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Thu 8th Oct 2009
St. Patrick’s College Maghera are Ulster Colleges’ Corn na n-Óg Champions
St. Patrick’s College Maghera 3-07
St. Patrick’s Academy, Dungannon 2-09
St. Michael’s GAA Club, Lissan would seem to be one of the magic ingredients in the competitive story that is developing between these two Gaelic football nurseries, and in particular between these two groups of players. There can have been few U-14 Gaelic football games which have served up the entertainment which these groups of boys have presented in their two most recent meetings – they had come together in May of last year in the D’Alton Cup final, (also at the superb Lissan GAA grounds), and produced an enthralling contest when the Derry school collected the silverware. Memories of that game were obviously fresh among the respective sets of supporters and a sharp February air, combined with an excellent venue, and the traditional Derry/Tyrone GAA rivalry saw a significant crowd lining each side of the pitch in anticipation of another keenly contested final – they were not disappointed.
That D’Alton Cup final had produced a total of eleven goals from the two teams and within a few minutes of the start it appeared the large crowd might well see another goal rush when Maghera full forward Gerald Bradley was sent through one-on-one with Dungannon keeper Stephen O’Neill and, although under pressure from full back Peter McKenna, Bradley managed to get a shot away which bobbled off the keeper’s hands and trickled into the net to give the Derry boys an excellent start. The ongoing development of these players though was soon evident as Dungannon moved immediately to counter the Bradley threat by withdrawing wing-forward, Philip Donnelly, to play as an extra defender and they would have been well pleased with the outcome – Maghera, despite the movement and effort of forwards like Conor Convery and Dominic McFaul, were not to score again until the closing four minutes of the half! Obviously planned defensive tactics at the other end saw Cormac O’Doherty play as the free defender, although the Derry boys’ ploy was not as effective, while Dungannon’s top attackers found themselves matched up with Maghera’s key defenders as positions meant little in the quest for victory.
With the ‘blanket defence’ keeping the Maghera forwards continually outside the scoring area, or forcing handling mistakes, it was Dungannon who gave the scoreboard most work from the tenth until the twenty-fifth minute of the half. O’Neill’s fumble for the opening goal was replicated by Meehaul McGrath in the Maghera goals when a Paul McElroy shot from distance eluded the keeper’s grasp and trickled to the net for a 1-1 to 1-0 lead. Inspired by this score and their defensive dominance at the back Dungannon threatened to take complete control of the final. McIlroy was the catalyst for all their best moves as he swung over two excellent frees and another quality point from play, Conor Mallon adding another from play as their side moved 1-5 to 1-0 ahead. Maghera’s defensive strength and speed though was beginning to turn the tide back in their favour. Conor Carville and Niall Gorman were closing out the threat of McIlroy and Quinn respectively while a tremendous battle of power and pace between Conor Mallon and Maghera’s James Kearney was increasingly being won by the Swatragh lad. The quality of Declan Hughes and Stephen Coyle in possession lead to more structured and purposeful attacking and, despite a lot of previously wasted possession, the Derry school found themselves closing the half much stronger. Niall Toner and Dominic McFaul combined to place Peter Cassidy for his side’s first score in over 20 minutes and with Stephen O’Hara and the impressive Neil McNicholl controlling midfield St. Patrick’s were able to squeeze another impressive point before the break from the energetic McFaul to leave the score at 1-5 to 1-3. With the footballing fare on offer there was little thought given to the freshening February breeze as the crowd awaited second half developments.
Having had to wait for Maghera to reappear the Dungannon boys tore into second half action with Jake Ferguson bearing down on goal but strangely opting to pass rather than shoot. McGrath collected under pressure but his clearance was fired over by Deasun Quinn to see the game right back to championship tempo. That breeze though was now favouring Maghera and they began to dictate the game with the flow of play increasingly towards the Dungannon goal. Handling and choice of pass, though negated a lot of the good work as Dungannon’s defensive system was still proving difficult to break down. Maghera now had Gerald Bradley at wing forward and his winning of possession was ever more important as they pushed for the scores their play called for - Bradley and McFaul eventually creating and executing the crucial scores. A nicely lofted point from the Bellaghy lad before he showed commendable composure to snap up a lose ball and calmly slot the ball to the net to confirm his team’s ascendancy. A Quinn free was the Dungannon response but Bradley and O’Hara replied in kind before the decisive moments of the game.
McFaul was pulled down for a Maghera penalty but before Niall Toner eventually goaled Dungannon had pressed the self-destruct button – McElroy red carded after running 40 metres to lash out at McNicholl and Quinn fortunate not to follow as referee Walsh consulted with his umpires. Moments later Bradley collected a poor kickout and lobbed the keeper only for the ball to rebound off the crossbar and elude McFaul another goal which would have sealed victory. Dungannon though were not giving up easily as they threw caution to the wind and attacked at will from all over the pitch as the game entered the final five minutes. Mallon missed a crucial free, McGrath double saved from close range before a lost Maghera possession was worked right up the field and across to centre back James Campbell who lashed in a rasping goal. A poor kickout followed immediately and Mallon was placed to shoot for goal to win the game but his shot rose over the bar, referee Walsh calling time on the restart to spark Maghera celebrations after an absorbing Corn na n-Óg final – roll on the next instalment!
Ulster Colleges’ Vice-Chairman, Paddy Linden presented the Corn na n-Óg to St. Patrick’s captain Stephen O’Hara.
St. Patrick’s Maghera:
Meehaul McGrath(Slaughtneil), Cormac O’Doherty(Slaughtneil), Niall Gorman(Kilrea), Stephen Coyle(Swatragh), James Kearney(Swatragh), Declan Hughes(Lavey), Stephen O’Hara(capt., Glen, 0-1), Neil McNicholl(Glenullin),
Niall Toner(Lavey,1-0), Padraig Cassidy(Slaughtneil), Peter Cassidy(Bellaghy,0-1), Conor Convery(Glen), Gerald Bradley(Slaughtneil,1-4), Dominic McFaul(Bellaghy,1-2)
Subs: Conor Gallagher(Glen) for C.Convery, Ciaran McCloy(Glen), Conor Cassidy(Slaughtneil), Martin Mulgrew(Ballinascreen), Paul McAtamney(Swatragh), Tom McKenna(Glen), Conor McKenna(Ballinascreen), Francis McEldowney(Slaughtneil), Gary Chesney(Castledawson), Brendan McEldowney(Slaughtneil)
St. Patrick’s Dungannon:
Paul McElroy(Dungannon,1-4), Deasun Quinn(Donaghmore,0-3), Conor Mallon(Edendork,0-2), James Campbell(Stewartstown,1-0)
Submitted by: Paul Hughes
