NET GAINS FOR ST PATRICK'S

Danske Bank MacRory Cup St Patrick’s Maghera 2-8 Omagh CBS 1-9 

A devastating thirteen minute period either side of half time was the catalyst for Maghera's two point win over a fancied Omagh CBS last Friday night in Emyvale.  It was a long trek to the Monaghan venue but Paul Hughes' young side look to be peaking at the right time. 

What a different a week makes?  After stumbling over the line against the Abbey; there was a subdued atmosphere.  Neither Conor Glass nor Paul Hughes were overly excited, relief was the dominant emotion last week at The Dub. 

Despite the incessant rain at St Oliver Plunkett Park, the young St Patrick's squad where in a much better place.   

Body language doesn’t lie – as they filtered towards the dressing rooms you could sense Maghera were in the perfect position.  They had taken out one of the big guns but still there was room for improvement. 

It leaves Paul Hughes and Colum Lavery in the perfect scenario of having the mentality of their players exactly where they to be.   

The statement fits and starts' comes to mind when summing up Maghera's disposal of Omagh.  St Patrick's outscored their opponents 2-6 to 0-1 in that purple patch, from the twenty fifth minute to the thirty eight minute.  

Post game, Hughes hinted that it was a very 'honest' dressing room at half time but I'm sure there was the relief of overcoming a six point deficit in the last five minutes.  

Early on Omagh were quick out of the blocks three points from Johnny Harkn, James Darcy and wing back Tiernan Murray.  Over the hour Murray was The Brothers' best player, the Carrickmore man was everywhere and constantly wanting to get on the ball. 

Trailing 0-3 to no score after sixteen minutes, Maghera looked out of sorts and were struggling to make any headway.  When they got off the mark it was a difficult free by Shane McGuigan from close to the sideline. 

Straight from the kickout Glass grabbed possession but Maghera played patient football before Shane McGuigan curled over from the other wing.  It was short and sharp from Maghera but they failed to keep their foot on the pedal. 

Omagh grabbed the ascendency back again with points from Oisin Donnelly and James Darcy.  Paul Hughes’ would have breathed a sigh of relief moments later when Darcy missed a sitter of a goal, pulling his shot to the left.  The Tattyreagh man had more time to settle on the shot. 

The alarm bells were ringing for Maghera’s defence and Omagh made no mistake with their next chance.   

Eoighan Keenan won possession from the kick out and ran at the Maghera rear guard before offloading to full forward Oran Sludden and the Dromore man slotted to the net despite the best efforts of ‘keeper Cassidy, 24 minutes gone, Omagh 1-5 Maghera 0-2. 

It looked like Omagh would build on their commanding lead but instead it sparked a Maghera response.  They needed to take a foothold in the game and it was the Glass and McGuigan axis that was pivotal.  It was almost telepathic. 

McGuigan won possession but Moss and McGlinchey ‘wrapped him up’, as the Omagh line kept instructing their players to do.  Maghera played patient possession football and worked the ball to Conor Glass for a point. 

Maghera may have a goal moments later, a crossfield ball from Glass found Shane McGuigan and shot skimmed the top of the bar.   

A purposeful run by Odhran McKeever kept Maghera going forward and when Francis Kearney was fouled, Glass tapped the free over with ease and the sizeable crowd tightly packed under the Emyvale stand sensed the game was changing. 

Oisin Donnelly replied with a point for Omagh with his direct running opening up some room.  It was blip in the St Patrick’s dominance.  

Patrick Kearney won a terrific breaking ball in the middle of the field and when Conall Darragh got on the end of the move he crashed to the net. 

He deserved the goal.  It was the pocket sized Glen man’s third involvement in the same attack as he linked well with Shane McGuigan and wing back Paddy McCormick.  

In stoppage time Conor Glass worked a free short to corner back Keelan Feeney who kicked high into the Monaghan sky and it dropped over the bar, Maghera were level and were going to be hard to stop. 

Early in the second half Francis Kearney kicked another monster score with Conor Glass adding another and Omagh were in trouble. 

The Derry men were winning every battle on the field, the dirty ball around the middle.  They were turning Omagh in a manner that was missing from their Abbey performance. 

Kilrea’s Paddy Quigg inflicted more hurt on Omagh, he worked the ball through their defence with an interchange of passes with Oisin McWilliams and Shea Downey before showing control and calmness to place his kick beyond Gallen and into the net. 

This capped off Maghera’s ruthless spell in the game.  Colum Lavery and Paul Hughes will wonder what could happen if this team could click for the hour.   

A free from Darcy and a fine individual effort from midfielder Keenan attempted to stem the Maghera dominance and with fifteen minutes remaining Omagh trailed 1-8 to 2-8.  When they look back they will regret their missed frees.  It’s all about taking your chances when they come along. 

There was only one score in the final quarter but St Patrick’s held the initiative without really killing the game off.  They will need to improve this aspect of their game. 

The score when it did come was an Omagh goal chance.  Tiernan Murray again involved in the move as Omagh surged forward, passing to substitute Conor Loughran and he found an unmarked Peter Óg McCartan but his shot whizzed over the bar. 

It was now a dangerous two point lead and took a magnificent catch above the bar by Sean Cassidy in the dying moments to finally see Maghera home and dry. 

Maghera Scorers: Shane McGuigan (0-3, one free), Conor Glass (0-3, one free), Francis Kearney (0-1), Paddy Quigg (1-0), Conall Darragh (1-0) and Keelan Feeney (0-1). 

Omagh Scorers: Oran Sludden (1-0), James Darcy (0-3, two frees), Oisin Donnelly (0-2), Johnny Harkin (0-1 free),Tiernan Murray (0-1),  Eoighan Keenan (0-1) and Peter Óg McCartan (0-1). 

Maghera Team: Sean Cassidy (Slaughtneil), Odhran McKeever (Dugiven), Patrick Turner (Swatragh), Keelan Feeney  (Slaughtneil), Conor McAllister (Slaughtneil), Shea Downey (Lavey), Paddy McCormick (Moneyglass), Conor Glass (Glen), Patrick Kearney (Swatragh), Jack Doherty (Glen), Dara McPeake (Lavey), Conall Darragh (Glen), Francis Kearney (Swatragh), Shane McGuigan (Slaughtneil), Paddy Quigg (Kilrea). 

Subs: Oisin McWilliams  (Swatragh) for Dara McPeake (9mins), Michael Mullan (Drumsurn) for Patrick Kearney (42mins), Tiernan McHugh (Drumsurn) for Francis Kearney (44mins) 

Omagh Team: Brendan Gallen, Cahir Moss, Ciaran McGlinchey, James McGurk, Peter Og McCartan, Eoghain Murray, Tiernan Murray, Eoighan Keenan, John Hartin, Oisin Donnelly, James Darcy, Aidan Fullerton, PT Cunningham, Oran Sludden, Cathal Stars 

Subs: Shane Devine for PT Cunningham (HT), Conor Loughran for Shane Devine (45mins), Ryan Gray for Aidan Fullerton (26mins) 

NIFL Championship 2 ... Moyola Park 2 Tobermore United 2

Moyola Park 2 - Scorers Dowie, Gray

Tobermore United 2 - Scorers P Keane, G Keane

Report from Moyola Park Website.

Moyola Park welcomed Tobermore United to the Mill Meadow on Saturday for a rearranged Championship 2 game. This was the first meeting of the teams this season and is always keenly contested in front of a large crowd.

The first chance of the game fell to the home side in the 2nd minute when McAuley and Dowie combined to find Gallagher however his shot was wide. With eight minutes on the clock a cross from McAuley found Taggart who shot over. 

A minute later at the other end a cross from Parkhill was cleared by Black and the ball came back into the box and McQuillan headed clear only for the referee to adjudge that he handled the ball and point to the penalty spot. Up stepped captain P Keane who calmly fired the ball past Maybin to give the visitors the lead against the run of play. 

In the 12th minute a Black corner was headed wide by McIlhatton and three minutes later Dowie closed down a McGraw clearance only to see the ball rebound of the Moyola striker and loop over the bar. In the 16th minute N Lamont headed wide from a free kick from Marks and in the 18th minute McAuley found Taggart and he headed the ball into the path of Dowie who shot over. 

Moyola had Gallagher booked in the 24th minute and five minutes later another good corner from Black was again wide by McIlhatton. In the 34th minute McAuley combined with Waddell on the right with a cross coming into the Tobermore area and Dowie turning and shooting at McGraw. In the 36th minute the referee booked Glasgow for the visitors. 

A minute later the home side were level when McIlhatton found Dowie who fired a shot into the corner, however McGraw should have done better with the effort. This was the last real chance of the first half and both teams went in 1-1 at half time.

The visitors made the first change of the game for the second half with G Keane replacing the injured N Lamont who got a knock just before half time and the captains arm band was passed to goal scorer P Keane. With five minutes gone in the second half the referee booked Harkness for a late challenge and with very few chances the next chance fell to the home side in the 60th minute with McAuley finding Dowie who shot wide. 

Moyola Park manager Mervyn Pattison made his first change of the game in the 62nd minute with the returning Gray replacing Black. A minute later a corner from Twist was knocked into the net from substitute G Keane from close range. The same player nearly scored again a minute later; however he failed to connect with a cross. 

The visitors made their second change with S Lamont replacing Glasgow. G Keane was in the thick of the action again in the 72nd minute when he headed wide from a Duffin cross and two minutes later Gray found McIlhatton at the other end and his shot was deflected wide for a corner. With fifteen minutes left, Duffin shot wide from inside the box and Moyola also made a change with McNamee replacing McAuley. 

The visitors made their final change in the 73rd minute with Curtis replacing Duffin and the home side got an equaliser in the last minute when a mistake in the Tobermore defence saw Gray fire the ball across McGraw and into the far corner to make the score even. The last action of the game saw the referee book Devine for the visitors.

This was a good game of which both teams would have been happy with a point as neither goal keeper had much to do during the 90 minutes.

Moyola Park: Maybin, Harris, McQuillan (c), Doey, Waddell, Black, Taggart, Dowie, Gallagher, McIlhatton, McAuley. Subs: Gray, Kelly, Kells, McNamee.

Tobermore United: McGraw, Harkness, Winton, P Keane, Marks, Glasgow, Duffin, Devine, N Lamont, Parkhill, Twist. Subs: Curtis, S Lamont, G Keane, Deane, McLarnon.

PHOTOS...

RUTHLESS GLEN COAST INTO DECIDER

Glen 5-10 Magheracloone 1-5

Reigning champions and red hot favourites Glen pounced with three killer goals in a two minute spell midway through the first half to stop Magheracloone’s hopes of an upset before it ever got off the ground.

The Derry champions were wasteful early on, rushing their shots and taking the wrong option before Magheracloone notched the first score of the game from wing back James Lambe.

The Farney men failed to convert their early possession into scoring chances as Glen repelled them with Connor Carville and man of the match Cathal Mulholland reading the danger signs.

Glen’s achilles heel in the first ten minutes was the failure to make their breakaways count on the scoreboard.

Glen manager Enda Gormley wasn’t overly concerned.  “We created opportunities and that’s the big thing. I was confident enough the scores would come and to be fair we kept going and we got the three goals.”

Before the first goal came, Magheracloone goalkeeper Jack Kirk made a terrific diving save to deny Paul Gunning.  This was the warning of what was to follow.

Conor Glass crashed to the net after powering through the Magheracloone defence and latching onto the end off a Conall Darragh pass.

From the resultant kickout Darragh was once again involved, this time playing Ciaran McFaul in on goal and the Derry senior player finished brilliantly to the corner of the net.

It got even better for Glen, Danny Tallon won a breaking ball in the middle and set the Derry men on the rampage again, Conor Glass squaring the ball for Tiarnan Flanigan to fist to the net.

The Monaghan response came instantly with the pacy Paudie McMahon hitting the net after approach play from Paudie and David Kirk.

Glen led at half time 3-2 to 1-4 but had the luxury of an extra man when David Kirk was dismissed for a second yellow card.

The message in the Glen dressing room at the break was about improvement.  “We said at half time it was nil nil and we’d go out and win the second half.  It was all about the performance,” said wing back Cathal Mulholland.

The Watty’s certainly hit the ground running early in the second half with Ciaran McFaul registering a point after a mere twenty six seconds.

This was followed by one of the scores of the game, a long delivery from the sideline by Stevie O’Hara was won by impressive ball winner Paul Gunning, his quick lay off saw Jack Doherty score a point.

Alan McCaghey got Magheracloone’s last score of the game from a sxith minute free and from them on it was all one way traffic.

Most of Glen’s attacking threat was dictated by the power and pace of duo Conor Glass and Ciaran McFaul.  Conor Convery was on the end of three of those moves to keep Glen motoring along nicely.

Convery then turned provider as Conor Glass palmed home Glen’s fourth goal, with Paul Gunning again proving to be the go to man winning another ball played into the Glen attack.

With time almost up Tiernan Flanigan rounded off the scoring with his second and Glen’s fifth goal of the game, setting up a final meeting with St John’s next Sunday.

Glen manager Enda Gormley as happy with the result but it was already looking ahead.  “We only got the five scores in the first half so there is plenty to work on ahead of next Sunday.”

Glen Scorers: Tiarnan Flanagan (2-0), Conor Glass (2-1), Ciaran McFaul (1-1), Conor Convery (0-4, one free), Jack Doherty (0-1), Paul Gunning (0-1), Stevie O’Hara (0-1 free), Danny Tallon (0-1).

Magheracloone Scorers: Paudie McMahon (1-0), Alan McCaghey (0-3 frees), James Lambe (0-1) and Michael Metzger (0-1).

Glen: Callum Mullan-Young, Conor Gallagher, Conor McDevitt, Oisin Hegarty, Ryan McDonnell, Connor Carville, Cathal Mulholland, Conor Glass, Ciaran McFaul, Tiarnan Flanagan, Conall Darragh, Cahair McCabe, Conor Convery, Danny Tallon, Paul Gunning.

Subs: Jack Doherty for Conall Darragh (25mins), Stevie O’Hara for Conor Gallagher (HT), Tommy Mullan for Cahir McCabe (39mins), Ciaran McCloy for Callum Mullan-Young (54mins), Declan McCusker for Ryan McDonnell (54mins), Cathal Gallagher for Cathal Mulholland (59mins).

Magheracloone: Jack Kirk, James Carolan, Paul McArdle, Cian Freeman, Alan Kieran, Killian Rudden, James Lambe, Daniel Hand, Michael Metzger, David Kirk, Jonathan Coleman, Paudie McMahon, Sean Marron, Paudie Kirk, Alan McCaghey.

Subs: Sean Finnegan for James Carolan (16mins), Ronan Burns for Jonathan Coleman (50mins), Peter Finnegan for Paudie Kirk (53mins), Donnacha Kindlon for Michael Metzger (58mins),

Referee: Sean Laverty (Moneyglass)

GLEN EXPERIENCE AND FLAIR TO SEE THEM THROUGH

Glen manager Enda Gormley will be relieved this morning as he puts the finishing touches together for Sunday's Ulster U21 semi final against Monaghan champions Magheracloone at Creggan (2.15). 

The former MacRory Cup winner will have had his fingers crossed Conall Darragh, Conor Glass and Jack Doherty came through Maghera’s Quarter Final on Friday night unscathed and ready for the next step of their title defence.

The Derry champions used all their experience and composure to oversee a strong Clonduff challenge in their quarter final. 

Ross Carr’s men hit Glen with all they had early on but the champions didn’t panic. Spearheaded by Ciaran McFaul’s leadership qualities they were soon back in the groove. It’s thecomposure that simply comes from playing on the big stage year in, year out.

With Paul Gunning’s accuracy in front of the posts and a fisted goal from Conor Glass it was back to business as usual. The Down men stuck to their task but a fortunate own goal helped Glen run out 2-11 to 2-5 winners.

Gormley’s hand has strengthened somewhat with long term injury victim Stevie O’Hara back in the fold. 

O’Hara who played a full hour at midfield last Sunday for Derry U21s and will be chomping at the bit to get back. 

His trademark left foot will be a useful tool if Gormley decides to mix things up with a long range scoring option.

Conall Darragh came of the bench against Clonduff and with two impressive MacRory performances under his belt, he's a useful option for tomorrow.

It’s highly unlikely that Ryan Dougan will be any closer to starting this week, the troublesome hamstring still hasn’t cleared.

Known for playing an entertaining brand of football, Gormley was more impressed by another aspect of Glen’s performance.

“I suppose the great thing is that they have a great mindset. We have it beat into them to play the game for sixty minutes. If you go four up not to carried away and if you go four down not to get carried away, just get playing the next ball.”

Magheracloone sprung somewhat of a surprise by dumping out Kilcar in the previous round (0-11 to 0-7) but without their county contingent; the Donegal hand was severely weakened.

“We were happy with the win but we’re not really taking a big pile out of it,” said club secretary James Finnegan.

The Monaghan champions are managed by James’ brother Paudie and former Monaghan half back Damien Freeman who like his opposite number Enda Gormley will steer the Mitchell’s senior team this year.

Monaghan minor goalkeeper Jack Kirk inspired his side with a first half penalty save against Kilcar. 

County U21 panelist Alan McCaghey provided much of the cutting edge up front with support from county minor Paudie McMahon at wing forward.

After winning the coveted Mick Duffy Cup back in 2004, Magheracloone are now rebuilding as Finnegan explains.

“We had a good senior team about ten years ago but we took our eye off the ball at juvenile level. We are back working at it again and it’s our current minors who are the start of that.”

Their outing against Kilcar was Magheracloone’s only competitive championship game since winning the county title last July.

In contrast Glen’s season picked up momentum after their first round win over Slaughtneil in Derry.

With their talent pool and the greater experience it’ll be a surprise if the Wattys are not back in the final with a chance to defend the Paddy McLarnon Cup.

Maghera into MacRory last four

Trailing 1-5 to 0-2 with five minutes until half time, St Patrick's Maghera were in severe danger of being knocked out of this year's MacRory Cup.

Two points from Conor Glass and a Shane McGuigan effort steadied Maghera.  This was following by Conal Darragh and Paddy Quigg goals either side of half time to put them in control of this game.

It was enough to see out the game but they were almost pegged back in the closing stages but Peter Og McCartan's shot whizzed over the bar and Maghera held on to win 2-8 to 1-9.

Speaking after the game were centre back Shea Downey and full forward Shane McGuigan.

TIME FOR MAGHERA TO UP THEIR GAME

Tonight (Friday 7.30) St Patrick's Maghera are back to MacRory action in Emyvale against a highly rated Omagh CBS with a place in the last four of the competition up for grabs.

Paul Hughes has Paddy McCormick, Larry Kielt, Caolite McAlinden and Odhran McKeever back in contention after they missed the last round due to a pre planned school field trip.

In last week's winner takes all play-off game last week Maghera had to withstand a late Abbey challenge.  Paul Hughes was realistic with his post match assessment.

“In championship all you ever want is to be in front at the end of it. We struggled; we were untidy, with very little cohesion about how we played.”

There will be no hiding places under the Emyvale lights and  they face a possession battle in the middle.  Maghera will need big performances from Conor Glass, Patrick Kearney and Jack Doherty to curb Omagh's strength in this sector.

Omagh have ten county minors and three players on the Tyrone U21 panel, namely Eoighain Murray, James Darcy and John Harkin so the midfield battle will be crucial.

Conor Glass is looking forward to another busy weekend.  On top of the Omagh game, Glass and Jack Doherty have an important date with Magheracloone U21s on Valentine's Day in Creggan.

Glass is well aware of the Omagh challenge.  "They have the two all-stars around the middle so it'll be a midfield battle and hopefully the fringes around taking the pressure off the midfield."

"We  need the wing half backs and wing half forwards coming in and stepping up.  Hopefully we can do a job and really step up in this MacRory Cup.  The last night [v Abbey] didn’t really do us justice."

He made his debut as a fourth year in the Hogan Cup but this is 'his year' and is playing with his own age group.

Maghera were Rannafast champions at this grade but the MacRory cares very little for the favourites tag. Glass knows how form can fluctuate.  "It's underage football and it's hard to predict, especially at this level.  Every team is going to be good, every team is going to have a system setup."

Glass is well aware of the improvement required.  "As you saw yourself  the last night, Abbey setup defensively and we found it hard to deal with in the first half.  We missed a lot of scores in the second half, five or six scores on the trot."

"It's a reality check and the hard work starts now.  They [Omagh] are one of the strongest teams in the MacRory.  We played them in the Rannafast semi final, the year we won it and just scraped past them.  It's going to be a tough game but hopefully we'll come out on the right side of it."

Maghera will need a huge improvement from the Abbey game if they are to be left standing, come Saturday morning.  Captain Glass and manager Hughes both know what is required.  Tonight will tell a tale.

Also on Friday, Derry side Lumen Christi will take on Aquinas Grammar School in the Nolan Cup Final at Meadowbank, Magherafelt (4.30). 

Mickey McCullagh's team will go into the game as slight favourites and will be looking for continued scoring power from Steelstown duo Ben McCarron and Eoghan Bradley.

Tonight (Friday) St Mary’s Limavady will take on Colaiste Ailigh of Letterkenny in the Ward Cup  Quarter Final at Celtic Park (7pm).  This game was originally scheduled for two weeks ago but fell victim to the weather.

There is a doubt over Callum Brown's participation but team manager Chrissy McKaigue will now be able to call on the services of Glack’s Derry minor player Martin McGonigle after a lengthy spell out with a nasty hand injury.