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Mon 30th Jan 2012
BT MacLarnon Cup quarter-final Tuesday, 11.30am in MUSA
St Columb’s Derry v St Patrick’s Cavan
Internal examinations and a pilgrimage to Lourdes have forced St Columb’s Derry and St Patrick’s Cavan to bring their BT MacLarnon Cup quarter-final forward to this morning (11.30am in MUSA).
Cavan’s assistant coach is Fr Kevin Fay and his diocesan obligations are one reason for the switch. He, along with Ray Hogan, takes the side that has re-graded after a number of unsuccessful runs at MacRory level.
This is a young squad with most around 16 years old, and they qualified in second place from a tough league section that included Patrician Carrickmacross and Holy Cross Strabane who also have qualified for the quarter-finals.
They have good scoring potential in Vinnie Coyle, Shane O’Rourke and Pauric Moore, with Brian Kernan the key player in defence.
Opponents St Columb’s Derry – with four players named recently in the Derry minor panel for 2012 – are also strongly fancied for the MacLarnon this season.
The four are captain Anthony Harkin, Michael Sweeny, Emmett McBride and Ryan Moore, the latter a younger brother of Ruairi and Leigh who collected provincial medals with Craigbane in November.
Coach Eamon Burns feels that the teams are quite evenly matched – Cavan beat them by a point in a tournament game in Queen’s during the autumn.
However football seems to have got a boost in Breffni, whether from the under-age county teams last year, or the school’s own under-age teams, who finished Corn na nOg runners-up to Omagh last year and qualified at the weekend for this season’s semi-finals.
That extra incentive may well give them a slight edge for this tie.
Meanwhile the Ulster Colleges’ Council last evening confirmed that the BT MacRory Cup quarter-final between St Michael’s Enniskillen and Omagh CBS on Saturday week will be played in Brewster Park with an 11am throw-in.
This was the venue before Christmas for the league final between the pair that Omagh won comfortably.
It is all systems go though for Friday evening’s opening MacRory quarter-final between Abbey CBS and St Patrick's Maghera in the Morgan Athletic Grounds Armagh with a 7.30pm throw-in.
Submitted by: Seamus McAleenan
