half with St Mary’s only able to close it beyond a 3 points’ margin in injury time.
Maghera coach Paul Hughes, more known for taking football teams to victory, was full of praise for his players.
“They really showed heart out there. Every one of them rose to the occasion.”
“This team has never been in a final through their school careers, but tonight we came in as an underdog and rose to the challenge.”
“I can’t praise their character and courage enough.”
St Mary’s : Padraig Nugent, Ciaran Orchin, Stephen Rooney, Naoise O Caireallain, Brendan Bradley, Ciaran Johnstone 0-1 free, Micheal Dudley 0-1, Jackson McGreevy 0-5, 0-3 frees, Jude Savage 0-1, Thomas Morgan 1-0, Michael Bradley, Daniel McKiernan, ConorJohnstone 0-2, Michael Lyons 0-1, Daragh McGuinness.
Subs : Declan Dillon for D McGuinness (34), Domhnall Moran for T Morgan (38), Eamon Cooke for M Bradley (51).
St Patrick’s Maghera : James O’Mullan, Liam Murphy, Chris Convery, Declan McAlary, Dominic Mullan, Karl McKaigue, Martin Johnstone, Brian og McGilligan, Ciaran O’Kane, Gerald Bradley 0-2, Michael Warnock 0-1, Oran McCann, Brendan Rogers, Shane Farren 0-9, 0-4 frees, Tiarnan MacBhloscaidh 1-0.
Subs : Oran McFlynn for O McCann (37), Joseph Ó Lochlainn for T Mac Bhloscaidh (58).
Referee : Declan Magee (Down).
BT Casement Cup final :
St Killian’s Garron Tower 3- 5 St Patrick’s Keady 2-5
A pulsating second half from St Patrick’s Keady just failed to deliver a third Casement Cup title to the south Armagh school at a very wet Casement Park last night.
Instead St Killian’s College Garron Tower held on to make up for defeat in last year’s decider and they pick up a first title.
Two goals inside 90 seconds midway through the first half did the trick for the north Antrim school, who had the balance of play during that period with Cahir McNaughton an early candidate for Man of the Match trophy.
After the break however, Keady negated his influence and upped their game all around the pitch particularly in defence where Nathan Anscombe and Armagh minor footballer James King were immense.
Although Eamon Heggarty, Dan Kinney and Sean Hamilton all worked very hard for the Tower in defence, Nathan Green’s contribution at centre-field saw him pick up the Player of the Match award.
Keady got off to the better start, playing the first 5 minutes in the Garron Tower half and forcing three 65s before a long ball out of defence was grabbed by Ethan Carville whose turn and direct running caught the defence napping and he fired to the left corner.
Shea Gaffney and Dominic Sharkey then swapped points before a long ball in from Cahir McNaughton got a deft touch from Fionntan O’Connor and ended in the Keady net.
A minute later McNaughton’s long free skidded off the turf, but Andrew Delargy grabbed it and swept it to the net.
Those scores turned the game and St Killian’s took control of the second quarter to go in at the halfway mark 3-3 to 1-1 ahead, the third goal coming in the 27th minute after great work down the stand side by Niall McGarry was picked up by Fionntan O’Connor whose cross was slotted home by Martin McAfee.
Keady though came out a transformed team, and two early points from Shea Gaffney saw them grow in confidence.
Terence McKiernan was on the field just 4 minutes when he got the final touch to a long ball and suddenly it was game on with Gaffney’s free in the 37th minute closing the gap to just 3 points.
But that was as close as it got as both defences and the conditions limited the final 23 minutes to just 2 points for each side.
St Killian’s : Conor McAlister, Sean Hamilton, Dominic Delargy, Ciaran Mulvenna, Dan Kinney, Eamon Heggarty, Eoghan Patterson, Cahir McNaughton 0-2 frees, Kelan McAuley, Martin McAfee 1-0, Dominic Sharkey 0-1, Niall McGarry 0-1, Maol Connolly, FionntanO’Connor 1-1, Andy Delargy 1-0.
Subs : Eamon Kearns for D Sharkey (36), Connlaoth McNeill for M Connolly (53).
St Patrick’s Keady : Marc Toal, Cathal McNaughton, Nathan Anscombe, Conor Hughes, Daniel Mone, James King, Stephen King, Nathan Green 0-1 free, Kevin McArdle, Keith Moran, Ethan Carville 1-0, Shéa Gaffney 0-4, 0-3 frees, Michael McCullagh, Cathal Harnett, Sean Colton.
Subs : Terence McKernan 1-0 for K Moran (32), Conor Mone for C Hughes (47), Stephen Keenan for E Carville (51).
Referee : Eamon Hasson ( Derry ).
BT MacNamee Cup final
St Patrick’s Maghera 4-10 Cross & Passion Ballycastle 1-5
St Patrick’s Maghera avenged last year’s defeat in the BT MacNamee final when they took control of yesterday’s final in Creggan during the first half and pushed on for victory against the breeze in the second half.
Conor Glass buried an eighth minute goal as Maghera put the Cross & Passion defence under severe pressure from the throw-in.
However Geoffrey og Laverty, Peter McGarry and Shea Hunter withstood a good bit of that pressure but two goals inside a minute just before the break left Ballycastle with a mountain to climb in the second half.
In the 26th minute captain Sean Brunton ghosted in for a goal and this was quickly followed by a second from full-forward Conor Glass.
3-6 to 0-2 behind at the break, Ballycastle used the wind to press forward but found Patrick Turner and Brian Cassidy in the centre of the Maghera defence difficult to pass.
Fintan O’Kane clinched victory for Maghera with a goal 10 minutes after the break, and although sub Conor Boyd did eventually find the net for Ballycastle, it was too late for the winners’ lead to be in danger.
St Patrick’s Maghera : Seán Ó Caiside, Seamus Higgins, Patrick Turner, Niall Smyth, Dara McPeake, Brian Cassidy 0-2, Shéa Downey, Conor McAllister, Shane McGuigan 0-4, Pauric McNicholl 0-1, Fintan O'Kane 1-1, Seán Brunton 1-0, Conor Kelly, Conor Glass 2-1,Darragh Cartin 0-1.
Sub : Ciarán McGuigan for C Kelly.
Cross and Passion College : Benny Connor, Geoffrey og Laverty, Daniel McBride, Ronan McErlain, Peter McGarry, Shea Hunter, Patrick Bonnar, Alex O'Boyle, Conor Dallas, Emmet Laverty, Junior Allen, Diarmuid McShane, Caolan McGivern, Tiarnan Butler, Owen Toner.
Subs : Conor Boyd 1-0 for E Laverty , Aaron Scullion for C McGivern, Paul McVeigh for J Allen.
Referee : Garrett Duffy (Antrim)
