St Louis v Omagh CBS
St. Louis Avenge Cup-Final Defeat
St. Louis Grammar School - 0-08
Omagh CBS 0-06
The gallant MacRory team of last year, who set the world of Ulster Colleges
Gaelic Football alight last year by storming into their first ever MacRory
Cup final, must have took great pleasure from the performance of their former
colleagues on Saturday. St. Louis were pitted against Omagh CBS in a repeat
of last year’s epic final. However, for this encounter the Kilkeel
school were given little chance, as the Tyrone school were given the tag
of favourites, not only for this game, but to win the tile outright.
It was within this scenario that coaches Steven McVeigh and Niall McAleenan,
worked out their strategy for a tough encounter. Coming away with a victory
over St. Michael’s Enniskillen, in their opening game, the St. Louis boys were
certainly ‘up’ for this one. However, Steven McVeigh was adamant
that two points from this encounter was certainly the goal, more so than
revenge.
Played at the St. Gall’s pitch, in Belfast, St. Louis made their intentions
clear from the outset, as they continued with the great work rate, which
was evident in the Enniskillen game. Kevin Quinn had moved to the midfield
area, in place of the injured Gerard McCartan, to partner Peter Fitzpatrick.
It was in this area of the field that St. Louis were particularly dominant,
with All-Ireland Champion Peter Fitzpatrick in fine form.
After a Kevin Quinn shot went wide of the mark, the ever reliant Martin Clarke
opened the Kilkeel account with a point from a free. Such was the tenacity
of the St. Louis forwards tackling, Omagh were struggling to get any sort
of rhythm to their play. With Christopher Killen, Luke Toner and Patrick
Bourke constantly harassing the Omagh defenders, it wasn’t long before
St. Louis extended their lead as Martin Clarke fired over a second point.
However the experience of the Tyrone lads would always come through as Omagh
gradually got themselves back into contention in this game. With John Cassidy
finding his feet at full back and Brendan Martin renewing his battle with
Martin Clarke on the ’45, Omagh began to feed their forwards. They
opened their account with a point from full forward Darren McCaffery, but
the central presence of Hugh Magee at full back, and John Fitzpatrick at
centre-half was a constant problem for Omagh.
St. Louis missed the opportunity to extend their lead as Martin Clarke and
half-back Fergal Doyle both shot wide, but thankfully for the Mourne school
Christopher Morgan was more accurate, as he slotted over St. louis third
point.
Omagh replied with a point from a free kick by Stephen Donaghy, the player
would had inflicted so much damage on Kilkeel last year with two goals in
the final. However, great cover from corner backs Ryan Sloan and Luke Byrne
ensured the Omagh threat was kept to a minimal. With Peter Fitzpatrick putting
on a marvellous display of high fielding in the centre of the park, St. Louis
should have extended their lead further, but had to settle for a point each
of the boots of Gary Trainor and Martin Clarke as the first half drew to
a close. St. Louis went into the interval three points to the good with a
scoreline reading St. Louis 0-5, Omagh CBS 0-2.
The Mourne school were surely the happier at half-time as Omagh were having
problems matching the fantastic work rate of St. Louis. The Kilkeel boys
started the second-half were they had left off with another period of attacking
football. A long range point from Peter Fitzpatrick extended the St. Louis
lead further and settled any nerves. Omagh, however, were as expected not
lying down to the Kilkeel challenge. Great covering play from Liam Nicholas,
Brendan Martin and Niall Cassidy, proved frustrating to the Mourne attack,
but the St. Louis half-back line of Fergal Doyle, John Fitzpatrick and Andy
Sloan was equally effective.
Two Omagh points, one from Jason McAnulla and one from Stephen Donaghy brought
the Omagh challenge back to the fore, the presence of Hugh Magee shone bravely
as he and Kevin Quinn soaked up the Tyrone pressure. A near miss from Gary
Trainor was soon followed with a great point from Christopher Killen , as
the young An Riocht forward proved a constant thorn in the Omagh defence.
However, Omagh did try to salvage something from the game, but even Gavin
Joyce in the St. Louis, who was having a quiet afternoon, denied them the
opportunity to gain a foothold as he pulled off a point blank save from Darren
McCaffery. At
the other end, St. Louis were looking to extend their lead further as Andy
Sloan set off on a series of runs deep into the Omagh defence. This brought
about some rash tackling from the Omagh defenders, allowing Martin Clarke
the opportunity to further the St. Louis cause with an excellent point from
a free after Luke Toner had been fouled. Omagh replied with a point from
a free by Stephen Donaghy and an excellent point after a great run by Conal
McCullagh.
However, the Tyrone school could not rescue this game as St. Louis looked
increasingly comfortable as the final seconds ticked away. It proved to be
a great win as the large Mourne following applauded their players off the
pitch, after notching up a victory that Joe Ireland, James Colgan, Eamon
McConville and co, would be very proud of. St. Louis had certainly upset
the applecart by ruffling the feathers of the favourites and by doing so
taking themselves closer to one of the automatic qualification slots in Group
A.
St. Louis now find themselves taking on the challenge of the highly fancied
Abbey CBS team in Moygannon Park, Warrenpoint today (Wednesday 16th) at 2pm.
It will prove to be another interesting encounter as the Abbey have also
won their two opening games and with impressive scorelines as well, against
St. Pat’s
Maghera and St. Michael’s Enniskillen. The game will give the St. Louis
team their first taste of a local derby at this level, but the will go into
the game with the excellent experience offered by their own two fantastic
victories so far in this years competition.
St. Louis squad
Gavin Joyce (Ballymartin), Ryan Sloan (Atticall), Hugh Magee (Longstone), Luke Byrne (Bryansford), Fergal Doyle (An Riocht), John Fitzpatrick (Ballymartin), Andrew Sloan (Atticall), Kevin Quinn (Atticall), Peter Fitzpatrick (Ballymartin) 0-1, Christopher Morgan (Atticall) 0-1, Martin Clarke (An Riocht) Capt 0-4, Patrick Bourke (Rostrevor), Christopher Killen (An Riocht) 0-1, Luke Toner (Castlewellan), Gary Trainor (Longstone) 0-1.
Subs; Colm Curran (Bryansford), Stephen Rafferty (Bryansford), Shaun Trainor (Longstone), Kieran Sloan (Atticall), Alan McDonald (Bryansford), Liam Harper (An Riocht), Conor Fitzpatrick (Ballymartin), Liam O’Hare (Ballymartin), Stephen Cousins (Bryansford), Dominic Trainor (Atticall) and Ryan O’Hare (Ballymartin). Gerard McCartan (Rostrevor) injured.