St Pat's open campaign with six-point win

MacRory Cup round 1

St Patrick’s College Cavan 2-11

St Ronan’s College Lurgan 1-8

St Pat’s Cavan began their 2024 MacRory Cup campaign on a positive note when they recorded a victory over St Ronan’s College Lurgan in Shamrock Park, Roslea on Wednesday afternoon last. A productive 2nd quarter set the Cavan lads on their way to victory over the 2018 Hogan Cup champions as they hit an unanswered 1-4 during this period to go in 1-7 to 0-3 to the good on Fermanagh referee’s James Lewis half-time whistle.

The opening quarter was cagey as both sides felt each other out and space in either defence was at a premium. A neat Nathan Quigley point from the right of the D was cancelled out by a good score from Lurgan’s centre back Niall McParland.

Quigley then exchanged frees with Lurgan’s dangerman James McCooe before Killygarry’s Charlie Fallon opened his account with a well taken dead ball from 35 metres. Rampaging corner back Conall Wilson struck the equaliser on the quarter hour mark leaving the scores at 0-3 a piece.

This proved to be a crucial period in the game as centre forward Ultan O’Reilly struck a lovely left-footed score over his shoulder after good vision from Ballymachugh’s Conor Tynan.

O’Reilly then pounced for a goal as he intercepted a short misplaced Lurgan kickout and cleverly lobbed the stranded goalkeeper from 25 metres out. This was followed by two more placed balls from Fallon and Quigley as St Pat’s began to exert their dominance on the scoreboard with a seven-point half-time lead.

The second period began in a similar vein to the first with Quigley snapping over from play on the backfoot after Tynan did well to field a 45 on the edge of the square to feed the Denn man.

O’Reilly then brought his tally to 1-2 from an advanced mark after an excellent pass from Cavan Gaels defender Conor Doyle. St Ronan’s were now eight points in arrears and staged a fightback in the form of an Eoin Loughran free and a goal from the left boot of corner forward Callum McKerr to bring the north Armagh men back within four mid-way through the second half.

St Pat’s however weren’t for blinking and controlled possession for much of the last quarter and picked off another Fallon free after sub Darragh Noonan was fouled after a probing run at the heart of the defence.

Midfielder Cailean Lavery responded for Lurgan with a drilled point from close range before good interplay down the left flank from subs Tadgh Sheils and Ryan Corr led to Noonan being fouled in the area and the Killygarry man duly dispatched the penalty to leave seven between the sides once more. Armagh minor Wilson then hit a late consolation score to leave the final score at 2-11 to 1-8.

Overall, this was a workmanlike performance by the St Pat’s team who were solid defensively with goalkeeper Cian McConnell and the Maguire brothers, Oisín and Luke in defence performing well. Gowna’s Fiachra Brady, won his battle with Lurgan’s dangerman James McCooe and up front there was a nice division of labour with all five subs making telling contributions to see out the win.

St Pat’s now prepare to face local foes St Michael’s Enniskillen in Irvinestown at 12:30 today (Wednesday) knowing a win will secure them a home play-off in early December.

St Patrick’s College, Cavan: Cian McConnell (Butlersbridge), Matthew Mohan (Redhills), Oisín Maguire (Mullahoran), Phillip Shannon (Butlersbridge), Conor Doyle (Cavan Gaels), Luke Maguire (Mullahoran), Fiachra Brady (Gowna), Finn Buckley (Lavey), Daire Moran (Killygarry), Conor Tynan (Ballymachugh), Ultan O’Reilly (Mullahoran), Dylan Brady (Mullahoran), Charlie Fallon (Killygarry), John Donohoe (Mullahoran), Nathan Quigley (Denn)

Subs used: Darragh Noonan (Killygarry), Tadgh Sheils (Mullahoran), Faolán Graham (Butlersbridge), Ryan Corr (Crosserlough), Ciarán Galligan (Cavan Gaels)