Danske Bank MacRory Cup Semi Final
“SECOND GOAL CRUCIAL” - HUGHES
Forty five minutes after Ciaran Brannigan’s
final whistle signalled Maghera coming out on the winning side of another
mammoth MacRory Cup battle, Colum Lavery and Paul Hughes still hadn’t left the
dressing room area.
The players had long
since gone and the empty dressing room was the perfect spot for gathering their
thoughts and digesting the drama that unfolded before their eyes.
The satisfaction that
comes from winning tight encounters is unrivalled and this was Maghera’s third
successive win in knockout football. Adrian McGuckin coined the phrase ‘MacRory
Cups are never won before Christmas’.
The latest Maghera bunch are primed for March.
After their scare
against Abbey, Hughes highlighted that in championship all you ever want is to be
in front at the end.
When Conall Darragh
fisted over in the last few minutes Maghera were two points ahead - a dangerous
lead. It brought back memories of Niall
McKenna’s late goal to snatch the Corn nA nOg for the Academy in Ballinderry a
few years ago.
On Friday night in the
closing stages Liam Rafferty was bearing down on goal and ‘keeper Sean
Ó’Caiside had denied Dungannon twice. A
penny for Paul Hughes’ thoughts.
"He's good for the third [save],” quipped
Hughes. "In fairness to the lad he was exceptional. The save he made in the first half was an
incredible save."
Hughes led Maghera to O’Keefe hurling success
and is no stranger to the small ball. It
played an important part in his goalkeeper’s inspired performance.
"He's a fantastic hurler and has a fantastic reaction time.”
Last summer Derry minors benefitted from the
triumvirate of Doherty, Glass and Patrick Kearney across the middle. Maghera are doing likewise.
Hughes admitted that securing possession from
their kick outs was something they had addressed so there was the added
satisfaction of seeing it pay off in the pressure cooker environment of Loup’s
floodlit arena on Friday night.
"We’d done a bit of work on that and we'd
said to them if it’s on [kick into space] and at any stage if we need a
possession, we go for it.”
When Jude Campbell put just a point in it late
on, Maghera needed possession. This was
the time they talked about. Ó’Caiside
pinged a perfect Cluxton-like kick to Jack Doherty.
Those in Loup held their breath as the ball
floated towards Doherty, the result hinged on it but the big Slaughtneil man
delivered and Doherty took up up the pitch.
Hughes admitted he sought a bit of devine
inspiration in those telling moments. “Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is
with thee…,” joked Hughes.
Like all their games, Maghera have played in
patches but in those spells they have been devastating and ruthless. Some day they will click right from the off
and heaven help the team that gets in their way.
Hughes’ trusty sidekick Colum Lavery stays in
the background and says very little but the Maghera manager speaks of his
valuable input.
"Lav talks about the steam train and the
support runner and the work coming through." It took Maghera’s train thirteen minutes to
arrive but just when it was needed the most, the Conor Glass express delivered
to sear through the Dungannon defence.
"It's what we need from Conor but it's what
Conor is always prepared to give you. We
had Jack [Doherty] breaking through a couple of times as well."
With
Patrick Turner on a yellow card and trailing by six points Maghera had to
change things up. Conor McAllister was
redeployed to pick up Ryan Coleman.
Hughes was full of praise for his contribution.
“He’s [McAllister]
another one hundred and ten per center. He's smart and not afraid to get stuck
into the game. He enjoys that and he was
exceptional for us tonight again."
Hughes admitted it gave his team a better balance and as a group they
all stepped it up.
The goals were vital and ignited them. "Conor's goal came at a brilliant time
for us. To get a second goal before half
time was an absolute massive lift for us."
Hughes’ strong emphasis of the work ‘absolute’ rubber stamped the value
of Shane McGuigan’s goal.
It gave Maghera a great platform for the second
half and when they emerged the Derry men went to town and with seven minutes of
magical football, putting themselves in the ascendency.
"That was very much what we were looking
from them. Colum [Lavery] talks about
'don't let them back into it. McGregor
style. Go for it, press on'. We pressed on after half time but then we hit
a lull.”
Dungannon have been Maghera’s main rivals up
through the school and they came back once again. “They mixed it up a bit again and some of our
match ups went awry. They started
getting more control of the ball. We were casual a few times in possession.”
Lavery
insists ‘the ball goes dead, the ball goes dead’ but Maghera’s slack use of
possession invited the Academy onto them.
It almost cost Maghera as Hughes explains. “We needed the end product
and I felt we kept them in the game the fact that we gave up so many
possessions. We gave away too much easy
ball we allowed ball to be turned over in too many places on the field.”
It
was now home time. Job done. Hughes, Lavery and Frank McEldowney trekked
an endless supply of balls, kit and water bottles across the car park.
Maghera
will enjoy the next few weeks preparation ahead of the MacRory Final. Standing on the brink
of a 15th title, this Maghera group will take plenty of beating and
will be hot favourites. Omagh and
Dungannon have tested them to the full but Derry men are still standing.
Some of these days
Colum Lavery’s steam train will power out of the station on the first
whistle. Why not on MacRory Final
day? We’ll see.
