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DANSKE BANK MacRory Cup
The Bess of enemies
December 18, 2012
Ulster Colleges’ Football – MacRory Cup quarter-final draw
St Paul’s Bessbrook coach John Rafferty appeared slightly bemused with the re-action when his team were drawn against Abbey CBS in the Danske Bank MacRory Cup quarter-finals at a reception in Belfast yesterday.
This was the only one of the four pairings to animate the other coaches, players and media.
“This time last year we were waiting on the MacLarnon draw and very few were taking any notice of us at all. A year has made a huge difference to how others perceive us, and I suppose how we perceive ourselves.”
“However the way I was looking at it was that whoever we drew would be a huge game for us. As far as I am concerned, the competition starts here. No-one wins the MacRory on what they do before Christmas.”
But he had to acknowledge that St Paul’s performance in the pre-Christmas league competition had made an impact.
“We have been playing very well and we will need to keep turning out big performances. We want to win this competition naturally and a draw like this will create a huge interest in our area with boys from the same club teams now in opposition in such a big competition as this.”
“There are seven other crafty operators there in the room who are cute enough to talk the opposition up and play their chances down. The draw is made and we have a tough one.”
“We played them in a Rannafast Cup semi-final a couple of years ago, the equivalent year groups and they beat us by a couple of points. So we know they are useful.”
Abbey coach Jody Gormley was playing “the crafty operator” card.
“Their MacLarnon and All-Ireland wins really boosted them and they have been the form team of the league. We couldn’t have got a harder draw. But you don’t get easy draws in the MacRory. I think that it will create huge interest in the Newry and south Armagh area.”
“St Paul’s win over Maghera in the MacCormack Cup means that they are the only team to have beaten this Maghera group through their school careers and that makes them a real test for anyone.”
Danny Stinton, Head of Marketing Services and Business Products at Danske Bank said: “This is the first year we have sponsored the MacRory Cup and we are very proud to be associated with a tournament with such long history, prestige and standards. Our partnership with Ulster Colleges reflects not only the importance Danske Bank places on local relationships in the community, but also our focus on providing opportunities for young people – in this case to develop their sporting talents and teamwork skills. We wish the best of luck to all the teams.”
MacRory Cup quarter-finals – Wednesday 6th, Friday 8th and Saturday 9th February 2013.:
St Patrick’s Academy Dungannon v St Macartan’s Monaghan
St Patrick’s Maghera v St Michael’s Enniskillen
St Paul’s Bessbrook v Abbey CBS
St Colman’s Newry v Omagh CBS
by Seamás McAleenan
Danske Bank are proud sponsors of Ulster Colleges GAA
