Bank of Ireland Ulster Colleges MacRory Cup Final Match Report

St. Louis Show True Character as MacRory Decider Goes to Replay

St. Louis Grammar School, Kilkeel 0-13
Omagh CBS 2-07

As St. Louis Grammar School, Kilkeel, prepare for a second crack at Ulster Colleges elite crown, the MacRory Cup, they will reflect on the St. Patrick’s Day encounter with some sense of relief, but also with a real sense of pride. Being six points down, five minutes into the second half, would have sent many lesser teams looking for cover, but this young ‘band of brothers’ from the Mournes stood up to be counted and totally overwhelmed their Tyrone opponents for the remainder of the game.

St. Louis now, go into Saturdays replay with the confidence that they matched their opponents and bettered them as the game wore on. The towering strength of the mid-field pairing of Joseph Ireland and James Colgan was a sheer delight to watch. Joseph Ireland had put in a man-of-the-match performance and the only other player close to him for this honour was his partner and captain James Colgan. It was from these performances that the inspiration lay for others to follow.

The first half of this game did not really reflect the exciting blend of individual talent and the high quality team play we have come to expect from St. Louis in recent times. The Kilkeel defence put in a very impressive performance after enduring a very shaky opening twenty minutes, but the forward play was somewhat subdued. Although Manager Cathal Murray and his assistant Steven McVeigh watched in disbelief as their charges played well below their best in the opening quarter, the Kilkeel side still had a few opportunities to move into an opening lead. Omagh barely touched the ball for the first six minutes, but a missed free from Martin Clarke and further wides being registered by Ritchie Annett and Clarke, put St. Louis under pressure at the other end of the pitch. Omagh opened the scoring with a finely taken free kick from the boot of Stephen Donaghy.

With Ireland and Colgan clearly in dominant form in the middle of the park, Omagh ensured that they played away from that area and that their forwards received the ball as quickly as possible. They particularly targeted the nippy corner forward Conor O’Donnell, who added a second point for Omagh, giving St. Louis corner-back David Morgan plenty to contend with. The response was timely, with plenty of space appearing on Casement Park, some energetic running from Joseph Ireland resulted in the Bryansford lad opening the Kilkeel account with a powerfully taken point. This score should have settled the Mourne side, but the St. Louis forwards were guilty of overplaying the ball and allowing the potentially killer final pass to go slightly astray.

St. Louis may well feel hard done by at a crucial moment in the game. A tackle on Ronan McRory by David Morgan was judged to be inside the box by Monaghan referee Pat McEneaney, who had no hesitation in awarding the Tyrone school a penalty. Captain Ronan McRory calmly placed the ball away from the outstretched arms of St. Louis keeper Colm Curran into the Kilkeel net, to give his side a clear advantage. This event triggered a purple patch for Omagh, and one in which they probably should have capitalised more. A long range effort from Cahir Tierney went narrowly wide , as did efforts from Stephen Donaghy and Conor O’Donnell, it was time for changes in the Kilkeel defence. Paul Sherry was brought in for the injured David Morgan and the effect was almost immediate. The threat posed by O’Donnell, certainly became less as Sherry closed O’Donnell down, whilst St. Louis attempted to reassert their will on the game.

Meanwhile, a point from a free by Ritchie Annett kept Kilkeel in touch at a time when the game could easily have ran away from them, as Omagh moved the ball around with great fluidity. This mobility could not be matched by the St. louis frontmen, although corner forwards James Cunningham and Christopher Morgan had to come further out field to pick up ball. Ritchie Annett carried the game to the Omagh defence but the tight marking of the Omagh defence was proving problematic. Rory McManus, usually very effective at picking up loose ball around the middle, found breaking ball hard to come by. However, at the other end of the field St. Louis were living on the edge.

A fantastic point blank save by Colm Curran in the Kilkeel goals, from Ronan McRory, surely saved a bad situation from becoming disasterous. However, this save proved to be inspirational as the St. Louis defence were slowly, but surely, coming to terms with the pace of the Omagh attack. Luke Howard, Hugh Magee and Gerard McCartan in particular, broke up more attacks and set up some Kilkeel counter-attacks. Although an excellent point from Ronan McRory stretched the Omagh lead, a point from a free by Martin Clarke at the other end ensured that the Tyrone school would still be within reach as the break closed in.

Although the game was played in very sporting manner, the intensity of the occasion was such that injuries were inevitable. In an attempt to keep the game flowing, referee, Pat McEneaney, was reluctant to allow players to be treated for injuries, a policy which infuriated both benches. At one time two St. Louis players lay on the pitch after a collision for up to two minutes, during which period Omagh registered a further Ronan McRory point and narrowly missed out on another from Stephen Donaghy.

The response to this came from the Mourne Captain, as a fine solo run by James Colgan saw the Kilkeel captain register his first point of the afternoon, crucially to leave just the goal between the sides. However, a Kevin Gallagher point gave the Tyrone team a four point lead as the whistle for half time was blown.
The fact that St. Louis were just four points down after a rather unhappy first half, left the Mourne still in with a healthy shout. This is a fact that was not lost on Manager Cathal Murray, who later admitted he feared it could have been a lot worse. As the management set about bringing the best out of this talented group of players, the large Mourne contingent of supporters never lost faith as they cheered on their young kin.The mood from the St. Louis changing room was adamant that a more settled and improved Kilkeel side take would take to the field for the second half.

As the second half resumed the signs were very promising. The defence looked a lot sharper and with Martin Clarke moving into the centre half forward position, there seemed to be more penetration into the well drilled Omagh defence. A fantastic long range point cheered up the Down folk and worried the Tyrone followers. However, disaster struck after five minutes when Omagh half forward Stephen Donaghy capitalised on slackness in the Kilkeel defence when he took a quick free on the 13 meter line and slotted the ball into the unguarded Kilkeel net to give the Tyrone team a six point lead.

Although the Kilkeel lads questioned the legitimacy of this goal, it was a t this point that the true resolve of the St. Louis spirit finally awoke and put itself on display for all to see. With television commentators writing of the chance of a Kilkeel comeback, the St. Louis bench and the Mourne followers knew different. They have witnessed the spirit of this team before and as they cheered on the team, the players responded with a twenty five minute performance that was breathtaking for both its quality of play and its display of raw character and bravery.

Leaders were now appearing all over the pitch in the green and gold of St. Louis. Luke Howard and Hugh Magee ensured that the Kilkeel goals would not be threatened again, whilst Paul Sherry continued to curb the actions of the once lively O’Donnell. The half back line were also tightening their grip on the match, with Eamon McConville winning more ball of MacRory. However, it was the more aggressive, attacking play of Gerard McCartan and Fergal Doyle from there wing half back positions, couple with the surging runs of Colgan and Ireland, which pushed the Tyrone boys on to the back foot.

St. Louis were certainly now more focused and more direct in their play as they began to chip away at the Omagh lead. Peter Fitzpatrick, now receiving more ball, collected a long pass from Fergal Doyle, turned his marker John Cassidy and scored a fantastic point from thirty five meters out on the wing. This point was quickly balanced out with a Conor O’Donnell point for Omagh, but this was to be their last score for the best part of twelve minutes as St. Louis simply took over. The introduction of Luke Toner gave Kilkeel more options up front. However, a near miss from Martin Clarke was quickly forgotten about as the An Riocht man pointed a free. The young Colleges All-Star forward added to his tally with a rasping shot that reduced the Omagh lead down to three points with ten minutes to go.

An inspired venture out his defensive area saw a great point come from the boot of Gerard McCartan as St. Louis continued to eat away at the Omagh lead and the pressure was beginning to take its toll on the Tyrone school. Certainly St. Louis looked stronger and fitter and urged on by the huge Down following, they were now looking increasing capable of winning this game. Ritchie Annett added to his tally with a point to leave the bare minimum between the sides, before James Colgan, in a true captains role levelled the game with minutes left on the clock.

What had seemed improbable after fives minutes of the second half was now within the grasp of the Kilkeel school, could they now win the MacRory Cup? Omagh were all but done by this stage, but to their credit they mustered one more attack from which wing half back Dean O’Neill, sent over what could easily have proved to be the winner for the Tyrone school. Yet, this Kilkeel side had not put all this effort in just to let it slip away at this late stage. St. Louis showed composure well beyond their years and set about building an attack to level the score. And level they did, again from the boot of captain James Colgan.

Referee Pat McEneaney, blew for full time after on and half minutes of stoppage time, probably more to the relief of Omagh, but this was a fantastic game of football in which the game was the real winner on the day. Both teams had their opportunities to win the game and the comeback from St. Louis was truly exhilarating. However, neither team really deserved to lose in what has been referred to as the best MacRory Cup decider of recent years. Both teams will have to go through it all again this Saturday at the same Casement Park venue, with the throw-in scheduled for 11 am. St. Louis will again look to the fantastic spirit among this ‘band of brothers’, to overcome the Omagh threat. If these teams can serve up the same level of football with even a fraction of the excitement of the St. Patrick’s Day encounter, then the travelling masses will be served up another treat.

St. Louis Team;
Colm Curran (Bryansford), David Morgan (Bryansford), Luke Howard (Bryansford), Hugh Magee (Longstone), Fergal Doyle (An Riocht) 0-1, Eamon McConville (Rostrevor), Gerard McCartan (Rostrevor) 0-1, Joseph Ireland (Bryansford) 0-1, James Colgan (An Riocht) Captain 0-3, James Cunningham (An Riocht), Martin Clarke (An Riocht) 0-4 (2 frees), Peter Fitzpatrick (Ballymartin) 0-1, Christopher Morgan (Attical), Ritchie Annett (An Riocht) 0-2 (1 free), Rory McManus (Ballymartin).
Subs; Paul Sherry (An Riocht) for David Morgan – 14 mins, Luke Toner (Castlewellan) for Christopher Morgan- 38 mins, Mark Rafferty (Bryansford), Patrick Smyth (Longstone), Paul Curran (Bryansford), Kevin Quinn (Attical), Luke Byrne (Bryansford), John Fitzpatrick (Ballymartin), Andrew Sloan (Attical).
Kevin Keenan (An Riocht) injured.

Manager/Coach; Cathal Murray (Clonduff)
Assistant Coach; Steven McVeigh (Warrenpoint)

Omagh CBS;
Kerill Winters, Hugh Gallagher, John Cassidy, Joseph Kelly, Dean O’Neill (0-1), Brendan Martin, Niall Cassidy, Sean O’Neill, Cahir Tierney, Conal McCullagh, Ronan McRory (1-2) (1 pen and 2 frees), Stephen Donaghy (1-1) (both frees), Kevin Gallagher (0-1), Shaun O’Neill, Conor O’Donnell (0-2).
Sub; Joseph McCracken for McCullagh.

Manager/Coach; Kieran Donnelly (Brokeborough)
Assistant Coach; Brother Ennis (Omagh)

Click here for the semi-final match report

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